US Open Final Thoughts

After the insanity that was Moving Day at the US Open on Pebble Beach, Sunday's cool-down should have come as no surprise.  There was no way anyone was going to match the dual-66 magic that Tiger and Johnson posted Saturday, especially on a US Open Final Round setup.

So the winning number?  Even Par.  Not -3, not -6.  E.  Just the way the USGA drew it up.  Graeme McDowell's victory required an "unflappable" final round score of 3-over 74.   So if you wanted to see low scores and eagles abound - or a  replay of Tiger's unreal second on 18 - you came to the wrong place.   Pebble was playing lightning fast and hammering away at mistakes.  It's casualties were three of the biggest names in the sport, Tiger, Phil and Ernie, and the bomber who had a seemingly commanding three-shot lead in the final group.

The Notables:



McDowell's Golden Arcs - Standing-freaking-O for this guy.  All the buzz before the final group went off at 5:15 was about Dustin Johnson and his Tom Brady nerves.   All completely ignoring the Irish dude he was playing with who was cooler than the other side of the pillow.  I was hoping to dig up a cool stat on this guy but apparently the USGA only posts high-level numbers.   Suffice to say, the Irishman simply made the fewest mistakes tee-to-green and his short game held him up when he needed it.   That's really all it takes to win the toughest tournament in golf. 

Phil's Putter (or lack thereof) - I must admit I enjoyed watching Phil pull every putt right when it mattered most.  What more can I say?  I just don't like the guy.

Ernie's Chokes -  Els came out on fire yesterday shooting 3-under for his first 6 holes and looking like a freakin' man on a mission.  The came his bogey-double-bogey run on 9, 10 and 11.   Wheels.  Came.  Off.  Even as the leaders were falling back to him, The Big Easy's putter became a Big ol' Albatross and kept him out of the mix down the stretch.

DJ's Trainwreck - Words can't even describe this debacle.  It's was simply brutal to watch.   Poor guy's Open was over in a matter of 30 minutes.  I'll let the AP give the blow-by-blow:

He had a three-shot lead and was in the middle of the fairway at No. 2 with a wedge in his hand after a 343-yard drive. When he walked off the green at No. 4, he was three shots behind, a six-shot turnaround in three holes:

• From thick grass on the edge of a bunker, he chopped at it left-handed, then nearly whiffed right-handed, and, when he finally chipped it to three feet, he missed the putt and took triple bogey. His lead was gone.

• With a driver on the par-4 third, he pulled it so far left that it disappeared into a cluster of trees behind the 16th greens. Fans heard it, but didn't see it. The five minutes allowed for the search ended, and seconds later, someone cried out, "Found it!" Too late. He went back to the tee, hit into a fairway bunker and made double bogey.

• Trying to drive the fourth green, it went right into the hazard along the ocean for a bogey.

Y. E. Yang's Friday Scorecard - Holy shit.  I've never seen a pro do such a good impersonation of one of my rounds.   Check out Yang's back-nine 49.  (courtesy of my new blog-crush, Stephanie Wei and the USGA)  Yes, Forty-Nine.  Yikes. 

The Hole of Shame -  The beautiful Par 3 17th played to an average score of 3.49.   The top 12 golfers played #17 at +18 for the tournament (+8 on Sunday)   Anyone playing procrastination golf hoping to finish strong was sadly mistaken.    

Johnny Miller's Awful BP Joke - I tweeted and blogged about Berman and McDonough ruining the tournament from me on Thursday.  In hindsight, maybe that was a tad premature.  Midway through the final round coverage, with player after player throwing up crooked numbers, Johnny tossed out the following gem:   "Looking at these scores, I don't know what's leaking worse, the field or British Petroleum" 

Note to NBC:  Just sign Nick Faldo as your color guy already.  Nobody does a better job and he's certainly not going to insult the entire gulf coast with ham-handed blather like idiot Miller.   Hey, did you hear he shot a 63 in the final round at Oakmont?   Did you know it played harder then than any US Open since?    Did you know that Rocco Mediate looks like Tiger's pool boy?   And that Miller knew Tom Watson was going to missed his birdie tap-in on 18 yesterday?   Now, I don't want to mince words.   And I mean this in the nicest way possible when I say:  Fuck you, Johnny Miller! 

And on that note... Congrats to Graeme McD!  I'm sure Guinness tastes even better out of his newest silver cup.