2022 U.S. Open: Top 10 Power Rankings at The Country Club
The U.S. Open heads to The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts for the fourth time.
While it’s not a part of the tournament’s unofficial rota of courses like Pebble Beach, Oakmont, etc., it’s steeped in tradition as one of the four founding clubs of the United States Golf Association.
The Country Club hosted the famous 1913 U.S. Open when hometown underdog Francis Ouimet beat English behemoths Ted Ray and Harry Vardon in a playoff.
It also hosted the U.S. Open in 1963 and 1988, the 1999 Ryder Cup, and several U.S. Amateurs, most recently in 2013.
The Championship Course combines holes from the 27-hole facility’s nine-hole Clyde, Squirrel and Primrose courses. It measures around 7,300 yards for a par 70.
The course isn’t crazy long, but it looks to be a tough test as many U.S. Open venues are. Narrow fairways and nasty rough will make hitting these small, tilting greens a difficult task.
Some holes have mounding near the greens to add more unpredictability.
Balls won’t be bounding too far away from the hole, but good short game play is essential.
The weather forecast shows temperatures in the 60s-80s and dry save for a chance of storms around Friday. Expect firm and fast conditions.
There aren’t too many player absences this week as LIV Golf Tour members were given the OK to play by the USGA. World No. 28 Harris English is out due to injury but is the only top-50 player missing.
Tiger Woods is another notable absence. He’s opting for rest and recovery in prep for The Open next month.
Let’s get down to the power rankings.
If not for a historic year from Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns would be the favorite for PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Three of his four career wins have come in the 2021-22 slate. It started with a win at the Sanderson Farms Championship, continued with a title defense at the Valspar Championship, and again in his last start a few weeks ago at the Charles Schwab Challenge where, ironically, he defeated Scheffler.
Burns got in the mix last week at the RBC Canadian Open.
He was the 36-hole leader. Four rounds in the 60s netted T-4th. Burns led the field at St. George’s in strokes gained approach for the week (9.401) and in greens in regulation (80.56%).
The 25-year-old out of LSU has proven he’s comfortable competing at a high-level week in and week out. The next step is doing it in the majors.
In eight starts, Burns has made just four cuts and withdrew once. Progress was made this year as he bounced back from an MC at the Masters to post a career-best T-20th at the PGA Championship.
Mr. Burns ranks fourth on the PGA Tour in total SG (1.767) and is top-60 in each category.
Most notably, he’s fourth in SG approach (.833). That’s aided by sitting fifth in greens in regulation (70.27%) and 11th in fairway proximity (29’11”).
His putting can be a bit off and on, but Burns has been right more than wrong this season. He’s 16th in SG (.542) and 24th inside 10 feet (89.43%).