US Open 2015: The Top Storylines Heading into Chambers Bay
There is no shortage of interesting storylines heading into the 2015 U.S. Open that starts Thursday at Chambers Bay.
The tough, totally unique layout at University Place, Washington, is sure to attract plenty of attention as well as the wrath of some of the world's top golfers who are destined to struggle with its quirky nature.
What about Tiger and Lefty, as in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson? Are either or both ready to rise up again in one of golf's major championships?
Or will it be left to the young guns like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, this year's runaway winner at the Masters? They both seem poised to challenge.
And there is no doubt the course will be a difficult challenge to all. As Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post writes:
"This year’s U.S. Open will be held at Chambers Bay Golf Course, just outside of Tacoma, Wash. It’s the first time the links course — one of the few true links courses in the United States — has hosted a major, and it’s already creating a buzz because of a number of, shall we say, interesting features, even by the diabolical standards of the USGA, which crafts each U.S. Open track into a finely honed torture device.
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Let the following storylines begin to unfold against this dramatic backdrop.
The Chambers Bay Layout
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ESPN.com senior golf analyst Michael Collins put it best when he said that half the players "will be cool" with the Chambers Bay course layout and the other half "will hate it."
Collins' colleague, ESPN.com senior golf writer Jason Sobel, took the analysis a little further in the same online question-and-answer session. Asked how he thought the course would be rated after the tournament is over, with 1 being the worst and 10 the best, Sobel took the middle road with this response:
"If you ask most fans (especially those watching at home) to rank it come Sunday evening, the number will be close to 9. But the pros will rank it closer to a 5. Pros hate when a course is "unfair," which too often gets misinterpreted as "really difficult." They're going to see plenty of similar shots end up in different places this week. That'll get 'em grousing about the fairness.
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The bottom line is that many players will squawk about the course being gimmicky, unfair or whatever, thanks to some unconventional approaches taken by the USGA and the Chambers Bay designers.
These include some tee boxes that are uneven and holes that can be drastically altered in length and playability day by day, including Nos. 1 and 18, which will alternate between being par fours and par fives throughout the tournament.
But Collins is right. Fans watching at home are going to love it.
Is Dustin Johnson Ready?
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Dustin Johnson was playing some great golf before he raised eyebrows by withdrawing from the FedEx St. Jude Classic last week, citing an undisclosed "illness," per ESPN's Jason Sobel.
It was supposed to be a tuneup tournament for a player expected to be ranked among the favorites. And technically Johnson still is, with only McIlroy, Spieth and Mickelson owning better than Johnson's 18-1 odds of winning, according to OddsShark.com.
But something smells fishy to the experts, including ESPN's Michael Barrie, who wrote of Johnson: "I think Dustin Johnson will have some struggle in him. He WD'd with an illness (last) week in Memphis. So it's anyone's guess how he'll feel. DJ's game is long, which is perfect for this course. But his ball flight is low and on greens expected to roll Open fast, he could struggle holding an approach."
Others, such as golf writer Kyle Porter of CBSSports.com and Sobel of ESPN, suggested Johnson's withdrawal from the Memphis tournament had more to do with the fact that he was struggling and bored, and that it has nothing to do with his chances at Chambers Bay.
Fox Sports Takes over Television Coverage
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According to John Strege of GolfDigest.com, Fox Sports wants to make a big splash, and the evidence is in the $100 million the network reportedly is paying annually to televise USGA events. It just so happens that this U.S. Open, the first ever in the Pacific Northwest, offers prime-time coverage windows because of the three-hour time difference with the East Coast.
As Strege wrote:
"This U.S. Open is the centerpiece of Fox Sports’ television entry into golf coverage, and the network is going all-out to make it something as unique and as special as the Chambers Bay course itself.
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Among the new technologies (for covering a golf event, that is) that Fox is planning to introduce, according to Golf Digest, are drone flyovers, drop-down remote robotics cameras around the course, a small, remote-controlled car with an HD camera attached to it that will be "set loose on the grounds at Chambers Bay," rail cams and augmented reality graphics.
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Here's hoping no one hits a ball that knocks one of the drones out of the sky and ruins the party for everyone.
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Who Is the Next Matt Fitzpatrick?
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Who is the next Fitzpatrick, the only one of 12 amateurs entered last year to make the cut?
Fitzpatrick, now 20, was only 19 when he carded a one-under 69 in the final round at Pinehurst. The young Englishman then decided to turn pro and justified his decision by earning his card for the European Tour in 2015.
This year's U.S. Open field is packed with an unusually high number of amateurs, according to Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press (via CBSSports.com), who reported:
"After the final stage of qualifying, 17 amateurs are part of the field at Chambers Bay. Three were previously exempt through amateur criteria, and 14 made it through qualifying. The USGA said it was the highest number of amateurs since 1981.
Meanwhile, nine players made it to the U.S. Open by qualifying for the second straight year -- four from the qualifier in England, four from the United States and Liang Wenchong in the Asia qualifier.
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Among the amateur qualifiers is Cole Hammer, who is only 15 but shot 64-68 in two days of qualifying in Dallas to earn one of the coveted spots in the field.
"This means the world to me,” Hammer told the Dallas Morning News (via CBSSports.com). “I've dreamed about it my whole life. It's going to be awesome. This gives me a lot of confidence. I was coming in thinking I was a bit of a long shot, but why not? Just give it my best shot."
Which Tiger Woods Will Show Up?
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If Tiger Woods is playing in a major tournament, people cannot resist wondering if the old Tiger will show up.
It's not likely to happen, folks. Then again, Woods flashed more than a little of his old self while flirting with a top-10 finish in the Masters when it seemed his game was in total disarray, so maybe he will shock us again.
The fact is, though, Woods was horrible his last time out at the Memorial. He shot a career-worst round of 85 on Saturday and ended up finishing with a 14-over total of 302 that also was the worst four-round total of his otherwise distinguished career.
"This is a lonely sport," Woods told USA Today's Steve DiMeglio after the humbling experience at a tournament where the old Tiger won five times. He added:
"The manager is not going to come in and bring the righty or bring in the lefty; you've just got to play through it. And that's one of the hardest things about the game of golf and it's also one of the best things about the game of golf. When you're on, no one is going to slow you down. And when you're off, no one is going to pick you up.
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Can Phil Mickelson Finally Complete His Grand Slam?
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Next question up for fans after asking about Tiger usually is one about Lefty.
So how is Phil Mickelson playing and what are his chances of finally breaking through and winning the only major championship to elude him thus far in his career?
Well, there is good news for Mickelson, who has finished second a remarkable and record six times and desperately wants to complete his career Grand Slam before his age (he's now 45) completely prevents it. Mickelson is coming off a great showing in the FedEx St. Jude Classic, where he finished in a tie for third place after carding eight birdies in the final round.
"I'm feeling a lot better about heading into the U.S. Open after this week than I did after last," Mickelson told the AP, via PGATour.com, in reference to tying for 65th at the Memorial.
Can the Defending Champion Emerge from His Funk?
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Martin Kaymer is no joke, as his career record and last year's wire-to-wire domination in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 will attest.
After all, when he won last year at the age of 29, Kaymer joined the elite group of Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els, Woods and McIlroy as the only players since the world rankings began in 1986 to win two majors and be ranked No. 1 in the world before the age of 30.
So why has he been the butt of so many jokes lately? Well, blowing a 10-shot lead over the final 14 holes of a tournament you are supposed to win, as Kaymer did last January at the Abu Dhabi Championship in the United Arab Emirates, will put you in that unenviable position.
The problem is, Kaymer's struggles didn't end at the Abu Dhabi. When he left Pinehurst last year after winning his second major championship (he also won the PGA Championship in 2010), it seemed he had made a full recovery from the problems with his swing that had taken him from the No. 1 world ranking for eight weeks in 2011 to the No. 63 ranking at one point less than two years later.
Of Kaymer's sizzling, record-setting 65-65 start en route to last year's U.S. Open rout, fellow player Keegan Bradley told Alan Shipnuck of Golf.com: "It was probably the best two rounds I've ever seen."
It also was a year ago now, and since blowing up over those final 14 holes halfway across the world, he's missed the cut in three of the last seven tournaments he's played and hasn't finished better than 31st in any of the others.
Are Any Under-the-Radar Contenders Lurking?
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Keep your eyes on Justin Rose at Chambers Bay.
Now up to No. 5 in the world rankings, Rose is on a roll and often plays well in majors. That would include when he won the U.S. Open in 2013 at Merion.
More recently, Rose lost in a playoff to David Lingmerth at the Memorial after missing the cut at The Players Championship. But this type of links golf course should suit his game, and he won't get rattled like other possible contenders. So the course favors long hitters who can come through under pressure? Rose belted a drive 373 yards in the clutch to help force the playoff at the Memorial.
Rose is not a dark horse in the complete sense of the word, as OddsShark.com has him listed at 18-1, the same as Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. But he's definitely one to watch who is lurking under the radar coming in.
Other truer dark horses who bear watching (with odds) include Henrik Stenson (25-1), Adam Scott (28-1), Hideki Matsuyama (28-1), Matt Kuchar (40-1) and the trio of Brandt Snedeker, Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel (all at 50-1).
Rory McIlroy vs. Jordan Spieth
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The stage seems set for a Rory McIlroy vs. Jordan Spieth showdown in a major. Why not make it this one?
Nothing is for sure, of course, but McIlroy certainly seems primed and properly motivated to make up for Spieth leaving him (and everyone else) in the dust earlier this year at the Masters. It's not like Rory played poorly then or at all this season, finishing fourth at Augusta and never worse than 11th in seven of the eight PGA Tour events he's entered, with two wins (at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play and with the remarkable score of 21-under that shattered the tournament record by five strokes at the Wells Fargo Championship).
"Everything is firing on all cylinders for me," McIlroy told the AP, via ESPN, after the Wells Fargo win.
Since dominating the Masters, Spieth has made the cut in five of his last six events, with a tie for second in the Crowne Plaza Invitational and a tie for third at the Memorial.
"I'm hitting the ball better and better each week. ... Everything is kind of coming in place for the U.S. Open," Spieth told Bill Nichols of the Dallas Morning News.
McIlroy enters this U.S. Open ranked No. 1 in the world. Spieth is No. 2. Let's get it on!
Joe Menzer, who has covered various sports for more than three decades and has written six sports-related books, now writes about golf and other sports for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.
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