PEBBLE BEACH, CA – From personal experience, let me tell you that any windy, forested road called “17 Mile Drive” is no place to get lost, but that’s exactly what happened to the biggest names in golf, as the U.S. open leaderboard is left to forgotten major winners from 2003, a couple foreign players who have potential, and more strangers than...
Here’s my latest Cybergolf piece. Enjoy. From the article: “From personal experience, let me tell you that any windy, forested road called “17 Mile Drive” is no place to get lost, but that’s exactly what happened to the biggest names in golf, as the U.S. Open leaderboard is left to forgotten major winners from 2003, a couple foreign...
PEBBLE BEACH, CA – It was a weird day, even for Northern Cali. How weird was it? Tom Watson sang The Doors, Jack Fleck praised the Lord, and Tim Clark’s posse was howling. Yes, you read that correctly, Watson tried to sing, Fleck is still very much alive, and Tim Clark has a posse…Tim Clark! I guess Frank Lloyd Wright was correct: tip the world over...
Cybergolf ran my U.S. Open piece where I got to talk with Tom Watson, Jack Fleck, and a real-life Signboy. From the article: “Speaking of fairways and greens, NoCal and underdogs, my next interview was a stunner, a bolt from the blue. As I strode towards the media center exit, notebook in hand intent on finding a Garcia, Curtis or Paddy, an elderly gentleman in...
PEBBLE BEACH, CA – In 2000, when Tiger Woods Years lapped the field, broke or tied nearly every important U.S. Open record, and turned our beloved Pebble Beach into flotsam and jetsam in the wake of a yacht insultingly called Privacy, some pundits mistakenly thought Pebble Beach had become obsolete. Those same pundits ignored the rest of scoreboard. 3-over tied...
My first piece from the Open is up at Cybergolf. It’s a hole-by-hole breakdown of Pebble Beach. From the article: “Even though it’s the shortest U.S. Open we play, it’s still getting awfully quick out there,” cautioned Woods, who was civil and obliging with golf questions on Tuesday but surly, rude and more obnoxious than a vuvuzela horn...
Thanks to John Bywra for doing such a great job getting my preview piece up and looking great over at PGA.com. In a few minutes, also jump over to Cybergolf for my hole-by-hole breakdown of Pebble Beach.
In the meantime, how about Spain playing like Spam against Switzerland?
PEBBLE BEACH, CA – While the formal announcement is tomorrow, several media outlets are reporting that Gil hanse/Ron Whitten’s terrific Erin Hills Golf Club in Wisconsin will win the 2017 U.S. Open over the execrable Dog Hill…err…Cog Hill, a boring snore-fest of a penal golf course that has hosted the Western Open for many years. Here is my...
Years ago, when the U.S.G.A. announced that each ten years they would celebrate the U.S. Open with a party of special magnificence, a decennial return to Pebble Beach, elated cheers rang throughout the golf world. Beautiful, rugged Pebble has been a national treasure and a crown jewel in the American golf diadem for nine decades. Indeed, when the sun shines over...
We’ll also have some portions of the piece up at PGA.com, but for today, here is my U.S. Open preview: Emerald, Sapphire, and Gold. The Tom Watson/Herbert Warren Wind articles from 1983 that I found in the basement were worth their weight in treasure. From the piece, Watson recalls his miracle chip-in at 17: “Watson had played the difficult par-3 well all...
Big hat tip to Ryan Ballengee of Waggle Room for writing up all the results to the U.S. Open sectional qualifiers (except today’s in Texas). Perhaps the most interesting stories came out of Rockville, Maryland, where Jason Gore, Ty Tryon, and Arjun Atwal all qualified out of a 78 players for 7 spots gauntlet at Woodmont C.C. Most fans remember Gore playing well...
My preview of the Players Championship and the review of TPC Sawgrass are up at Cybergolf.com. Here’s the link. Here’s also a snippet for you: “It was the age of Nicklaus, but unlike the flash-in-the-pan rivals of Tiger Woods, Nicklaus had a pantheon of Hall of Famers to battle each week: Watson, Seve, Johnny Miller, Weiskopf, Crenshaw, Trevino, and...
Matt Ginella of Golf Digest/Golf Channel reports that Erin Hills in Wisconsin has the inside track on landing the 2017 U.S. Open, but – good Lord help us – that gruesome dog track at Cog Hill…err…Dog Hill just won’t die a grisly death and get out of the running. From the article: “Even before Erin Hills opened in 2006, the...
We’ll be writing previews and recaps of The Players, and then reporting live form the Travis Invitational at Garden City and the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. The tournament coverage season has begun. Deals are in the works to also cover the Anderson and the Crump.
Dan Jenkins taught me that there are actually four Hogan’s alleys: 1. Pinehurst No. 2, (where he won three North and South Opens); 2. Riviera, where he won the 1947 and 1948 L.A. Open, and then returned to win the ’48 U.S. Open; 3. Colonial, where he won five Colonial National Invitationals; and 4. The only Hogan’s Alley that consists of one hole...