Golf course architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw restored the course in 2010 to the original Donald Ross design. They took out what rough there was and put back the original sandy waste areas bordering generous fairways. Wire grass that grows here and there will add to the difficulties presented by unpredictable lies.
Note to Dustin Johnson: read the rules sheet!
In addition, each hole is lined with trees that serve to isolate it from the rest of the course. The feeling is that where you are in all there is, isolated from the the rest of golf, maybe even the rest of the world. However. Errant tee shots running through the waste areas will end surrounded by trees, which will cause serious problems getting out with much more than a sideways chip.
The strength of the course is its greens, which have landing areas that could fit in a thimble. Shots mishit slightly will roll off the green to collection areas difficult to chip from. Subtle breaks in the greens mean getting down in two putts won’t be a walk in the park.
There are no holes in particular that stand out. Each one requires careful planning and precise play. One change that was made for this tournament is switching par on the fourth and fifth holes. The fourth, a short par five, is a long par 4 for the Open. The fifth, a long par four, the green of which is not receptive to a long second shot, has been lengthened to a 576-yard par 5.
Who will win? Phil Mickelson! The winner will need to be able to get up and down A LOT, and whose short game is better? If Phil can play to reasonable form from the tee and fairway, that might be all he needs to win the one he has just missed so often, and complete a career major slam.
The USGA always has fun with the groupings in the first two rounds. Here are a few of the notable ones:
Mickelson, Rose, Fitzpatrick - the traditional pairing of the reigning British Open, U.S. Open, and U.S. Amateur champions
Watson, Scott, Scharwtzel - recent Masters champions
McIlroy, Simpson, McDowell - recent U.S. Open champions
Els, Clarke, Oosthuizen - recent British Open champions
Dufner, Bradley, Kaymer - recent PGA champions
Goosen, Ogilvy, Glover - former Open champions who haven’t won much since
Stenson, Kuchar, Westwood - the best players never to have won a major
De Jonge, Stadler, Lowry - really fat guys
Donald, Casey, English - the first two are English, while the third isn’t, but . . .
Spieth, Matsuyama, Fowler - really good young guys
Holmes, Woodland, De Laet - this year’s Bombs Away group
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