What The USGA Got Wrong at Oakmont

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

In the days since JJ Spaun holed that incredible putt to win the 125th US Open at Oakmont much has been said and written about the course.

How fair was it? Spaun’s winning total was 279. Does that sound unreasonably high to you? This is a major. It is meant to provide a proper test.

The likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Ludvig Aberg simply didn’t play well enough. Period. And as for reports that Wyndham Clark took out his frustration by seriously damaging two lockers in the clubhouse, somebody needs to remind him that this is a sport and that such behaviour is not acceptable.

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Every year, almost without exception, we hear complaints about US Open venues being set up to be too difficult for the field. Remember Chambers Bay? What about Pinehurst? We are routinely told greens are too hard and fast and that the rough is too thick. 

I still vividly remember the reaction when they arrived at Carnoustie in 1999. They all complained loud and long that the rough was penal and bordering on being unfair. It was certainly difficult but it was not impossible.

I would challenge the world’s best golfers to play some of the courses that you and I do on a regular basis. Golf is not meant to be easy. 

Week in, week out they get to play target golf on perfectly-manicured layouts. Majors are about identifying the best players in the game - and that means challenging them to find fairways and hit approach shots that are not always aimed at flags. So, no, the course was not too difficult.

But where I do have a real issue is with the USGA’s decision to complete the tournament on Sunday come what may when it was blatantly obvious that the course was not fit for play.

When the players returned from a 90-minute weather delay the rain continued to tip down. There were rivers of water on the fairways and many of the greens were nearly unplayable. 

The leaders still had more than half their rounds to play. The sensible call would have been to abandon play for the day and come back on Monday to finish things off. However, it is abundantly clear to me that this was an occasion when the broadcasters were calling the tune.

If you doubt it then please explain this to me - the USGA knew that a thunderstorm was on the way. They could have brought tee times forward and avoided all the drama. This is something that routinely happens on the PGA Tour in order to avoid Monday finishes.

But had the USGA done so then they would have missed out on a prime-time TV audience in the United States. And the advertisers who pay so handsomely would not have been amused.

Conditions underfoot were also treacherous for spectators, with every chance that people could slip, fall over and break bones.

But if the organisers were so determined to keep going then what on earth happened to common sense? 

Sam Burns found the 15th fairway with his drive and having taken several practice swings on a drenched piece of grass rightly asked for relief. Unbelievably, it was refused on the basis that his feet were not in standing water. 

That water would be trapped between club and ball was inevitable and he duly hit his shot way left. Understandably, he was extremely unhappy. At that point he still had a chance to win but that shot effectively ended his challenge. His mind had gone.

We witnessed a whole series of wayward shots that were most definitely caused by the conditions. Top professionals are accused of being pampered but they deserve a fair crack of the whip.

As I said, this is a major, not crazy golf! Every single player in the leading groups hit shots that were so wayward it was blatantly obvious the conditions were to blame. Not that Spaun will be complaining as he eases into life as a major champion.

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