As the golf world descends on earthquake-prone California for the U.S. Open, the aftershocks from last week’s bombshell temblor about the PGA Tour joining forces with Saudi Arabia’s sporting arm continue.
Nonetheless, by week’s end, the best golfer here – whether loyal to the old guard or one who stepped out early for the Saudi Arabia pot of gold – will hold a much-prized 18-inch-tall sterling silver trophy.
The Los Angeles Country Club hosts the event for the first time and its north course flush against the mansions of Beverly Hills is largely unfamiliar to the field. Its look is also unfamiliar to fans who are accustomed to courses that regularly stage the national open with tight narrow holes and ankle high rough to challenge the world’s best. Instead, LACC offers players a wild expanse up and over hills with fairways almost as wide as the views with a modicum of rough.
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“It’s just different,” says Jeff Hall, managing director of rules and open championships for the U.S. Golf Association.
“Yes, the golf course is a little wider, but you’ll see holes where that’s not the case,” Hall said. “So, there’s great variety that way. There’s great variety in the length of holes that’s out there… it just has so many variables.”
Players will have plenty of opportunities to bring the driver out of their bags this week in an effort to maximize distance off the tee rather than lay back with a more lofted club for a better chance at finding the fairway. Their challenge will likely come from the well-protected greens where an off-target strike could land a player with an awkward lie. A diabolical feature of the course is pockets of deep fescue grass where making par will be as difficult as finding a sale on Rodeo Drive.
This year’s two major champions, Jon Rahm (Masters) and Brooks Koepka (PGA Championship), will deservedly attract much attention from the 22,000 fans expected each day.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing,” Koepka said after his most recent win. “It’s working so far…. I’m pleased with the way I’ve been playing.”
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Koepka has now won five major championships. The only other players this century with as many are Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. A third U.S. Open win (2017 and 2018) for Koepka this week would equal Woods, who will not play as he continues recovery from his latest surgery.
Wagering sites feature Scottie Scheffler as the favorite. The Texan’s outstanding ball striking this year led to two victories. But his putting at April’s Masters and since has kept him from another title.
Scheffler may have a small advantage having competed here in 2017 during the Walker Cup, a biennial amateur competition. His teammate that week, Collin Morikawa, is now a two-time major champion and grew up just a few miles away. But the 26-year-old hasn’t won in nearly two years and recently withdrew from a tournament because of back spasms.
Another local hope who’s done well over the course is six-time PGA Tour winner Max Homa, who shot a course record 61 during a college event a decade ago.
Rory McIlroy, who won the U.S. Open in 2011, came up short Sunday for a third consecutive Canadian Open win. He’s been the most prominent player defending the PGA Tour during the past 18 months as the sport splintered.
In that time he’s mixed his usual high-caliber play with signs of fatigue, making him a bit of a wild card.
“For whatever reason I seem to play better when there’s a little bit of noise going on around the world of golf,” McIlroy said this past weekend in Toronto. “It is nice to be able to get inside the ropes and just concentrate on my job at the end of the day, which is trying to get the ball around the golf course.”
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The “open” part of the U.S. Open is that anyone can try and qualify to play in the event. This year a record number of golfers submitted an entry to play. After several stages of qualifying, only 156 will tee it up Thursday.
“You can’t argue with the fact that 10,200 people around the world said, ‘I got a chance to play that,'” Mike Whan, CEO of USGA, proudly told Fox last month.
He noted this tournament is unlike any other major sporting event, allowing the dreamers a chance to play.
“You know, nobody comes to you six months before the Super Bowl and says, ‘We’re about to do some combines and if you’re a good enough receiver – you play.'”
Barry Henson, 43, has traveled the world to make a career playing golf. It hasn’t been easy. He’s never qualified for the PGA Tour. He spends most of his time in Asia but when he returns to his childhood home in Palm Springs, about 100 miles away, he picks up extra money driving for Uber.
“I enjoy it quite a bit. It takes my mind off the golf course,” Henson told “Fox & Friends” last week. “I enjoy talking to people and hearing their life story.
“I’ve got to keep my foot down. My game is set for a U.S. Open.”
At the other end of the career spectrum, there are 18 amateurs playing in the tournament. Most are still in college.
Of course, there’s also the chance of another earthquake. LACC sits on the eastern edge of the Santa Monica fault line. Less famous than the San Andreas fault, which runs the length of the state, a shift in the much smaller Santa Monica could produce quite a jolt for the golfers and millions of Angelenos.
While earthquake preparedness is always a good policy the odds of a shaker this week are pretty slim. Scientists figure it’s been 1,000-3,000 years since this fault line produced a major event.
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