• “The folks in charge of the United States Open golf tournament do many things well, and the thing they do best is bring their ultimate competition to the Pebble Beach Golf Links, the ultimate golf course. Maybe some places demand more of a player; Oakmont comes to mind. Maybe some places speak more to history; Augusta. No place, it says here, does all that while sending its players to the edge of the known world – way past Gilroy, just south and west of Salinas – and onto the greatest stage in golf.”

• “…And now they come not to a place unknown, not to Erin Hills or Chambers Bay, but to a place called felicitous and breathtaking and “one of the most amazing pieces of property in the world” (Spieth, Tuesday). They come to Pebble Beach, a property sanctified by Nicklaus and Watson and beatified by Woods, and we’ll see if Brooks Koepka can add to the history. Victory would be Koepka’s third straight in the Open. That trifecta has been done, but only once, and a lot has happened since Willie Anderson came over from Scotland and did it in 1903, ’04, and ’05.” 

Full piece.

• “Because of that recent history, the USGA might be under as much pressure as any of the competitors this week.”

• “It is not lost on us this is an important week, not only for golf, this is an important week for the USGA,” executive director Mike Davis said at a news conference Wednesday, the day before this year’s national championship starts at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

• “Yet Woods, a year-and-a-half into his comeback but still very much in the exploratory stages of what his body can and can’t do, views Wednesdays in a different light…”

• “…The 43-year-old now takes Tuesdays off-or as much as a three-hour practice session can qualify as “off”-to conserve energy. Because his latest back procedure has tightened his muscles up, Wednesday serves as a litmus test for Woods, making sure the swing that was there on Monday has returned.”

• “At 7,075 yards, Pebble Beach Golf Links is not a long course by modern standards. However, the cool, damp climate is perfect for growing grass, and it has allowed the United States Golf Association to line the fairways and surround the greens with deep, thick rough.”

• “That rough would typically compel golfers to consider adding a high-lofted fairway wood to their bag and remove a long iron. Fairway woods, like a 5-wood or a 7-wood, have a wider sole than a long iron and a lower center of gravity. They can work through tall grass and get the ball up more easily. Plus, because they have a longer shaft than a long iron, a fairway wood will hit the ball a little farther than an iron with the same loft.”

• “But this week at Pebble Beach, the firm fairways and a weather forecast that calls for virtually no rain has players rethinking their options. Driving irons, normally put into play on windy courses to keep the ball low and allow it to run after it lands, have been more popular than expected.”

• (What Johnny Miller told Rory) “Johnny told me to look at the history of major championships,” said McIlroy, who tees off the 10th hole at 7:51 a.m. local time on Thursday. “That first round is so important. And I agree. My first rounds at Augusta [73] and Bethpage [72] this year put me a little bit behind the eight ball. And it’s hard to catch up. Especially as major championships are played on the toughest courses. The temptation is to chase and it’s hard to do that.

• “In the majors I’ve won, I started really well with rounds in the mid-60s. And that’s sort of what’s held me back a little bit [in the others]. If I can take the freedom that I played with on Saturday and Sunday last week [when he shot 64-61 to win the Canadian Open by seven shots] and get off to a good start here, I’ll hopefully be right in the tournament from the get-go and stay there. That’s what is wonderful about golf, whether you win or lose. You go to the next week and it’s sort of forgotten about. You start again. You can’t dwell on success or failure. You keep looking forward.”

Full piece.

• “I traded him. He gave me a Raptors jersey, and I gave him my putter and thought he was going to give it to [caddie Harry Diamond] up at the scoring area or whatever,” McIlroy said on Wednesday at the U.S. Open. “And I saw Harry. He goes, Where’s your putter? And I said, I better go find it. So, no, I definitely didn’t give it away. I know I’ve done some stupid things in the past, but that would have been right up there.”

• …”I said to Harry, Could you go and find Laurence? He’s got my putter. And put it back in the bag and make sure the bag gets on the plane and goes to California,” added McIlroy. “That was really it … the guy I gave it to was running the golf tournament. He knows it’s not for him.”

• “But unlike Woods, Koepka believes he doesn’t get enough attention and is misunderstood by the public for his stoic nature while competing. Also unlike Woods, a diplomat and often cautious with the media, Koepka doesn’t have much of a filter.”

• “While other prominent players, including Woods, have criticized the United States Golf Association for U.S. Open course set-ups, Koepka said others complain too much. He prefers to reference the “even playing field” golf offers.”

• “Koepka has also “challenged” players saying: “winning majors is easier than other tournaments because there are only a handful of players who are talented enough and mentally strong enough to compete with me.”

• “…you saw what Rory McIlroy did in his runaway RBC Canadian Open victory Sunday and don’t think that was a loud-and-clear message entering this week’s U.S. Open, you’re not paying attention.”

• “If McIlroy brings the form he had in posting a final-round 61 in Canada to Pebble Beach, look out field…McIlroy is perhaps the most dangerous front-runner in the game, a player who can get hot and go low in a hurry.”

• “Liberating, satisfying … I mean, there’s a lot of different words you could use to describe what it would feel like,” McIlroy said Wednesday of the prospect of winning another major. “I had a chat at the [U.S. Open] champions reunion [Tuesday] night with Johnny Miller and Johnny said, ‘You look at the history of major championships. That first round is so important.’

• “As with the amateurs over at Cypress Point, USGA Golf Museum director Hilary Cronheim said Hogan’s 1-iron and its striking wear pattern near the hozzle got the most attention, with McIlroy, Geoff Ogilvy, Martin Kaymer and Lee Janzen taking the most interest.”

• “I’m a golf geek, and I love the traditions and history of the game,” McIlroy said. “And that was so cool.”