The 123rd US Open was highly anticipated. It’s taking place over one of America’s greatest layouts in one of the country’s greatest cities.
Los Angeles Country Club is one of the USA’s most exclusive clubs and this year’s US Open was a chance for us all to get a rare peep in behind the doors and check the place out.
LACC’s North Course is a stunning layout with plenty of memorable holes, from the terrific set of par 3s to the unique drivable 6th and the distinctive barranca running through the property. But sadly this US Open isn’t quite delivering despite a leaderboard that boasts two of golf’s fan favorites, Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy, contesting for the iconic trophy.
The week has already been record breaking, with the only two 62s shot in this great old championship coming within 20 minutes of each other on Thursday morning. Except that’s not really a great thing.
Scoring has been controversial this week as record after record has been either broken or matched. The US Open is supposed to be golf’s toughest test but LACC was somewhat of a birdie fest over the first two days, with Rickie Fowler birdieing 18 of the first 36 holes.
Fans are used to brutally difficult US Open tests and we’ve seen some excellent ones in recent years. Shinnecock Hills in 2018 was a controversial week with the course setup, with some believing it went too far, but it made for a thrilling spectacle where Brooks Koepka prevailed at one-over-par. Justin Rose also won the brilliant 2013 US Open at Merion on the same one-over-par total.
The last three years have all seen winning scores of six-under, with last year’s event at Brookline standing out as one of the best in recent times.
And while the scoring hasn’t been ideal for fans who love the pros to suffer or the USGA who will have been seeing plenty of those fans’ comments online, it’s not the scoring that is the reason why there should be some changes before next time LACC hosts in 2039.
It’s the atmopshere.
Compared to last year’s jam-packed US Open in the sports-loving city of Boston at The Country Club, this year’s championship has been somewhat of a damp squib.
Crowd numbers have been fairly low – a reported maximum of 30,000 per day with many of them believed to be corporate or members’ guests. The layout also ensures that they’re also quite far away from the action.
The 13th and 14th holes in the corner of the property in particular seem very sparse, which makes for an odd look considering that’s really where the thick of…
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