From what I read about Winged Foot, the greens were suppose to be very hard to negotiate. With wind coming into play, we should see the scores go up. I haven't watched the first round yet but I do have it recorded. I can't imagine a US Open winning score being much below par. I guess we'll see when conditions get tougher. GoDuke!
Nick Faldo mentioned several times on the broadcast yesterday that the course was setup a little on the easy side because with the shorter amount of daylight in mid Sept vs mid June the USGA was worried the last groups would run out of daylight.
He also mentioned that they would correct for that going forward. They can obviously do that after the cut, but if daylight is truly an issue with the full field won't Friday have the same issue?
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
Twenty-two golfers have finished their Friday round. No one near par -- best score +2, 72. Median score is 75.
Adam Long is in with a seemingly disappointing 74 for a total of +5. Truthfully, I think +5 makes the cut!
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
The back 9 scores - especially 16, 17 and 18 - are going to make the Winged Foot membership very happy.
I’d love to see the average back 9 score today.
So far - Bubba Watson, who shot 1 under, is the only player who finished under par.
And DeChambeau puts up an eagle on 9 (his last hole) to finish at -2. Low round of the day so far.
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
So much for high-volume. I have 5 who missed the cut, and 3 who didn’t (JT, Niemann, Hovland). And only the latter two differentiate Team Tripping at all. Yeesh.
"Amazing what a minute can do."
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Team Green
T3 Thomas
T22 DJ, McIlroy
CUT: Streelman and Kisner
Bob Green
I got to watch half my time nosedive in the sale threesome: Morikawa and Tiger missed the cut. Justin Thomas rallied to finish +3 and fell to T-3.
Adam Long T-33 and Webb Simpson T-17 remain in contention, under the theory that "no lead is safe."
Will the overall winner be under par? Maybe, from what I saw Patrick Reed was flirting with disaster all day.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
I’m feeling ok about my squad
JT T3
Xander and Wolff T7
Oostie T12
Day and Cantlay T49
Fairway Jesus MC
So four guys within 5 strokes of the lead with a chance to win, and 2 who can make some money to help the team
Has there ever been a less likable US Open final pairing than today’s?
"Amazing what a minute can do."
I dunno, and I'm sure a lot of people really dislike both of these players, for a variety of reasons.
I actually like Bryson and find it interesting to watch him play. Reed may be despicable, but I feel like I learn a lot watching his iron swing, and his chipping and putting is phenomenal.
If you could choose anybody from the pga tour, give them one six-foot putt, and if they make it you win a million dollars, who would you choose to take that putt? The answer used to be Tiger, and he would still be a pretty good pick, but right now I think the two best choices are Fowler and Reed.
FWIW, Saturday's early starts are +34 in 58 holes played, which works out to be -- [pause] chukka-chukka-chukka -- a score of 80.5 for 18 holes. Course is playing hard.
Caveats: it seemed to me that 1-2-3 were especially hard. Plus, guys at the bottom often seem to lose a bit of edge.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013