The course is playing very short by PGA and USGA standards at 6,996 so I can imagine the emphasis will be on putting the ball in the right spots off the tee and putting the eyes out of it.

If it is dry and the greens get ridiculous I think par wins, but if it rains and the greens are receptive then possibly as low as -10 can win.

I'm hoping for a Tiger win.

6/10/2013 12:02:36 PM

one thing's for sure -- my dark horse is Paddy Harrington

6/10/2013 12:15:18 PM

I don't know why but I've never been the biggest Mickelson fan...he never did anything to make me feel that way...but I wouldn't mind seeing him win a US Open. He's one of the best golfers of our generation and the US Open he wants more than anything nowadays.

I'd also like to see Stricker get a major...may be a good course for him. Kuchar too.

[Edited on June 10, 2013 at 2:22 PM. Reason : asdf]

6/10/2013 2:21:51 PM

looks like its gonna be wet most all week...should slow things down for higher scores. Gonna be short, so you better bring good iron and putter play this weekend.

6/10/2013 3:12:21 PM

Im thinking either of the Johnsons...Zach or Dustin.

6/10/2013 3:15:15 PM

you heard it here first -- a Wolfpack alum will win this week

6/10/2013 6:34:15 PM

Apparently Merion got absolutely flooded today and it has been an off and on rain since last Thursday before that.

No way they get enough heat/wind to dry it out before the weekend. It becomes target golf now that the fairways and greens are receptive. That brings way more golfers into the fold as to who can actually win it.

6/10/2013 8:31:51 PM

suspended due to weather but not before Ian Poulter shot 3 birdies in the first 3 holes.

Tim Clark doing well too. Apparently the models showed Tiger winning with a -8 for the tournament.

6/13/2013 9:18:11 AM

what models are those? I've honestly not seen them used for golf.

6/13/2013 9:45:15 AM

the ESPN FOREcaster

http://espn.go.com/golf/forecaster

6/13/2013 9:47:22 AM

After this weather moves through it looks pretty good for the rest of the weekend.

They've got streaming on the US Open app btw. I watched a bit of phil/strik/keegan before the rain delay.

6/13/2013 9:52:53 AM

play will resume at 12:10

6/13/2013 11:12:55 AM

What's up with those flag toppers? I don't remember those. I assume they are specific to the course. I don't like them and plus they don't give you any indication of the wind unless it spins.

Update: from Wiki:

Quote :

"Wicker baskets On the East Course, all pins are topped with wicker baskets instead of the usual flags. As one story goes, when Hugh Wilson was in England studying their golf courses, he happened upon local sheep herders and their flocks. These shepherds held staffs that they used for herding, and the staffs all had wicker baskets at the top. In those baskets, they kept their lunch for the day so that no animals could get into it. Wilson decided to use the idea at Merion, though the exact origin has never been fully verified.[14] One effect is that the baskets are visible no matter which way the wind is blowing – but they do not give the golfer any indication of wind direction at the green. They have been used since at least 1916,[14] and are featured in the club's logo.[15] Up until around 1980, the wicker baskets were made on site by a member of the grounds crew staff. Since then, a woman, whose name and location in South Carolina are purposely kept anonymous, creates the current baskets.[16] Anyone who wins a USGA event at Merion receives a wicker basket top. Wickers are destroyed if the wicker baskets are broken. The golf course assistant superintendents collect the wickers every night, so they will not be stolen.[16] The wicker baskets will be used in the 2013 U.S. Open."

Oh and my team for the company pool

Tiger Woods
Lee Westwood
Tim Clark
Kevin Chappell
Lucas Glover

[Edited on June 13, 2013 at 2:53 PM. Reason : Wicker baskets]

6/13/2013 2:47:46 PM

Phil is doing his part while Tiger just three putted his first hole for bogey. Not a great start from him.

I was under the impression that with this course being soft and slow it loses its defense and the pros were going to tear it up.

Just scanning the leaderboard that couldn't be further from the truth. I can't wait to see what happens when the course firms up by Sunday.

6/13/2013 4:58:57 PM

Quote :

"I was under the impression that with this course being soft and slow it loses its defense and the pros were going to tear it up. "

this course has defense in spades, wet conditions or not

6/13/2013 6:00:08 PM

Attaboy tiger

6/13/2013 7:15:56 PM

that stupid basket just killed Westwood who is on my team. His shot came right down on the pin and bounced off the basket completely off the green

6/13/2013 8:06:25 PM

Someone hit in on Pettersson's shot. Pretty funny.

6/14/2013 9:45:07 AM

Isnt that a penalty for the person that hit the ball?

or is that only if its on the green?

6/14/2013 12:39:47 PM

^nope never a penalty...the person who had their ball hit is supposed to place their ball back where it rested...no penalty for either player.

if you hit the flag stick that's laying on the green while putting, that's a 2 stroke penalty..that what you're thinking of?

6/14/2013 1:36:17 PM

Its only if both balls are on the green prior to any stroke.

I knew there was some rule about it.

Quote :

"From the green, Player A hits his putt, but the ball strikes the ball of Player B, who was also on the green. In match play there is no penalty. In stroke play, it's a 2-stroke penalty to the player whose ball was in motion when the balls collided."

If you are not on the green as you said it does not matter but you MUST replace the ball or be assessed a penalty.

6/14/2013 1:40:13 PM

you're right...i was only thinking about hitting other ball on the green (while not putting) like chipping or something.

6/14/2013 2:28:57 PM

It's kind of like DP. It's all good as long as the balls don't touch.

6/14/2013 2:35:09 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DAScbcmfKo

haha

6/14/2013 8:35:41 PM

I cringe anytime anyone yells anything

6/14/2013 8:38:58 PM

Jesus people this is golf. Go back to your shanties.

6/14/2013 8:56:19 PM

someone yelled FORE this morning when tiger teed off. i was like really?

6/14/2013 8:57:03 PM

oh, Sergio

6/15/2013 2:00:06 PM

My golfers bettr pick it up or I'm gonna be a lot darker. Spray tan bets suck.


Graham freaking McDowell and Bubba

6/15/2013 9:48:04 PM

informative post by scotie about the flags

6/16/2013 12:08:59 AM

Next year, Pinehurst. Anybody else going? Tickets are remarkably cheap. I went the last time it was there and it was a blast.

6/16/2013 12:19:08 AM

you want me to pay to watch golf and there's no AC?

FACKIN BULLSHIT

6/16/2013 12:27:05 AM

I think Mickelson gets it done today and finally gets that US Open monkey off his back.

70 or 71 today he probably wins by a couple

6/16/2013 2:14:35 PM

I love Phil

however, I think he'll pull a Phil today

6/16/2013 2:34:27 PM

he's pulling one now

6/16/2013 4:49:54 PM

WOOOOO

6/16/2013 5:38:38 PM

He just anit-phil'd all over everyone

6/16/2013 5:43:56 PM

Phil is such a pussy

6/16/2013 6:11:25 PM

Phil fucked 13 all up

6/16/2013 6:21:57 PM

Good for Rose

[Edited on June 16, 2013 at 7:33 PM. Reason : Bummer for Phil]

6/16/2013 7:32:47 PM

Did Phil surpass Norman as the greatest choker in major championship history today?

6/16/2013 8:47:13 PM

Meh i wouldnt call it w choke, thats why phil said this one hurt the most. In the past he blatantly threw it away. He hit to bad shots all day, it just cost him massively. Id say rose won this more than phil lost it.

6/16/2013 8:55:01 PM

He hit waayyy more than two bad shots today.

I don't know if he hit more than 4 fairways all day and you can't play like that at the US Open.

He recorded back to back double bogeys to begin his round.

He's got a wedge in his hand on 13 and airmails the green badly to card a bogey

At 15 he has a gap wedge in his hand only to miss so badly that he had to pitch the ball on the green and ends up bogeying.

All those add up to him literally handing the tournament to Rose.

After the sixth time this has happened he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt anymore and should be called what he is when majors come around, a choker.

People call it "heartbreak" because everybody likes Phil, but if it was Tiger who choked away a 6th shot at US Open in spectacular fashion, the media and fans would be coming out of the woodwork looking for a pound of flesh.

6/16/2013 9:25:06 PM

poor Tiger

6/16/2013 9:59:34 PM

Quote :

"Did Phil surpass Norman as the greatest choker in major championship history today?"

Yeah 4 major wins, what a bum.

6/16/2013 11:33:09 PM

Sam "The Great White Shark" Snead was US Open runner-up 4 times

he's a choker

6/16/2013 11:50:55 PM

a whole field of "professional" golfers and not a one can shoot under par

what a joke

6/16/2013 11:54:21 PM

I think in future US Open's 2nd place will just be called "Phil".

6/17/2013 9:39:18 AM

Quote :

"Yeah 4 major wins, what a bum."

That statement doesn't qualify anything. Norman also has multiple majors and is known as the greatest major choker of all time.

Fact is, nobody has failed with it all on the line more than Phil. That driver at Winged Foot was one for the ages, the two 3 putts inside 10 feet at Shinnecock, and the 3 putts at Bethpage all are textbook examples of a choke job.

6/17/2013 10:06:44 AM

>

6/17/2013 10:14:57 AM