Not quite sure the best place for general golf chat so I thought I would kick off a thread here on the US Open in Birdies and Bogeys. I don’t have Sky TV (soon won’t have Setanta either by the sound of things ) so have just caught bits and pices via the different web streaming sites that go up and down. Most interesting thing I heard today was that Ryan Moore decided this year to ditch all his endorsements, equipment contracts etc so he could choose exactly what he wanted to play and do. Says he wants to get back to feeling like he did as an amateur, when he won everything! Perhaps its a just another one of those ways of tricking the mind etc, but I’ll take it at face value and say it was kind of nice to see a guy not look like a walking billboard. No excuse for the Grisly Adams beard though
Hmmm, not sure how interesting this is but I am happy to note the high amateur is from my hometown. Nick Taylor is sitting at -2 (tied for 7th overall).
I’m sure the pressure to stay that high will be ovewhelming but my understanding is he’s the #1 ranked amateur on the planet right now so I’m cheering for him. I think the Ryan Moore thing is an interesting story and I started to wonder myself what his endorsements were as he seemed to stop wearing any gear with company icons on it a long time ago. Good for him though.
Naturally I’m pulling for Mike Weir too, but I have a feeling things are going to get a LOT tougher. I can’t see the USGA standing for this type of scoring if they have any say about it.
Prot, that is cool! Are you he hasn’t been spying on you at the range Personally I’d like to see Westwood win, as he is the only player in the top 10 from the tough side of the draw. Plus I think it would top off his career very nicely. I know things don’t work like that (ask Monty!) but it would be nice to see none the less.
I watched it for about 30 minutes before I fell asleep. A bit boring for my tastes…
I know they have had a ton or rain… and because of that, there is nothing US Open about it…
Watching everyone spin the ball out of the rough, or easily hold the greens from the second cut…
or watching Duval make birdie from a “way off line” drive off the patron trampled straw grass…
No shot shaping… smash it… flop in on the green from anywhere… putt the lights out on
medium speed greens…
My Open Q was a lot more “Open” conditions than the actual “Open” … I couldn’t hold the green
from the fairway with an 8 iron or even a wedge… silly stuff…
Lag I read your first sentence and just started laughing at my desk at work here. Good stuff.
On one hand it does bother me that the course isn’t playing very US Open ‘like’. But some of these guys are still hitting an amazing amount of GIRs. I look forward to it moving to Merion! And with new groove rules.
I predict Ricky Barnes crashes hard. I don’t wish ill will on him. It would be good story telling for Phil to win.
I am hoping they finally get a chance to cut the greens this morning. They’ve only been able to roll them up until today. That first hole is pretty interesting to watch though… that fairway is mighty narrow and that fescew (sp?) makes for some entertaining penalties. (See how Sergio played it?)
The greens look huge out there… so I can see why there are a lot of greens being hit.
I’m so used to the tiny postage stamp greens a Mare were you have to hit a pure shot just to hit the green…
and if they dry out in the afternoon it’s really tough. I hit all nine greens on the front at Mare last week,
in the wind even, and two of those shots were with 3 irons into the wind to greens about the size of your living room.
So my standards are pretty high… I really believe these guys should hit ball much better than I do, and I question
that everyday… even from someone like myself who only plays about once a week. Do they hit it straighter than I do?
Not sure.
The US Open is come and gone. Just a quick observation. Wondered if anyone could really pinpoint this
Lucas Glover- no glove
The only recent major winners I can think of that haven’t worn gloves are Scott Simpson and Lee Janzen
What did they win? The US Open
Maybe there is something to not wearing a glove and getting to hold that big silver trophy
I really can’t think of anyone over the past 20 years or so , no gloving it and winning any other major unless we go back to Bill Rogers in 1981 British
Thoughts as to why? You wouldn’t think a no glove policy would give you more control, which is needed in the US Open, but who knows
Co-incidence? or am I just plucking something from thin air with this idea
How about this how many more times has a player won the US Open wearing a glove, a lot more so following your logic it would seem to win the US Open or have a better chance to win statically you should wear a glove . Kind of ironic that Glover doesn’t wear a glove .
I don’t wear a glove, but when I was on tour I would wear one in the rain
or if there was a lot of humidity… I also use cord grips… so that helps a lot.
Swingers I think would be more inclined to need a glove because the tendency would be to
have a lighter grip on the club, and the right hand being very passive… so a great sticky contact
in the left hand would be much more necessary. Hitters can grip it very firm with both hands,
but some freedom and flexibility in the wrists is still desirable either way.
Glover is one of the better drivers of the ball from what I hear… I think someone mentioned he is
either top or near the top in total driving…
It’s nice to see an event where there is some requirement for getting the ball into the fairway off the tee.
It’s hard to believe golf has evolved away from that over the years.
I don’t think Freddie Couples is a glove wearer either… and he has a green jacket.
Interesting points about hitters taking a firmer grip and perhaps not needing a glove. Some of us were talking about wearing gloves a couple of weeks ago, as in “why do we need to wear a glove”?
I think a lot of it is habit. I also think it’s a function of how clean you keep your grips. Most golfers don’t change their grips out frequently enough, and fewer still keep them clean. Ever notice how Couples is constantly towelling his grip down before every shot? Seems like a dry left hand and a clean grip would work as well as a sweaty left-hand and a glove every time.
I wouldn’t wear a glove except that I’m a profuse sweater and it’s extremely humid during the summer months where I live
Also, I’d like to think that I have some pretty good callous pads built up on my left hand from 15 years of competitive tennis play (I’m a lefty that plays golf right-handed), but cord grips + no glove + hundreds of balls = PAIN
) so have just caught bits and pices via the different web streaming sites that go up and down. Most interesting thing I heard today was that Ryan Moore decided this year to ditch all his endorsements, equipment contracts etc so he could choose exactly what he wanted to play and do. Says he wants to get back to feeling like he did as an amateur, when he won everything! Perhaps its a just another one of those ways of tricking the mind etc, but I’ll take it at face value and say it was kind of nice to see a guy not look like a walking billboard. No excuse for the Grisly Adams beard though 
.