U.S. Open: Top 10 power rankings at Winged Foot

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The 120th U.S. Open comes to Winged Foot, a famed New York club familiar hosting big events

Check a September U.S. Open off the list of wacky things 2020 has thrown our way. Not to mention we continue on without fans in attendance.

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Nonetheless, the excitement is still high for what is now the second of three majors of the year.

Part of the intrigue is in the venue: Winged Foot Golf Club.

The world’s best are in Mamaroneck, New York at this famed club about 30 miles northeast of New York City.

The private club opened in 1923. Its two courses, the East and West, are A.W. Tillinghast designs. The East hosted the U.S. Women’s Open in 1957 and 1972, as well as the 1980 U.S. Senior Open. It was also used in the stroke play portion of the U.S. Amateur in 1940 and 2004.

The West, which is in play this week, is approaching 100 years as a major championship venue. It hosted the U.S. Open in 1929, 1959, 1974, 1984 and 2006. It also hosted the 1997 PGA Championship.

Winged Foot has a tradition as a tough test. It was a massacre in 1974 when Hale Irwin gutted out a 7-over-par 287 to win by two. Conditions were more favorable in 1984 (-7 winner) and at the 1997 PGA (-11).

The carnage returned in 2006 when Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie ceded the trophy late Sunday to Geoff Ogilvy, who was in the clubhouse at 5-over.

What makes it tough? Pinched in fairways and thick rough are a good place to start. It measures at 7,417 yards and plays to a par 72 for members and a par 70 for the U.S. Open. In vintage U.S. Open fashion, a good short game is essential.

The West course underwent a Gil Hanse renovation in 2015. The project was designed to restore green complexes to original dimensions, rebuild bunkers and improve irrigation and drainage. New tees were installed to allow the course to stretch out in an era where driver gains keep going up and up.

The green restorations have made them larger, which will allow for some more pin placements than in 2006.

It’s a classic U.S. Open test where driving it straight and getting it anywhere on the green will be rewarded — with par. I’ve heard some rumors that some course maintenance staff would love to see 8-over win it. I don’t know if we can get to that point without some players blowing their tops, but I don’t see Winged Foot resembling TPC Deere Run by any means, either.

The fairways and greens are bent grass, a fairly common type in the northern states that tend to run fairly true. It’s been a hot, dry summer in New York so we could see some firm and fast conditions.

The weather forecast coming up shows near ideal conditions. Lows in the 60s, highs in the 70s with perhaps some rain Thursday and Friday, but otherwise dry conditions throughout with winds reaching low double digit miles per hour.

It’s rare at a major to have so few players play the week before like last week at the Safeway Open. Often times the event the week before is a WGC. Or at least it’s a standard Tour event not on the opposite coast during a pandemic. A tough break for the Safeway Open, but I digress.

It’s been a mad dash since golf resumed in June, so a week to unwind and regroup for the year’s two final majors will be welcome for most.

I’m eager to see who will emerge as the champ this week. It seems to me there are about 10-15 names that could win and hardly anybody would be shocked.

Shane Lowry is as close to an “upset” major winner we’ve seen in the last five years. And he’s still a top-30 player over a year after his dominant Open Championship performance at Royal Portrush.

I love a good underdog story as much as anyone. But this just feels like a week where one of the big names asserts himself.

It’s too bad an injured Brooks Koepka won’t be around to go for his third tournament title in four years.

Here are my 10 favorites to win the 120th U.S. Open:

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