Capelle On Golf

Some tune up. The guys playing in this week’s Memorial probably thought they were in for some player friendly conditions going into the US Open. They came to Columbus, Ohio thinking they would loosen up their long ball hitting swing on the expansive fairways of Muirfield Village for the super long Torrey Pines.

Once safely on the short grass, they could hone their iron shots to laser like precision on the well manicured fairways. They would complete their preparations by rolling the ball smoothly across Muirfield’s pool table greens for birdie upon birdie. And why not?

Last year K.J. Choi won with a seventeen under par 271, one better than Ryan Moore. Twenty players bettered 280 and 146 made the cut. All this low scoring despite the furrows Jack Nicklaus added to the bunkers that cause furrowed brows among the majority of contestants.

It looks like Nicklaus has responded to last year’s birdie binge the way the USGA did following Johnny Miller’s record setting final round of 63 at the 1973 US Open. The next year many blamed Miller, along with the USGA, for the brutal set up that led to the Massacre at Winged Foot, which was won by Hale Irwin with a seven over par 287.

This year the snarly rough at Muirfield looks more like Open rough. Add in some stiff breezes, slick greens that won’t hold shots played from the rough, and you have the recipe for high scoring. This time a score of 150 made the cut, four higher than last year.

In the first round eight players failed to break 80, a number that swelled to 21 in the windy conditions on Friday. Among those with who failed to break four score were Bubba Watson (84), Charles Howell III (80), Steve Flesch (81 – the same one who contended in the Masters), noted wind player Chad Campbell (81), and Jason Day (82), the brash young rookie who said he was going to tame Tiger earlier this year.

Among the 11 members of the top 20 in the World Golf Rankings, all but Ernie Els (73-78) made the cut. Luke Donald is the low scorer in this elite bunch. His rounds of 68-71 have him in fourth, two back of Matthew Goggin and Kenny Perry. Geoff Ogilvy, a former US Open winner, is tied for fifth after rounds of 69-71.

Recent winners Phil Mickelson (72-75) and Sergio Garcia (72-77) demonstrated how easily a player’s game can recede from its peak. Still, the US Open is a dozen days away. Although their A game may leave them in a heartbeat, they know that it can return just as fast. So no matter what happens at Jack’s Payback, their psyches and games will survive, and they will approach the Open with the optimism that is mandatory for golfers at their level of the game.