Most of the NBC and Golf Channel announcers who will help call this year's U.S. Open have suffered through several rounds of golf at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in difficult conditions. And they still love it.
So, what will it take to overcome the challenges that this U.S. Open throws at the world’s best golfers this time around?
“If you think about the past champions there, Raymond Floyd and (Retief) Goosen, who got up-and-down from everywhere, and Corey Pavin, just incredible short games,” said Brad Faxon on a recent conference call.
“I think about the 10th hole all the time,” said Kevin Kisner. “The 10th hole, you hit a hybrid or a 3-wood off the tee, and it all funnels down to the bottom (of a valley in front of the green), and you have 90 yards to the hole.”
The large, U-shaped dip in the fairway that Kisner cited plays havoc with golfers’ shot choices. First of all, they can’t see the green surface from the bottom of it, so they are hitting a blind shot. Because of that, it’s not uncommon to see a player’s ball hit the green and roll all the way back down the fairway to the golfer’s feet, right where it started. Disconcerting is one way to describe it. Then they have the same shot again. But that's not all.
Kisner said he played the course a few weeks ago with a tailwind at the 10th, and he wondered how he would get the ball to stop on the green.
“I just think that’s a testament to design and the golf course, standing here with a 90-yard shot wondering how I’m going to make a par,” Kisner added.
“Shinnecock Hills is arguably the finest U.S. Open venue there is on the rotation,” former caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay said about the historic property that was a founding member of the USGA. “I’ll never forget standing on 18 tee in the group behind Corey Pavin as he played that second shot into 18 with wood in hand and, of course, we all know what he did there, famously hitting it to five or six feet there on his way to victory (in 1995).”
Mackay caddied most of his career for Phil Mickelson.
While there wasn’t a big vote of support for Scottie Scheffler to complete his career Grand Slam at this year’s U.S. Open, a few felt he could do it.
“I think you need all the shots,” NBC’s golf anchor Dan Hicks noted. “He’s got ‘em all. It’s just a matter of how the putter is working in particular that week.”
Brad Faxon agreed.
“I think one of the reasons we all think, and Dan said it, why Scheffler would be a favorite or the favorite is he’s just so mentally tough,” he pointed out.
Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee thinks Scheffler comes to the U.S. Open with a chance, however, he noted that Scheffler’s game is off.
“He's still the man to beat, but he is no longer the man that can't be beat,” Chamblee said. “So, there's a great opportunity there for Rory McIlroy. There's a great opportunity there for Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.”
However, Chamblee was brutal when it came to DeChambeau’s chances.
“His iron play hasn't been good. His short game's been atrocious,” Chamblee said, but he added that DeChambeau’s driving was quite good.
That said, he noted that DeChambeau was one player who had not lost his competitive edge with the transition to LIV.
Paul McGinley pointed to the past winners at the course and suggested two things they all had were great short games and a “gnarly attitude.” That certainly applies to Floyd, Pavin and Koepka. Whether Goosen is in that mold is another story. He has been hit by lightning, so maybe that gives him a fearlessness that others might not have. He definitely has a great short game and used it to win two U.S. Opens.
Regarding Scheffler’s chances, McGinley said Scheffler has to overcome his “control freak” tendencies.
“It's not a game of exact precision, and you've got to manage your misses,” McGinley pointed out. “So that's going to be the challenge for Scottie.”
Jim Furyk recalls 2004 at Shinnecock because he was just returning from wrist surgery.
“I just remember there was no place where I felt like you could be aggressive, and so the rounds that Retief and Phil played that day (Sunday) were absolutely incredible,” he noted.
Both Furyk and Chamblee think the fact that they have heard DeChambeau is trying to figure out a way to get back to the PGA Tour could be a factor in affecting his play.
“Just being in flux, I think it's hurt a lot of players' games,” Chamblee added. “He'd put so much in to LIV, and now it's up in flames. There’s a lot of doubt as to where he's gonna be next year.”
This is going to sound absolutely nuts, but short game wizard? There’s nobody on planet earth with a better short game than Jordan Spieth. And he’s recently improved his skill with the driver. Nobody is picking him to do anything at all. So, could he be a very, very, very long shot? He does have a great short game.
Maybe Spieth is what Fred Couples once called himself, a “dark shot,” although for the life of me, I have no idea what Couples meant by that. Dark horse meets long shot? Your guess is as good as mine on that. We’ll find out at Shinnecock.
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