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Anybody else watch? Could McIlroy look any better?

I have to admit that I am a little disappointed in the course even though I think it has more to do with the weather than anything else. In most years if you miss the fairway at the US Open you are stuck just trying to advance the ball some and get it back into play... this year people are playing from the rough like its nothing.. and the greens are usually firm and unforgiving... this year not only can you hit it normally from the rough but you can stop it on the green... watching guys in the rough throw it at the flag from 200 yards and being able to stop it on the green just isn't the US Open....

All that said, it takes nothing away from what McIlroy is doing..... the kid is playing better than anybody in the world right now.

I gotta work early in the morning, then having lunch with my kids.. after that I plan to stay glued to the couch and watch the US Open.

The kid is strafing Congressional. Just bombing it.

McIlroy is lapping the field, and while his play vs. the other players is something to see, along with the course conditions it's making this years US Open as pointless as fishing in a swimming pool.

Players are shooting 65's, there are 20 players under par. The players are holding greens, spinning shots back from the rough with v-groves. This isn't a US Open, a true test of golf, it's typical Sunday fare for these guys and hardly up to the standards we've come to expect out of a USGA set up course.

Oh and a mini rant to the European fans bringing their soccer chants with them to the course, go back home. There are other players in the field and on the course and these chants are disrupting. Watching yesterday a caddy for another player on a different fairway having to yell at them to shut-up is something I've never seen in a caddy have to do. It's golf not soccer you morons, you're on a golf course you're not in a stadium. Be polite with your praise to your favorite player as there are other players to consider and they are all around you.

I was in the second to last foursome to play Bethpage Black before they closed it out for the Open. There was a camera crew from the Golf Channel watching me hack it out of the rough on 18. Three strokes just to get back to the fairway. It felt a little satisfying watching the pros having as much trouble. Only Tiger was under par that year.

The Open should be deep, deep rough.

Even par should be a good score at the US Open. Even the year Tiger went low (-12) at Pebble, the next closest guy was something like 3 over. It's not Rory's -14 that bothers me as much as it is all of the other -6, -5s....

I will say this though, there isn't a whole lot they can do about it. From what I understand they cut the rough 2 weeks ago and haven't touched it since, they just had 2 weeks without rain.. not sure why the greens aren't firmer then though...

There are only 3 holes on this course where someone can get into any real trouble. Lets say for a moment that Rory bogies those 3 and birdies only 3 others and shoots even today. I think it's a stretch he'll not break par but just for the sake of argument, lets say he shoots 71. The closest player is 8 strokes back and 3 at 9 back. To win these guys will have to shoot 62 or 61. Ain't gonna happen. Rory would have to completely implode to lose this one and it would go down as one of the greatest chokes in sports history. With rounds of 65, 66 and 68 in the bank, this is highly unlikely and this tournament is already over.

However I will be rooting for the choke, not because I don't like the player, just to make it interesting to watch. I may change the channel and watch Nascar.

An average Nascar event could be more interesting to watch than the final day of Golfs greatest major, that's really sad.

This US open has quite frankly sucked. The rough is a joke. If I want to watch low scores I can watch any other tourney of the year. Too many sub par rounds. They've shortened the course too much, left too many cuts of rough that is too short. Very, very disappointing open.

I understand that it has rained a lot, but the length of the course and the length of the rough could have offset a lot of that IMO.

Rory already birdied the first hole. He's on his way to -20 if he doesn't just play it safe.

J/C...

The kid played awesome, kudos to him

I pray this is the beginning of the end of the "Tiger this, Tiger that" every week from 95% of outlets/people.

I don't know if you were ever a Tiger fan or just stopped being one after his public distractions, but I hope the Tiger era never ends. I just hope it gets that much more competitive. Just like when Nicklaus had Player, Watson, and all the others chasing him throughout the 70's and 80's. Woods is still the best golfer I remember watching while growing up(not old enough for Nicklaus) and I don't want those memories of him winning tournaments in dramatic ways to stop.

That's awesome that the young guy was able to bounce back after his meltdown in Augusta. Seems like a nice kid.

I liked watching the guy dominate, but now that he isn't I don't need him to enjoy watching golf, whether it be the U.S. Open or some random tournament in February or September.

I'm just beyond sick of hearing his name probably 1,427 times a day when it comes to anything relating to golf. I'm not blaming him, I'm not even blaming the networks, I blame the players of the last 14 years or so - no one has ever really done anything consistently over time to take the light away from Tiger and get people to stop thinking of him all the time.

Like I said, I pray this kid and what he appears to be capable of doing - along with a couple other young one's - can change that.

Agreed on the course conditions and the relative ease that Congressional played.
Like you and others said, it doesn't seem like a true U.S. Open test. The rough didn't seem as menacing, I only watched the Open here and there over the weekend but guys were't being punished by errant shots like you usually see. Is it me, or did the greens not seem as difficult as you'd associate with a major - the announcers barely mentioned how tough they were.
Kudos to Rory, the kid can swing a golf club and made Sunday anti-climactic. He'll win multiple majors, IMO. As in, five to 10 of 'em.

Yeah, the weather had a lot to do with the conditions (particularly the greens). They got a pretty good soaker Thursday night that really softened the greens up. After that, there wasn't much sun and/or wind to help dry the place out the way we're used to seeing a US Open course. All that humidity down there really helped keep the course damp. Nothing the USGA could really do about that.

I, for one, am pretty happy with the result. I've never been a big fan of how the USGA handles Open courses. Too many times in the past they've let the course get away from them and you end up seeing way too many good shots get punished. I'm OK with the rough being thick and heavy so errant shots get penalized and I'd like to see the USGA bring back the furrowed rakes to make bunkers more of a challenge. However, I've never been OK with how the USGA takes greens to the edge of starvation (and sometimes beyond -- e.g. Shinnecock Hills several years ago) to make them rock hard. There's a balance somewhere between too soft and too hard and the USGA, IMO, rarely acheives it.

+1

Where's the satisfaction of watching the pro's putt on a green that's similar to hardwood flooring? It's a waste of time.

To me, the course may be hard, medium, or easy......in the end, the best guys will be at the top regardless. I don't need to see a pro shoot +4 and win. I want to see good golf shots.

the kid was just awesome he destroyed the course, i understand that next years course is brutal

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Where's the satisfaction of watching the pro's putt on a green that's similar to hardwood flooring? It's a waste of time.

To me, the course may be hard, medium, or easy......in the end, the best guys will be at the top regardless. I don't need to see a pro shoot +4 and win. I want to see good golf shots.

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The tradition of the US Open is that the course rewards good shots but punishes bad shots much more severely than your tournaments at Hilton Head and Quail Creek and other places where people are customarily -15 to -20..

If a guy can miss the fairway off the tee and still fly 7-iron 190 yards out of the rough and land it softly on the green and have it stay there for a makeable birdie putt, then he has not been punished for missing the fairway. If a guy can miss the green and simply flop a lob wedge up there from the waste area and have it nestle close to the hole without fear of it rolling back down to him or rolling off the other side if he doesn't hit it just right, then he has not been punished for missing the green. If a guy had a 20 foot putt down hill and there is no fear that he is going to knock it 10 feet by then he has not been punished for hitting the approach on the wrong side of the flag..

I don't like courses that are unfair either but this course was not US Open worthy, not this weekend. I take nothing away from McIlroy and I hope this doesn't in any way tarnish his championship, the kid was amazing, he lapped the field.. The way he was playing he would have won by 8 regardless of conditions, I just would have been happier if it had been -8 with second place at even...

My sentiments exactly. I was playing in a friends member/guest tourney this past weekend and one of the members was complaining to the pro that the rough was too tall. The pro said maybe you need a lesson, you're not supposed to hit it in the rough

The kid hit some amazing golf shots. Side hill lie, ball above his feet, in the rough and stiffs it to 10'. This should never, ever happen on a US Open course, but it's a tough shot to hit on any course.

I'll give Rory his due, he's got game.

I couldn't care less about the weather conditions. They've been having weather conditions at US Opens since the tournament started, none have been this forgiving. To the new guy in charge of setting up the courses for the USGA, you are the weakest link.

Just saw a report that says Rory is going to take a 3 week break from golf until the British Open. What exactly does a golfer do while on break? Hit the cubicals for some relaxing deskwork?