2011 U.S. Open: Has the USGA Let This Tournament Get Away from Them?

Hey, I though the USGA regained control of the U.S. Open after Tiger Woods made a mockery of the event back in 2000 at Pebble Beach.

Evidently not.

Now, that’s in no way a knock on young Rory McIlroy.  He is playing some of the best golf ever seen in the 111-year history of the U.S. Open, and it’s the way he has distanced himself from the field by eight strokes that’s more impressive than his 14-under-par score, because the scoring at this U.S. Open must be taken with a grain of salt.

On U.S. Open Saturday, there were 26 subpar rounds.

That’s nearly half of the field that made the cut.

There are currently 20 players under par for the tournament and 26 players at even par or better.

This tournament more closely resembles the Travelers Championship than an event that is meant to be the toughest test in all of golf.

Guys have been attacking back-corner pin locations as if they were playing a pitch and putt course and golf balls are spinning from out of the rough as if the USGA had reinstated the old square grooves.

In fairness to the USGA, they’ve experienced a perfect storm in terms of how the weather has affected their ability to get Congressional running the way they had originally planned.

Last week temperatures approached 100 degrees in the D.C. area, which halted some of the growth in the rough, and evening storms this week have softened the greens to the point where there’s not much the USGA can do about it.

That being said, you’d think the USGA, who plans these tournaments years in advance, would have a plan B, C and D for situations just like this.

Between 1940 and 1980, the winning score at the U.S. Open was under par only 44.4 percent of the time. 

Between 1981 and 2010, the winning score has been under par an astonishing 80 percent of the time, and needless to say, this year we will see yet another under-par winner.  

Whether it's technology, a perfect storm of weather conditions, players simply getting better, poor planning on the part of the USGA or a combination of the four, one thing has become painfully obvious—the USGA has let our national championship get away from them.

If the 2011 U.S. Open doesn’t send shockwaves through Far Hills, NJ, I don’t know what will.

For more golf news, insight and analysis, check out The Tour Report.