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COVERAGE: Past Competitors Laud Oakmont’s U.S. Open Test
It was June 2007, and Adam Scott had a little bit of an extra strut to his step, feeling that all of the rumors of how cruel a test Oakmont Country Club can be were exaggerated. He recalled with an exaggerated sound effect how good he was feeling.
Scott went to the course early alongside Geoff Ogilvy, the previous year’s U.S. Open champion, and played well in the practice round, while the latter did not, so when the tournament came around, it was understandable that confidence was a high level.
Predictably, this did not last.
“I hit six greens in two days and flew back to Australia, so it really hit me hard, I played so poorly,” Scott matter-of-factly recalled to a few reporters at this year’s Memorial Tournament.
Rewinding the tape even further back to 1962, Jack Nicklaus understood what that U.S. Open was. A homecoming for Arnold Palmer.
Nicklaus remembered Palmer being gracious, and there was even the expectation that it was his tournament to lose, so when the two infamously were on the driving range, the latter approached explaining the purse from the playoff gate goes to the champion.
Palmer asked if Nicklaus wanted to split that purse. Nicklaus said that he may play well, but that it was not fair to Palmer. Instead, Nicklaus said they should play for it figuring Palmer would prevail.
He was wrong.
“I won and I got the gate, $1,400,” chuckled Nicklaus. “Arnold was very gracious. Couldn’t have been nicer.”
Shane Lowry got into Oakmont the Sunday before the 2016 U.S. Open and opted to go out and play, starting on the 10th hole.
As he explained it, by the time 14 arrived, it was a short walk to the clubhouse and Lowry walked in taking a seat in the locker room. He sat befuddled, trying to figure out how he was going to play and make it work.
Six days later he had a four-shot lead heading into the final round.
That same year, Paul Tesori, caddied for Webb Simpson, a past U.S. Open champion and at the time a top -10 player. Halfway through the second round Simpson turned to his looper, explaining that Oakmont was too hard for him.
Throughout the years, Oakmont has hosted the game’s greatest players. The names have changed, the course has been renovated and restored, but one thing has always been the same.
Oakmont has long been one of golf’s toughest tests and there are no signs of this changing anytime soon.
Many of the top names in the game were at Muirfield Village Golf Club a couple of weeks ago and that course has a lot of similarities to Oakmont, where there is a premium placed on hitting fairways with only so much room to advance.
Rain is forecasted for a decent amount of the week which is a familiar refrain to 2016’s first round. Even then, only four golfers finished under par.
Given how difficult Oakmont plays, the rain could further grow the rough and further penalize any wayward drives.
The early reviews from golfers are in, many of whom were not on the grounds in 2016. According to Golf Channel, both Scott and Rory McIlroy were on the grounds early last week with neither experiencing much success.
Scott, who understood the importance of hitting fairways, hit his first nine, and still was at plus-3 afterwards.
Justin Thomas visited Oakmont a couple of days before the Memorial Tournament, going alongside his caddie Matt Minister.
Thomas deemed this important, especially considering practice rounds during the week can be long. He confirmed the rumors about the course difficulties.
Both Ludvig Aberg, who played the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont and missed the cut, and Xander Schauffele also played the Monday before tournament week, while Justin Rose was there Tuesday and the feeling across the board was that Oakmont would be tough but a fair test of golf.
Keegan Bradley played in the 2016 event but has not been back since. He opted not to come in before feeling that the course is going to be brutal but straightforward.
Regardless of approach, it is clear that patience will be tested throughout the week.
Already the par-3 eighth hole has drawn the ire of some players, with the potential for the hole to stretch out to 300 yards, which brings wood or driver in for a lot of the field.
“That’s not my favorite hole in the world,” Thomas opined. “I think you could do some other things with that, but everyone’s going to have to play the same hole and going to have to execute the same shots, and I would love four 3s on it right now if I could take it.”
Around 25 of the golfers in the 2016 field will be returning, including that tournament’s champion Dustin Johnson and local product amateur Matt Vogt who caddied at Oakmont, attended high school at Seneca Valley and now is a doctor of dental surgery.
Also in the field is Official World Golf Ranking No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, one of those who did play in 2016, posting a first-round 69 as an amateur.
Scheffler has won three of his last four starts, including the PGA Championship and most recently the Memorial Tournament. In a month, he made $10 million dollars and won the same number of tournaments as the Colorado Rockies did games. His last time outside of the top 10 was March 16 at the Players Championship, which was eight starts ago.
Though Mother Nature is poised to intervene, the full field knows it is in for a test across four days. The last couple of winners in Johnson and Angel Cabrera proved to be good drivers of the ball, and when the dust settles undoubtedly a worthy champion will emerge.
“Oakmont’s a very stern test,” concluded Nicklaus. “It’s a tough test. They have had the same spring we’ve had (in Ohio). So, you’re going to find Oakmont very much similar conditions to what we have here (at Muirfield Village).
“You’re going to find the fairways a little softish; you’re going to find the rough very deep, and you’re going to find the greens very firm.”
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
Monday, June 9
Noon – Dustin Johnson (MOVED TO 2 P.M.)
1 p.m. – Matt Vogt (a)
2:30 p.m. – Xander Schauffele
3 p.m. – Justin Thomas
Tuesday, June 10
9:30 a.m. – Jon Rahm
1 p.m. – Rory McIlroy
2 p.m. – Bryson DeChambeau
3 p.m. – Collin Morikawa
4 p.m. – Scottie Scheffler
Wednesday, June 11
11 a.m. – USGA Press Conference
Saturday, June 14
9:30 a.m. – Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus
TICKETS (all competition days sold out)
