Sure those are fine stats…
I just miss seeing guys fire long irons into 4 pars four times a round… and then produce stats like that also.
Rory is putting on a clinic obviously & the double was the best thing that could have happened to him to bring him down to earth & focus him. It’s the first thing that’s happened worth paying attention to since Tom Watson but the question is why can’t anybody else play at all. These are the best of the best with custom everything, kinetic links down to the microsecond, swing gurus, sports psychologists, nutritionists, publicists, personal valets & courtesy Benz’s in the parking lot waiting to take them back to comp suites at the Four Seasons. And there’s exactly one guy who can consistently execute around a Driver 8 iron/3 Wood SW course with 30 yard fairways that are playing 40 wide? The 154 other best players in the world (Yang gets a passing grade so far) can’t keep it out of the driving range or make a 3 ft putt because it breaks more than 2 inches? Obviously rhetorical but what the hell…
And it isn’t ignorance by the USGA, never was. This is exactly what they want & they’ll never ever go back. It’s money, the only thing that matters. The USGA understands everything precisely the same way Solomon Brothers knew what they were doing with derivatives & Goldman Sachs/AIG knew what they were doing with CDSs on subprimes. Money is money & by the way it’s the same speculators ruining both the game of golf & the rest of the joint.
A far better gauge.
However I can believe average driving distances have stayed the same due to more more drives missing the fairway and getting caught up. I hate averages. I think I might punch out the next person who calls himself average.
I have seen Rory use long iron (well his “modern” 4i which would be an old 3i) a few times this US Open. Granted he was making a mockery of the Par-5’s with those long irons in going for the green in two, but I guess this is where golf is headed. Still a long iron is a long iron in skill when taking away the actual circumstance (par4 vs par5) and he is in a zone past two days.
In fact, I was watching this live and couldn’t believe my eyes. Is it possible that the “320” is a yardage marker? (Ohh, and he landed this on the green!):
Once upon a time when sprinkler heads were marked that far away they’d have sayings like “In your dreams.” or “Don’t even think about it!”
Captain Chaos
320 is the measurement from the tee shot…that’s how they do the 2 main measuring holes for driving distance statistics on the holes out on Tour… it is visible for the people who do the pacing off of the drive
They normally do 2 different holes that run in opposite directions in case of wind, (so one would be downwind and one against the wind) and try to choose holes that most players would hit driver from so they get a decent average of the two drives they measure
Respect to Jrich who seems to be the only person on here tipping his hat to the incredible display Rory is serving up.
Of course it means nothing to have one bogey on 54 holes at the US Open. To have dropped 3 shots in total.
Sure when you are hitting a frying pan off the tee and flicking wedges into one of the longest courses in US Open history, the only surprise is that 14 under is leading rather than being tied for last place.
The complete lack of respect served up by ex-pros on this site is staggering and I have to break my silence to convey my disbelief that anyone can say anything other than “take a bow Rory, take a bow”.
If its so fkn easy, why aren’t you out there yourselves?
peace out!
Yeah, keep studying because there has been no affect on scoring. Zip, zilch, nadda, zero. The stats are right there. The players still play off the tee with reckless abandon and they still have little issue with fliers and have no problem hitting it as close as they always did.
Uh, PGA Tour average distance is about 292 yards this year. And 291 last season.
He must have a different definition of ‘vigilant’ than I do.
True, but we’ll wait and see what Merion plays like. And a lot of other classic courses that the pros don’t play are becoming obsolete. Try playing most Donald Ross designs today with modern equipment. It’s almost a sad joke. Too bad, because I really loved playing those in the days of metal woods.
3JACK
Styles- you still have a bug up your ass?
Nothing but respect from me- I stated 32 of 36 greens is how you get it done, and suggested if his caddie slowed him down and didn’t let him rush things like he did at The Masters he would romp home.
I hope he wins by 15 because he is taking the course to pieces
What’s your problem mate?..
There’s more to life than being out there playing to please the masses…I played 10 Majors and a Presidents Cup, and you know what tournaments I won Styles. I had my career and I am mentally and physically worn out by it all and what I have been through personally.
You don’t know my personal background and why i have no desire to go out and play again as of now…I did it for 25 years…I am sure if I had the desire and the backing I could compete again…no doubt about it (even with today’s clubs)…but I have different goals now for many various reasons and have too many other things that sidetracked my attention to be able to put 100% into it and I got sick of just filling up the numbers if I couldn’t put my all into it any longer…that may change one day (senior tour??), but right now I am happy doing what I am doing, passing on my knowledge…so you need to ease up and worry about your own personal goals instead of mouthing off at advice from the people that did at least live the lifestyle.
I think i have earned the right to have a point of view…I have achieved more on the golf course than Homer, Lyn Blake, Zen and all your other cronies you listen to and put your faith in and trust who basetheir stuff from their golf observations not from their golf experiences and actualities…not being a dick by saying that, just stating the obvious.
Take a chill pill and a deep breath…get’s very f’ng tiring having to explain why I have the right to a point of view… others on the site enjoy most of the things we write here…if you don’t just stick to iseek where science wins over common sense and life experience
Two–I certainly love and appreciate the knowledge sharing.
I just got back from the US Open. Besides almost being brained by a wayward golfball hit by a South African, I had a great time.
The one anecdote I will share is that I was amazed by the short length of the rough. I had heard, read about, and seen pictures of previous “US Open” rough and it was very different than today. Plenty of my non-ABS friends came to similar conclusions. We asked a number of rules officials and they said that the rough was shorter than usual to accomodate the longer course design.
None of this is to detract from the amazing play I saw, just different than expectations…
Was there today too and agree on the benign rough - definitely surprised. Sat on 8 for quite a while (almost drivable 4 par for Bubba W) and felt like we saw more birdies from left 2nd rough than the fairway. Fun day even so.
Sorry, but this is not a proper US Open.
Maybe it should be called “The Congressional Classic” or “The event formerly known as The US Open”.
From the AP:
There is NOTHING “US Open” about this at all.
The US Open for the vast majority of it’s history has offered a venue that REQUIRES precision tee shots and the full spectrum of iron play (yes, that means long irons into par 4’s). Long rough that rarely will allow the player to get the ball
onto the green with anything over a 6 iron… and even short irons can be difficult to get onto the green. The surfaces are hard and fast with the greenside rough extremely difficult to get the ball up and down from. More often than not… missed fairways are pitch outs short of the green leaving difficult up and down for pars.
Through the 1950’s only one player broke par in 10 US Opens. Ben Hogan shot 5 under at Oakmont.
-5 was the best anyone could shoot in the 1960’s… Trevino and Nicklaus. Boros won it in 1963 shooting nine over par.
In the 1970’s decade, 6 years saw par or higher winning The US Open. Hale Irwin shot 7 over and won it at Winged Foot in 74.
In the 1980’s less than 5 under took the crown 6 times… about the time metal woods and square grooves arrived on the scene.
In the 1990’s, 7 times 5 under or less won the event.
This year 21 guys are at par or better going into Sunday? Are you kidding me? US Open? Really?
This is about “how” a course should be set up for a typical tour event. I believe par should always be a respectable score,
and it is this week. Nothing more.
Hogan shot 8 under in the US Open in 1948 a Riviera. Equaled by Nicklaus in 80 at Baltusrol … then surpassed with a frying pan and juiced up golf ball by Tiger in 2000.
Are we seeing the best golf in US Open history this week? If Rory was hitting long irons into par 4’s, wedging out of the rough every time he’s 3 yards off the fairway, then agreed. But he is not faced with a proper US Open challenge, therefore disagreed.
Congratulations to the best player that wins… but also congrats to the best player than wins the Tuscon Open or any other tour event.
They can call it what they want… fine… but don’t start comparing records to the greats of the past like Nicklaus, Hogan, Trevino, Jacklin, Palmer etc… because this is not apples to apples.
Welcome to the McOpen on NNNNNNNBC presented by Zoloft & Cialis…
Rory is listed at 5’10", 160lb. One inch taller than Tom Watson, not a bad comparison for strength, body type, swing type generation to generation. He was 15th in driving distance in 1982 when he won the Open at Pebble at 266.9 yds
pgatour.com/r/stats/1982/101.html
Rory is listed 8th on his profile at 301.4
But he doesn’t have enough rounds to be officially ranked
pgatour.com/r/stats/info/xm.html?101
So let’s assume that apples for apples prime for prime McIlroy is a little longer than Tom Watson (which I don’t but that’s semantics) so we’ll go for the 15th ranked driving distance this year, 298.1 to equate to Watson’s 266.9. Pebble measured 6825 for the '82 Open so the math goes 298.1÷266.9×6825=7622.82690139 to get a conversation factor for what equitable yardage for an Open should be. BUT!! That only takes into effect getting the tee shot to the same spots that Watson was hitting from, but with the new ball & club the same shots are minimum a club less even after you disregard the strengthened lofts. The first jump was 11.6% but lets go lower for the iron shots, make it an even 10%. New US Open yardage 8350 yards rounded off. That’s the number that’s shot for shot the same test as Pebble Beach 1982, which btw is always one of the shortest on the Open rota. We’ve got a bump of about 22%, so let’s go the other way & subtract that from the 7510 ‘monster’ Congressional & convert it to a persimmon & balata 1982 number. Carry the 2, 5900 yards… congratulations Rory, you’re 14 under from the ladies tees. With 3 inch rough & soft perfect fairways & greens. Ben Hogan would be proud. The math is staring everyone straight in the face, any tour event under 8k is a nonevent, majors 8300 AT THE MINIMUM.
I’ve said for a long time that at 15%… the classic 6900 course from the past needs to clock in just a shade under 8000.
If you believed the commentators, then you would believe you are seeing the greatest feat in the history of the game, by the most talented player in the game with the greatest swing of all time. They actually said all these things today.
To me Rory had a very mediocre ball striking round by any kind of world class standards. I saw him miss 3 or 4 greens with 7 iron in his hand… not fringe misses… but real misses into bunkers or rough. Missed the fairway hitting iron off the tee by quite a bit into what should be deep rough. Hit one drive off the map.
Although his stats would say otherwise, I thought he drove the ball very well… other than the terrible iron off the tee, and one missed drive where he had to punch out.
Good golf… solid short irons. A couple nice long iron shots… good driving all things considered… and some really hot putting.
Has a big lead because no one else is lighting it up this week.
Nothing legendary going on here in my opinion. I’ve seen much better golf played than this… even on the Canadian Tour or Australian Tours.
Watching the re-air the setup looks exactly like Stockton CC. The rough is a really comfortable height around the greens where you can hit 5 different clubs & either slide the club underneath or pick it & spin it. You got every shot in the book out of this stuff & the greens are dead stock CC consistency and speed. It looks exactly like any old Friday at any old club.
In the 1997 version of the US OPEN also played at Congressional the yardage was 7213 yards at a Par 0f 70…
In 1964 it was 7053 yards and this year it is 7574 yards…
so in 35 years from 1964 to 1997 they only added 160 yards to the course…yet in the space of 14 years from 1997 to 2011 they have added 361 yards and it is still made a mockery of
The major change in the routing besides the 18th being eliminated and played in the other direction as the 10th hole now, was that in 1997 the 6th hole was a driver and 3 iron or 4 iron second shot par 4 with the hazard still right there in play…exact same hole…this year they made it a par 5 and everyone is birdying it.
Holes like 3 and 4 and 14 and 15 (and even on 8) guys are pulling drivers and bombs away knowing the rough is not really going to penalize their distance with the next shot. In 1997 it was 1 irons and 3 woods to get the ball in play (driver if you were flushing it)…the fairways were running and draining balls off into the rough, and the greens were firm and much faster… I cannot believe how hard some putts have been hit this week just to get to the hole…
The fairways aren’t running…the rough is very minimal…the greens are receptive and they don’t putt that fast…it is NOT a US Open setup in hardly any sense of the word.
You missed a fairway in 1997 and you could hope to advance it somewhat but rarely be able to reach a green …
I actually had an air swing in the 1st round on a chip shot, the rough was so deep…went straight under the ball trying to dig down on it
Congressional today in this event is set up as just another tour event…it is not a US Open setup…
It’s great to watch someone scorch it up but it just looks like golf…not a Major Championship
Normally in Majors guys have hemorrhoids grow in the space of a round and decisions have to be made to map your way around and wrinkles grow under your eyes from the strain of it all.
The last time I saw an actual penal regular Major US Open setup was at Winged Foot in 2006 when 5 over won and the course was just flat out hard and set up how a US Open should be set up.
I will display the 1997 scores below…I finished 16th at 5 over par. (285)… Three players broke par that year…Tiger coming off his 12 stroke Masters win (6 over) , US Open legends Nicklaus (13 over) Payne Stewart (8 over) Lee Janzen (13 over) Tom Watson (16 over) Kite (18 over)…that was US Open golf…play well or be killed
after 3 rounds of this years event my 5 over total would have you at 48th position and that is also having a par 4 played as a par 5 and the USGA moving tees up on holes 9 and 16 yesterday so players could reach those par 5’s in 2 shots and shoot even lower scores.
Styles said:
I do not see that. But I don’t have your eyes. I’ve seen nothing but admiration, respect, and goodwill for Rory McIlroy here.
Media, bureaucrats, manufacturers…
What I did see yesterday on TV was a golf bureaucrat( head of USGA) being interviewed by a media type, bragging about the changes to Pinehurst#2, in preparation for another US Open. They must have proudly used the word “sustainability” ( now a politically corerect code word…but like Orwell said, can mean the opposite)a jillion times. Never mind they spent countless millions, sometimes converting four rows of sprinklers to one. How sustainable is that? What a freakin joke.
The media, manufacturers, and bureaucrats desparately need a new Tiger. They can’t heap the praise on Rory fast enough. “Best swing ever.” Premature?
Go Rory. Play well and win. To heck with the bureaucrats however.
Did the Scots feel the need to promote and grow golf?
I thought it was interesting to hear that Sergio and I are now kindred spirits in that he is electing to not hit range balls before his round. A few chips and putts then off to the first tee while everyone else is grinding away hitting off flat lies with one wind direction.
I don’t necessarily promote that for everyone, but personally I like the idea of not having any preconceived notion about how I will be striking the ball on the golf course. I really think hitting range balls before a round is highly overrated.
Sergio seemed to do just fine going out and shooting 69 hitting zero range balls before the third round of The Congressional Classic.
Certainly you want to stretch, and get your body loosened up… take a little jog, a long hot shower or spa, yoga or other preparation. But even without doing anything, you should feel capable of getting the ball into play somehow off the first tee.