112th U.S. Open at The Olympic Club

Casey Martin qualified in Oregon.

Shoot, Tiger's fist pump, Martin back on the links...maybe Sergio actually has a shot at this thing.

 

Olympic Club might be my favorite U.S. Open course because it has everything: holes that go right to left, left to right, uphill, downhill, sidehill, a surprisingly short 18th and what you never see on tour — an unreachable par 5. The Open also is my favorite event to watch because it's the only time you see players get themselves into a spot and ask themselves the same question I often ask myself when I'm playing: How in the hell am I going to make par from here?

 

I love the Open as well. I just wish CBS had it. I have a strong dislike for all things Johnny Miller. If CBS could somehow manage to pluck Mr. Michelob away from the peacock and have him take Uncle Verne's or Brother Bobby's spot, NBC's golf coverage would be useless.

 

The first time I hear that fat bastard attach a nickname to any of the players, I am going to crack Mercury Morris' cat in the head with an empty champagne bottle.

 

Let's not get carried away . . . :

 

The USGA sets up the courses too difficult and the rough is usually too long. I like to see who can make the most birdies, not the fewest bogeys and double bogeys.

 

You can see that any week. The Open allows us to see these guys facing a really different challenge, one familiar to all golfers but them -- the basic impossibility of the sport. It's both informative and entertaining to me.

 

A few years back, the three Opens (US, Women's and US Senior) had a total of ONE player who finished under par. One out of more than 400 starters. That's making a course too hard.

It's sort of like one class I had in university where the prof made the exam so hard that only person scored above 80 percent.