YOU’VE got to love sport and its capacity to take those of us who love it on an emotional rollercoaster ride. Take last week in golf – seven days that began with the suits announcing a merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. In doing so they delivered a blow that left observers seeing stars, like cartoon characters who’ve had an anvil dropped on their heads from the top of a deep canyon.
The week also ended with a thrilling dual between the ever-popular Tommy Fleetwood and Canada’s new favourite son Nick Taylor. On and on their play-off progressed, with Taylor watched by his compatriots and fellow players Mike Weir, Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin, while Fleetwood was cheered on by Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose.
The atmosphere was electric at Oakdale G&CC and when Taylor drained a magnificent, curling 72-foot eagle putt for victory the galleries around the 18th green erupted. It was stirring stuff:
What a way to end the drought!
Seventy. Two. Feet. 🔥
Nick Taylor sinks the longest putt of his career for the win. pic.twitter.com/csXnFkHeCm
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 11, 2023
And so on to the 123rd US Open at Los Angeles Country Club – a glitzy venue and a unique test. It was designed by George Thomas, who was also responsible for Riviera CC which hosts the Genesis Invitational. It is traditional in design so also has links with Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines, which make up the trio of such courses in California that the PGA Tour visits annually.
But LA CC is a little different: it’s wider from the tee (and has been kept that way by tournament officials), it often allows for balls to be run into greens and it features Bermuda grass in the rough. That latter factor could be crucial because the fairways are wider than normal at a US Open but the rough is as thick as ever and the clingy Bermuda will make escaping it all the more difficult.
And then there is the card. There are five par-3s at LA CC and three of them stand out. The seventh can play as long as 284 yards while the 11th has a tee box 290 yards away from the green. In stark contrast, the 15th measures 124 yards on the card and might play as little as 85 at some stage in the week. Just to add to the bewildering nature of the set up, there is a par-4 only a little longer than those monster par-3s and, in addition to the tiddly 15th, the closing stretch of six holes has four par-4s over 490 yards and a par-5 at 623 yards.
To all this quirkiness we can add wonderful visuals that include a gnarly creek that twists and turns around the property, and a first tee that’s been relocated to the practice putting green!
What of the market leaders? Scottie Scheffler remains a machine (he hasn’t finished outside the top 15 since October), Jon Rahm loves California (and likes the idiosyncratic tracks of the Irish coast – might he also like LA’s peculiarities?), Brooks Koepka has re-emerged as a major machine, and Patrick Cantlay has improved in the majors (and has played the course many times). Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, remains an enigma.
It’s going to be a late one this week but we should be in for a golfing treat. Here are the week’s selections – one from the top and two bigger prices.
Each Way – Viktor Hovland
The Norwegian has been banging on the door at the last three major championships. He finished top seven in all of them but has been top of the leaderboard at some stage throughout the tournament in all three too – is this the week he finds himself in that position when it really matters? His confidence is sky-high after winning the Memorial Tournament earlier this month, after which he explained that he had been historically better on easy courses but had transformed his major performances by maintaining his high-quality ball striking while improving his game plans and short game: “Hard golf courses now suit me a lot better than they have in the past.” It also helps that the impact of his ball striking remains elite level as the approaches rise beyond 200 yards and up to 300.
Each Way – Corey Conners
Conners has a poor tournament record but it’s worth taking it on because there’s enough juice in the price given good vibes beyond that past experience in the event. First up, he hits lots of greens in regulation and even tops the rankings for GIR when hitting approaches from over 200 yards. He’s also a winner this year and he also contended at the PGA Championship. He said he learned from that latter experience and added: “I feel like my personality is pretty boring and try to be pretty boring out on the golf course.” Boring, in the best sense, could work this week.
Each Way – Harris English
The American has played the US Open seven times, he’s yet to miss a cut and he’s twice finished top four. He’s also returning to the form that elevated him to the world’s top 20 two years ago. He opened with a 66 and closed with a 65 for T12th at Riviera in February, was second on a tough Bay Hill set up, third at major-standard Quail Hollow and was one back with 18 holes to play at Colonial when he said: “My game is trending in the right direction and I like courses where par is a good score.”
