Somebody has to say it. The 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot is just plain goofy golf.
I’ll certainly bow in reverence to the greatness of Winged Foot the golf course, but this set-up is pretty much a joke.
Watching the world’s best golfers try to hit fairways as wide as a slice of bacon, machete their way through ankle deep rough and hit putts on mounded, pool table fast greens gets old after a few minutes.
Sorry, but I don’t find it all that entertaining to see Phil, Tiger and Jordan stumbling and bumbling around the course and missing the cut.
Now, for the weekend, we’re left watching two of golf’s most unlikeable players, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau, battling it out at Winged Foot. The drama, I guess, is to see which one of these charmers crashes and burns first.
Some of the more memorable moments from the first two days at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot:
–On Thursday, NBC forced everybody to watch the remainder of their coverage on their new Peacock streaming service. Remember, it’s always about the Benjamins. Always!
–Watching guys hit fairly straight drives on TopTracer only to discover their ball in 6 to 8 inch rough. When the player and caddie reach their sphere, they start shaking their heads at the ridiculous lie and begin wondering why they didn’t bring a weed whacker along.
–Hey, I guess it wouldn’t be a Major if Nike didn’t supply all their “Team Nike” members with stupid, innocuous hats, right?
–Tommy Fleetwood is one of my favorite golfers but the wide red and white stripe, “Where’s Waldo?” shirt he wore on Thursday looked like he was playing at the Pirate’s Cove miniature golf course. Maybe he saw the Winged Foot set-up and thought his fashion choice was appropriate.
–NBC brought out the telestrator to show us the different ridiculous routes some of the putts must travel to find the hole. You know, where guys hit it in the opposite direction of the hole then follow a path over the river and through the dell to grandmother’s house.
I guess I’m left with a couple of choices for this weekend. I can go out to my local muni and watch hackers hit some laughable shots or just hit the couch in front of my big screen and watch the world’s greatest hit some laughable shots.
I love laying on my couch and sipping a frosty one, so most likely I’m up for more goofy golf at the U.S. Open.
Bring out the windmills, dragon mouths and ant hills…
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