It's Moving Day At The U.S. Open. My Thoughts So Far.
Hello friends. By pretty much all accounts, it’s been a weird ass start to the U.S. Open. We’ve got more guys under par after two rounds (42) than ever before in the history of the tournament. We’ve got 18 guys within three shots of the lead. We’ve got two amateurs inside the cut line and under par, while we’ve got the top three ranked players in the world (DJ, Rory, Day) home for the weekend. We’ve got a leaderboard, numbers wise, more reminiscent of the John Deere Classic or the Dean & DeLuca than the United States Open.
We’ve got no Phil or Tiger (but don’t worry, the game’s hottest young star carried that Tiger torch valiantly).
Still, Stevie misses Tiger. The real Tiger.
Rahm missed the cut at 5-over. Adam Scott at 3-over.
Yet, after all that, this is pretty much what I expected. I guessed 9-under would win it; I still believe that. I picked Rickie fowler to win it; I still believe that. No player goes through a U.S. Open without at least one round that’s a little off, and Rickie got through his yesterday just one off the lead. He missed a few short putts, but reassured us in the post-round presser that he was still hitting the ball where he wanted. Just got into some tough spots and when you get into some tough spots at the U.S. Open, bogeys will happen.
Sure, it’s surprising DJ, Rory, and Day all played like shit. Shocking, actually (insert comment about how all the analysts said it was a bomber’s paradise). But it’s not like you get the top-3 ranked players in the world battling it out for every major championship. In fact you basically never get that, and we don’t have it this weekend. Oh well.
Without them, we’ve still got plenty of names. We’ve got first-time hopefuls Paul Casey and Brooks Koepka tied with a few others for the lead. We’ve got Rickie and JB just one back. We’ve got The Players champ Si Woo Kim and the one-handed-follow-through-savant Hideki Matsuyama just two off the lead. Sneds is there too. Major champs Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer are four back.
There are 32 guys within 5 shots of the lead. THIRTY TWO. Anything could happen. There’s supposed to be some dicey weather today and some serious wind tomorrow. And, in my opinion, the USGA has reached that sweet spot where they’re comfortable enough knowing people aren’t going to shit on the course, so they can put the foot on the gas a bit. They can ramp it up. Those fuckers DO NOT want double digits under par, and they’ll focus their efforts to ensuring that doesn’t happen.
This is good for us. We want carnage. We want blood. It’s moving day at the U.S. Open — enjoy it, folks.
Oh, and suck it Bryson.
And Howard.
PS — Elk. Eeeeek.
