US Open: Chambers Bay confounds players

Feature by Anand Datla

June 19, 2015: Not many players had ever been on the course at Chambers Bay before this week’s US Open. But the best kept secrets of a course that was making an unlikely major debut have come tumbling out yesterday during a first round where fortunes swung between one extreme and the other. A handful of golfers embraced the undulating landscape to make a memorable start, but for a vast majority the course proved to be a confounding challenge. A few like Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler were a distracted mess at the end of the first day, devastated by the questions posed by the probing landscape at the Pierce County course.

Among those that flourished were Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson. “It’s different,” said a very measured Stenson, before hastening to add a eulogy. “Of its kind, it’s one of the finest. It’s a links course with some extreme features, there’s no two ways about that,” he asserted after returning a handy 65 in the first round.

“I think the USGA typically has a formula where they start out and it’s quite playable Thursday, Friday,” said Matt Kuchar (67). “And I think we’ll see it teeter on the edge come Saturday and Sunday. “I think they’ve got it down pretty well at this point.”

“I thought it played terrific,” said Mickelson, who was in possession of the lead at one point during his 69. “I thought there was nothing hokey or crazy with any pin positions or how it played. I thought it was difficult.”

“I think the biggest challenge is that the green speeds are different from green to green. That’s going to wreak havoc on our touch,” he warned. “And that’s the only thing I could possibly think of that is not really positive, because I think it’s been very well done.”

Sergio Garcia was far from a happy camper after he settled for an even 70. “I think a championship of the caliber of @usopengolf deserves better quality green surfaces that we have this week but maybe I’m wrong!” he tweeted off his handle – @TheSergioGarcia

Rory McIlroy, clearly disappointed after making 72 on Thursday agreed with the views of Garcia. The greens, he said, “were not the best that I’ve ever putted on.”

More tests await these men, as the week progresses. The weather, certainly, is not going to play as coy as it did on Thursday. And then there will be the added pressures of a major as we build up through Saturday and Sunday.

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