Category: US Open
The US Open is the greatest golf tournament in the world. In 1913, Francis Ouimet became the first amateur to win the US Open. Four players have won the US Open four times: Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus. Watch this section for articles and updates on the US Open, including scores, results, leaderboards and statistics.
Mickelson Says Torrey Pines Is World’s Toughest Test
Phil Mickelson says that the winning number at the 2008 US Open will be well above par.
Next month’s U.S. Open course is the toughest in golf, according to world number two Phil Mickelson.
The American left-hander played at Torrey Pines South in California last week and predicted an over-par winning score at the second major of the season.
“Even if it’s soft I don’t think anything close to even-par will win,” Mickelson told reporters after firing a four-under 68 in the Wachovia Championship first round on Thursday.
“I think it’s the hardest course in the world, 7,600 yards at sea level.”
The 37-year-old Mickelson said the rough was particularly brutal, even by usual U.S. Open standards.
I played Torrey Pines from the back tees last summer and didn’t think that length was going to be the real issue at the US Open. While I’m sure that the Open will have “super back tees” behind even the ones we played, I managed to find enough fairways to shoot a decent score. I just took an extra shot to get to the green on every hole.
Torrey Pines is plenty long, but what really threw me was the grass. It’s not like anything we call grass in the midwest. If it grew on my local course, they’d call Michigan State for help and then hit it with RoundUp. The weed they call grass out there is a spongy, wiry growth that grabs your club and robs you of distance.
What that stuff will be like grown to US Open length in the rough boggles the imagination.
Bad News For US Open Hopefuls
Bad news for US Open hopefuls. Tiger Woods’ knee will apparently be fine by the time the US Open begins at Torrey Pines in June.
Tiger Woods says his left knee is “right on schedule” for recovery in time for the U.S. Open in June, if not sooner.
For all of the latest news in the world of golf, check out GolfDigest.com’s Local Knowledge blog, updated daily throughout the season. Blog
Woods underwent arthroscopic surgery on April 15. He underwent a two-week check-up earlier this week in Utah and told Golf Digest.com: “It went great. Everything is right on schedule.”
As he has in past weeks, Woods would not put a timetable on his return. The U.S. Open is June 12-15 at Torrey Pines, north of San Diego. Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, The Memorial, is two weeks earlier and is generally on Woods’ schedule.
“The doctors said I should be able to play in four to six weeks after the surgery, but there are no guarantees about anything right now,” Woods said on Golf Digest.com. “I’m just going to work hard and do what they tell me to do.”
Tiger has won at Torrey Pines so often that there really can’t be anyone else who could possibly have a chance.
8,930 Apply To US Open
The USGA reports that 8,930 golfers applied to play in the 2008 US Open.
Twelve-year-old Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga was the youngest. Harris Moore, Jr, a professional from Los Angeles was the oldest at 79.
Exemptions have already been granted to 58 tour pros. Twenty five more will be exempted in May. That leaves 70 spots for the remaining 8,330.
Those aren’t good odds.
Final Rounds of US Open In Prime Time
The US Open Is On The West Coast this year and NBC is going to take advantage of that by broadcasting the last two rounds in Eastern prime time. The time difference between Torrey Pines in San Diego means that the third round on June 14 will finish at 10 pm eastern, and the fourth at 9 pm.
That’s terrific news, especially for the USGA. Showing its biggest event in prime time will reach a much larger general audience. And if Tiger is in contention, it’ll get the biggest ratings of any golf event ever.
It’s probably no coincidence that three of the next five US Opens are on the West Coast.
Father’s Day. Prime time golf. It doesn’t get any better than that.
By the way, you can see a photo tour of my trip to Torrey Pines in San Diego here.
Odds For the US Open - April 17 2008
The US Open at Torrey Pines is in eight weeks. At this point, Tiger Woods has been established by the book makers as the favorite, with Phil Mickelson in next at 10/1. Interestingly, I think Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk are next at 20/1.
It’ll be interesting to see how things change as more information about Tiger’s knee surgery filters out.
Read the rest of the post to see the complete odds for the US Open, provided courtesy of Bodog.Com, the world’s largest online sports betting destination.
