Opinion & Analysis
Z. Johnson says Merion is “manipulated”
The terms “fair” and “unfair” are often voiced during the U.S. Open, as questions circle about the fine line between the two.
Zach Johnson used harsher terms.
“I would describe the whole golf course as manipulated,” said Johnson. “It just enhances my disdain for the USGA and how it manipulates golf courses.”
Johnson continued, “Not when luck is required. I think Merion is a great golf course, if you let Merion be, but that is not the agenda.”
His comments came after a 77 in Round 2, leaving him in a tie for 105th place at 11-over par. Johnson will have an MC (missed cut) next to his name after the completion of the second round tomorrow, giving him plenty of incentive for negative commentary.
Lee Westwood serves as testimony to Johnson’s accusations. During his first round, Westwood’s approach shot into No. 12’s green hit the wicker basket, ricocheting backward off the green. A good shot was penalized due to misfortune, leading to a double bogey.
Westwood, who is now hovering on the cutline at 7-over, sarcastically tweeted after the first round:
So much tradition at merion to talk about……like those delightful wicker baskets !
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) June 14, 2013
Johnson projected earlier in the week that the wicker baskets could affect play.
“I’m not a big fan of them because it’s not consistent with what we normally use,” he said. “I’m not anti-Merion, but we are used to seeing flags. They could be a factor.”
He may not be “anti-Merion,” but he surely doesn’t fancy the USGA.
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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Marty
Jul 14, 2013 at 2:30 am
Quad-Cities TPC is manipulated! Zack Jonson is a baby who cries.
Jtriscott
Jul 9, 2013 at 11:48 am
I wonder what Justin Rose thinks of Merion.
Chris
Jun 25, 2013 at 11:45 am
Wah! You do, what others can only do recreationally (at great personal expense) for a living. I don’t cry when my job gets difficult. take your lumps and add them to the life experience column. Everyone suffers “manipulated” moments life. Golf is a prime example of that.
Dave
Jun 20, 2013 at 7:08 pm
These pros should try some of the courses that the masses play, like the local muni. Try taking one of those perfect pancake divots where i play and you will either break your club or your wrist. On the rare occasion that I get to play an expensive well manicured course it takes at least 5 strokes off my score.
Chris
Jun 25, 2013 at 11:45 am
Touche
Tom
Jun 19, 2013 at 9:23 pm
Never really cared much about par. As the old saying goes “it’s not how, it’s how many” Whomever ends up with the lowest number wins, how they get there is all the fun. Don’t get me wrong the big scores are fun to watch too.
kc
Jun 19, 2013 at 1:49 pm
6″ rough hah! It was worse @winged foot & bethpage.
Bethpage was just under knee & hip high. Winged was 12″ and higher stimp
Merion stimp was in high 11s & was cited by several announcers & usga.
naflack
Jun 19, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Wicker baskets were silly and gimmicky.
curt
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:32 am
The whole thing was a farce! Look at a scorecard from Merion — it’s a par 72 layout!!! Just because they want you to believe it’s so tough, they use a false par — subtract 8 shots to par from each of the scores and you get the truth! You can make any course unplayable if you water and fertilize the rough and grow it to 6 or 8 inches, leave weeds 3-feet tall all over the place (even in some of the bunkers), narrow the fairways to 20 yards, and double-cut and double roll the greens! Play ANY course at 7000 yards with that setup and you’ll embarrass even the pros! That’s why we end up with winners like Lee Jantzen, Scott Simpson, Andy North, etc… way too much luck with those kinds of conditions! It was great tv drama, but it was by no means great golf — except to those people who enjoy watching train wrecks!
naflack
Jun 19, 2013 at 12:26 pm
+1
Desmond
Jul 4, 2013 at 1:15 pm
The manner in which the old greens are designed make no putt a gimme. You saw plenty of missed putts; a bomb was a rarity over the 4 days.
You can adjust the course without manipulating it. But once again, the USGA went overboard and redesigned a course that only needed adjustment.
Better planning and input from the pros, even some touring pros playing the course beforehand for more input, would eliminate most of the manipulation and USGA paranoia.
yo!
Jun 18, 2013 at 2:43 am
another boring u.s. open … painful to watch … like watching the guys in my foursome play … thank goodness it’s only once a year … maybe the pga tour will stick it to the usga (who doesn’t work for anyone but themselves) by not adopting the belly putter ban … stop sending me those cheap usga notepads trying to get me to pony up $ to join the usga … but the us open offers big $$$$ (corporate sponsors) for the tournament so top players are going to show up and try to collect
Reyes
Jun 17, 2013 at 6:41 pm
These guys play precision golf even off the tee. When the USGA decides to slope fairways into six inches of rough, that’s manipulation. When they decide to create a 270 yard par 3 into the wind, that’s manipulation. These guys want to protect par. That’s fine and you can do this by varying pin placements and creating inconsistent stimp meter speeds on the green. The winning score at Augusta the past few years has been about six under. They don’t have six inch rough and it’s enjoyable. To have someone land an 8 iron ten feet from the pin only to see it roll into the rough is not golf. That’s just silly and stupid. I don’t mind seeing guys punished for horrible shots. I do mind seeing fairways and greens manipulated so that the balls don’t stay on. Again, for emphasis, that’s not golf. It’s dumb and not entertaining.
Flip4000
Jun 17, 2013 at 5:57 pm
I love watching pros struggle around a tough golf course like many of us amateurs do
Brockohol
Jun 17, 2013 at 10:05 am
As my grandpa always said when I complained about a bad lie, “well, you shouldn’t have hit it there dummie.”
I honestly didnt see anything that was too ridiculous out there. Guys have a point at past opens when they literally couldnt get the ball to stop unless it went into the cup. But Merion just required a tee shot in the fairway and then a very specific strategy with your approach shot whether it be a 215yd 5 iron or a 70yd Lob Wedge. I didnt see many of those “perfect shots” that then rolled off the green.
nick
Jun 17, 2013 at 2:06 am
I agree with his statement. If you need to rake the rough to make it harder that’s rediculous. Its artificially altering the playing characteristics of the course to make it play harder and differently than nature intended. Making par 3’s 245 + yards??? Is that really needed? I didnt find it that interesting watching. You usually hope the person pulling off nice shots will win not the person who played it so safe I wanted to go to sleep. Doesnt make for exciting golf.
Anthony
Jun 16, 2013 at 10:49 pm
To be fair the courses were alot shorter and the greens were slower in the persimmon and balata days. playing them side by side for score on today’s courses isnt fair
David
Jun 16, 2013 at 8:12 pm
People who care what Zach Johnson thinks about any course:
0.0
Fu#&ing hair lip.
Desmond
Jul 4, 2013 at 1:11 pm
Mature comment … not.
Brian
Jun 16, 2013 at 8:02 pm
Then don’t cash your check, hair lip.
KCCO
Jun 16, 2013 at 12:52 pm
I don’t believe it’s a test to show who is truly the “best” or most skilled golfer, its more like who can survive merion…..
Desmond
Jun 16, 2013 at 1:13 pm
On Sunday, it’s mostly mental and luck – if one can keep their focus and energy level, the ball can break their way.
J
Jun 16, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Conditions are equal for all. Course is the same test for each golfer.
I do agree the USGA can take a hike however, for a plethora of reason.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 12:56 pm
They certainly can if for no other reason than letting the equipment get so far out of hand.
More from the Snedeker article:
On the first nine holes using the persimmon driver and the older ball, Snedeker could find the fairway just two of nine times. Each of his drives were low-flying projectiles that snapped to the left and went 200-220 yards — into high rough and behind trees.
On the first hole, he had 188 yards to the pin after his drive with the wood ended near a tree. With his contemporary TaylorMade r7 driver, he had 128 yards from the middle of the fairway to the pin.
On the par-4, 445-yard ninth, he had 200 yards to the pin after his drive with the wood ended up in rough; he had 144 yards from the middle of the fairway after using his modern driver.
“I’m seeing parts of this golf course I’ve never seen before,” Snedeker said on the 12th hole. “I’m trying everything to keep the old driver on this planet.”
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 11:49 am
Brandt Snedeker:
“I truly appreciate growing up in the generation that I did,” Snedeker says, “because I don’t think I would have grown up to be a pro golfer if I had to have played with the old stuff. It is so much different, so much tougher.”
“It makes me really appreciate the guys that came before me,” Snedeker says of hitting the old clubs. “The way Bobby Jones played golf, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller. Those guys were phenomenal.
“They had to be unbelievable ball strikers to hit the ball straight and as solid as they did.”
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/golf/pga/2007-07-12-oldclubs_N.htm?imw=Y
Desmond
Jun 16, 2013 at 8:31 am
Think about this course before you post and scream “crybabies.”
That’s rubbish.
I don’t care that Phil is not carrying a driver. He has the deep 3 wood. But when guys are keeping 3 wood in the bag to hit hybrids, when they are 50 yards behind Hogan’s 1 iron marker on their tee shot just so they can remain in the fairway with accuracy and not much run, when Luke Donald says I don’t need a 6i,7i, or 8i on this course, that screams that something is wrong … with the course.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 11:23 am
Considering how far the modern ball goes when hit with the modern clubs they need to be 50 yards behind Hogan to compare apples to apples. I saw an article recently where Luke Donald took out a set of persimmon woods and titleist tour balatas and compared them to his new style Flintstone driver and pro v1. He said the new combo was at least 60 yards longer than the classic stuff. Also Snediker played Torrey Pines with persimmons and blades and could do no better than 80.
Desmond
Jul 4, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Seriously?
Give the guys a month or tow to grow accustomed to the new “old” sticks and you’d see better scores. C’mon.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 3:34 am
btw, Lee Westwood, clearly it’s not the wicker that is preventing you from winning a major, considering your record! God what a bunch of spoiled, rich, unappreciative crybabies.
Jamie
Jun 16, 2013 at 6:53 am
Lee Westwood’s record in majors is exemplary! 15 top tens in majors, including 7 top three finishes. And with almost 40 worldwide wins and countless runner ups and top 5s – I think most of the golfing community have him down as a real contender heading into every major championship. He may not have gotten over the line yet but its hard to argue against a record like that, he really steps up in the big championships. I’m sure he’ll have at least one major before he’s done.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 11:11 am
His “win” recode is certanly not exemplary, and plenty of people had Montgomery penciled in for a major too.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 3:17 am
Typical spoiled rich prima donna whiner, and not a great player by PGA standards! Zack is lucky he is playing in the modern era, if he wants to see Merion like it was meant to be played, he can get out the persimmon and balatas and shoot 90! What a bitter turd!
Desmond
Jun 16, 2013 at 2:38 am
Well, Zach is correct in his comments. After this “restored” Merion is through with the Open, they are closing it to “restore” it back.
The Commentators also noted how the USGA had manipulated the fairways and bunkers, taking away from the original design. Sure, grow the rough … but change the fairways and bunkers?
That is MANIPULATION.
Blanco
Jun 16, 2013 at 2:06 am
Jeezy Creezy! At least he didn’t use HIS name in vain.
Marty
Jun 16, 2013 at 1:59 am
He whines and is a crier.
Marty
Jun 16, 2013 at 1:59 am
Yes. Zach Johnson is a cry baby. This needs to be said more.
Jeff
Jun 15, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Come on this just proves as many have said Zach Johnson is a cry baby. If you have that much hate for the USGA, then do not play no one is twisting your arm to play, or needs you to play.
Joe
Jun 15, 2013 at 7:01 pm
Every year someone has a comment about it being unfair. Last time I checked everyone plays the same course. Obviously we all know how this game can mess with your head when you don’t have your best stuff. Probably the case with Zach. If he has so much disdain for the USGA then just skip it, won’t be the first player to do it.
The US Open puts a premium on accuracy and course management. As of Saturday afternoon a handful players are under par and at least surviving. Hogan won at Merion in 1950 with a score of +7.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 3:24 am
+1 If Sergio had made that comment, the golf channel would have gone into to CNN-style 24 hour coverage.
Chopper
Jun 15, 2013 at 5:41 pm
I think this is the best test of pro golfing all year…Sick of 20 under scores Test these guys to the limit they are the best let them prove it .USGA should (manipulate )every course then we would see who IS THE BEST!!!
MFB
Jun 15, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Totally agree with Zac and he is dead on about the USGA.
The last few years the USGA has done a reasonable job with the set up at the US Open.
It is the USAG’s tournament and they can set it up any way they like.
But this year they went back to tricking up the course because these guys would tear Merion up if they did not.
Questionable pin placements from the start and the greens were never designed to be running at 13 or above on the stimp are just a few ways it has been tricked up to keep the scores from being double digits under par.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 3:32 am
They would not tear it up with the older equipment. Half they guys on tour would have to get a day job if they went back to pre 1990 spec gear.
Ray
Jun 15, 2013 at 11:39 am
Weak, so weak. It’s the wicker basket’s fault. Isn’t the US Open supposed to be a manipulated course? Members wouldn’t play somewhere that hard on a regular basis. It is supposed to be made harder to bring out the best player that week.
Michael
Jun 15, 2013 at 11:37 am
I am so tired of watching driver – wedge tournaments. It is such a pleasure to watch the US open, because the so called pros have to play tough golf courses. Golf is not supposed to be easy. Same goes for lift clean and cheat. The PGA should get back to setting up courses that are difficult to play. These guys are supposed to be Pros so make the courses more difficult like the US open is every year.
Lee
Jun 15, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Completely agree with you!… Except for lift, clean, and place. This is completely fare, it’s done so they can actually play the course, when otherwise they would be punished for hitting the fairway.
Lee
Jun 15, 2013 at 11:36 am
Think Zach is just mad his ball striking is sub-par to be a candidate for winning the US Open.
Greg
Jun 15, 2013 at 10:32 am
Nice to see these guys struggle with conditions and have to hit shots for a change. They are spoiled by perfectly manicured courses on a weekly basis and then get upset when they don’t shoot 20 under for the week.
Tough life, guys.
Nathan
Jun 15, 2013 at 10:24 am
The problem is whenever the USGA tries to make these courses harder to hold the US Open, they do so in a way that is not consistent with the way these courses are meant to be played. The architects didn’t design these courses to be played this way so the players end up having to play the holes in ways they weren’t designed to be played.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 3:22 am
Merion (and all of the classic courses) were designed to be played with the older equipment/balls, so we will never again get to see how they were meant to be played. Btw, the USGA has been manipulating course for years, so what? Zack and others seem to take all of this a bit too seriously… it’s entertainment, nothing more. Zack can choose not to play and simply move on; I doubt anyone would care or notice but his immediate family… maybe.
Dalton
Jun 15, 2013 at 9:46 am
I think the manipulation comment was meant about the usga’s greens keeping. They destroy the courses. The greens at merion are turning brown which only happens when you cut wet grass too short. They are doing everything to make it extremely difficult, all while destroying the course.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 3:27 am
You are right of course. What the USGA should do is bring back the balata ball and persimmon drivers/fairways, and force players to play the same equipment the Hogan. Snead, Nicklaus, and Norman used. There would be no need to trick up the courses to see Zack ( and many others) shoot a high number.
Dennis
Jun 15, 2013 at 9:16 am
Merion is a great way to neutralize the equipment gains that have taken place and pushed playing the game to course management and between the ears. It gives today’s golfers a unique chance to revisit history and walk in the shoes of the old-timers. It also illustrates how good those old-timers really were.
nccrilly
Jun 15, 2013 at 9:10 am
I don’t understand why all of these pros think this event should be like any other PGA tour event. This is the national championship of golf, owned and operated by the USGA, and it is their prerogative to make it whatever they see fit. Nobody is begging these pros to show up and play. There are thousands of amateurs that attempt to qualify every year without exemption just for a chance to compete. That is the beauty of this game and this open event. There is absolutely no reason the USGA should feel compelled to consider the “feelings” of touring professionals when setting up a course for the best championship in golf. Who cares if its 10 under or 10 over par that wins it! It’s you against the field and everyone plays the same course.
Jamie
Jun 16, 2013 at 6:09 am
Agree with most of what you say – everyone plays the same course, so its the golfer against the rest of the field and still who can handle the course the best. They all face the same challenge – they just have to tough it out! I can appreciate that mentally this championship must be very draining on the players at times and that its an advantage to be the kind of guy who is able to roll with the punches, and just accept what the golf course gives them and not dwell on frustrations and perceived misfortune and just keep grinding away. I can understand some of the frustrations the players might feel though, some of the lies for missing a fairway or green by a couple of inches is ridiculous at times – but as mentioned previously everyone faces the same challenge. However I don’t agree with the US Open being ‘the best championship in golf’…. bring on the British Open, the oldest and most prestigious major.
Randall
Jun 15, 2013 at 7:50 am
These guys are supposed to be the best players in the world. They can’t hit thirty yard wide fairways with an iron off the tee. The rough is only hit and thick if you hit it in it. Hit the fairway?
Lee
Jun 15, 2013 at 9:08 am
Lol welcome, guy who just started playing golf.
Chris
Jun 15, 2013 at 7:31 am
I personally love to see the players struggle. only a few times a year do I see them struggle to hit greens, make putts, or even hit fairways. To win the US Open does not just take good golf skills it takes great golf course management.
danny
Jun 15, 2013 at 9:09 am
I agree. It’s boring to watch them shoot -15 -20 under par.
When par is a good score, that means that doubles or triples are in play which means it’s anyones game.
There is probably a reason nobody gives a crap about the tournaments Zach Johnson wins, nobody plays in them and the final score is always 20 something under par…. boooooooooring.
Poop Squirrel
Jun 15, 2013 at 8:40 pm
He’s a Masters Champion…Hmmmmm……
bravesgolf
Jun 15, 2013 at 5:53 am
Stop whinging Zach Johnson. Don’t play the US Open if you dislike the course set ups and the USGA so much. Let someone else play who will appreciate it as an honour and an oppotunity instead of whinging and taking it for granted. You clearly have no idea how lucky you are to play this terrific game for a living. Very poor attitude from a PGA Tour and Major winner.
G
Jun 15, 2013 at 12:50 am
The counter argument is, Zach, that the majority of the PGA Tour courses are also “manipulated” for easy scoring with no rough, wide fairways, perfectly manicured easy-out bunker sand, and flat greens. It shouldn’t be that the total score at the end of the week can reach 25 under or whatever ridiculous number so easily. If the courses on the PGA Tour were set up properly, they would have minimum 3 inch rough consistently from course to course, more OBs instead of free drops and lateral hazards on the boundaries (including the areas up and around the clubhouse and such) and the pins wouldn’t be placed in such easy-scoring positions.
Andrew Tursky
Jun 15, 2013 at 12:38 am
Just to clarify, Zach Johnson’s statement about the USGA was a grievance with course set up, saying luck is required. Westwood’s shot was wildly unlucky, which was the reason for the example. It’s unfortunate to hear players complain about “luck” and “wicker baskets” when competition and tradition should be at the forefront of discussion.
troy
Jun 16, 2013 at 10:15 am
That’s easy for you to say when you’re livelihood or score isn’t dependant on luck of the lie 6 inches of the fairway with a perfectly placed tee shot. Or hitting a basket instead of a flag on a perfectly hit iron shot.
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 11:44 am
There is always a certain amount of luck involved when playing golf. How about Payne Stewart hitting a perfect tee shot into a divot at the 98 US Open? That probably cost him the tournament! Also, this livelihood stuff used to mean something years ago when discussed in the context of professional sports, but draws a little less sympathy these days.
jk
Jun 15, 2013 at 12:29 am
Yes the usga makes fairways tighter and rough more penalizing…its what they do every year and I’m glad they didn’t do different cuts off the fairway. If the best 100 golfers can’t hit the fairway with an iron off the tee then they should be penalized. Poor you zj poor you
gibby626
Jun 15, 2013 at 12:20 am
Ah jeez. The wicker baskets ain’t what we’re used to? Just take all the pins out of holes then. You guys have the hole location sheets anyway. More than I can say for my weekend hackfest.
Eric
Jun 14, 2013 at 11:57 pm
Mike, I don’t think it was Zach making those comments regarding the baskets, that was Lee Westwood off his own twitter. Zach is talking about how the USGA always spends millions turning the U.S. Open venues into the some of the hardest courses to ever play. It was a slight against the USGA for being too involved with the tournament.
nbr334
Jun 15, 2013 at 3:37 am
exactly
Jack
Jun 16, 2013 at 3:31 am
The USGA is too involved? It’s their tournament! Zack and anyone else can choose to sit out if they don’t like it.
Mike
Jun 14, 2013 at 11:39 pm
What a whiner! I’m disappointed. I didn’t see Tiger complaining about those wicked flag sticks at Augusta. So Zach Johnson is used to flags instead of wicker baskets? Too bad. I’m used to 75 and sunny. But guess what, when it’s 100 and humid I deal. When it’s 55 and rainy, I deal. It’s part of being a golfer. Maybe he’s being quoted out of context, but right now he’s coming off as a prima donna.
Asitlies
Jun 14, 2013 at 11:14 pm
Hitting the basket is now the fault of the USGA??!! Stop. Horrendous example. Hitting the basket is “rub of the green”, not course manipulation. I think he was referring to the rough, or the greens, or the course setup, not the baskets. Was it the fault if the Masters folks when Tiger Woods hit the pin on 15 and it shot back into the water? No, that’s the way the ball bounces…
jtopher
Jun 14, 2013 at 11:25 pm
Yep, or when Sergio hit the pin at Carnoustie. He sounds like a guy that just got his butt kicked by the golf course. Don’t let the gate hit you on the way out.
Mike
Jun 14, 2013 at 11:39 pm
Agreed
troy
Jun 16, 2013 at 10:08 am
Dissagree.. if there was a flag instead of a big fat basket the ball would have either hit the pin, hit the flag, or hit nothing. With the last 2 meaning a putt for birdie. There is a reason no one else uses baskets on their pins. But that’s besides the point. When you have deep rough that you have to gouge out of 6 inches from a sloped fairway and thats when you are at the mercy of whatever Lie you end up with. Yes, everyone deals with the same conditions, but everyone doesn’t get the same result from the inconsistencies
Michael
Jun 22, 2013 at 10:54 am
Actually, I just played the Seaside course at Sea Island this week and they had wicker baskets. Seemed to be a nice touch. Fair is a subjective term it seems. I’d always figured if everyone is playing by the same rules on the same course, then hard or not, it’s fair. Zach needs to quit whining when the chips don’t go his way. The course may have been “manipulated”, but it was set up the same for everyone who handed him his hat on the way out.
Jon
Jun 16, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Actually hitting the basket is the fault of USGA, if it were a flag there would be no discussion. Rub of the green, please.