Why players likely won't be driving balls down adjacent fairways this time at Oakmont

NBC Sports

2 days ago

OAKMONT, Pa. – It's been almost four years since the world's top amateurs zig-zagged their ways around Oakmont Country Club.
Just don't expect that kind of right-brain strategy again.
Nasty rough and a recent renovation led by Gil Hanse are expected to all but mitigate competitors at this week's U.S. Open opting to hit tee shots down adjacent fairways. Alternate lines were used by dozens of players on six tees during the 2021 U.S. Amateur, including Travis Vick, who was largely considered the trendsetter that week. By the time the championship reached match play, more than half the field were going down adjacent fairways while playing Nos. 1, 3, 9, 10, 11 and 14, though it's worth noting that the winner that week, James Piot, stuck to trying to find the short grass as originally intended.
'I don't think that's going to be an issue,' said Hanse in a recent Fried Egg Golf interview.
One longtime Oakmont member agreed, noting Hanse's changes 'made those plays more difficult.'
'The thing that will likely keep players from going cross country is the rough,' added the member. '… There really wasn't any penalty for playing from the rough in the Amateur. The penalty of the bunkers was much greater than the rough with the Amateur setup. That won't be the case this week.'
Playing the par-4 first hole down the ninth fairway? The 5-inch rough deters that. Same for hitting down the first fairway from the ninth tee.
Going over the church pews and into the fourth fairway off the third tee? Not after some 30 yards were added and the famed bunker gained about 15 yards and an extra pew.
The start of the 11th fairway ends earlier for those coming in from the 10th tee. 'There's no way to get a ball to stop on that hill unless it's sopping wet,' Hanse said. And on the way back, a new tee adds about 25 yards and makes the carry to the 10th fairway some 280 yards uphill.
Jon Rahm, who competed in the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, recently told a few players who played in that 2021 U.S. Amateur that there was 'zero chance in this world that anyone goes to 11 tee and hits driver toward 10.'
'What I remember from the U.S. Open, that rough between 10 and 11 might have been the thickest on the entire property,' Rahm added. 'You were not advancing it anywhere. Same on 1, they were almost bailing left for whatever reason. It is very weird to see that happen because that is not the course I remembered.'
Finally, Hanse added about 20 yards to the par-4 14th hole and lowered that tee box about 6 feet, making the drive into the 12th fairway much more difficult, though that remains the most likely of the potential alternate plays, according to a couple caddies who have researched all options.
The USGA, like it did in 2021, will not implement any internal out of bounds.
So, it could happen, but probably not.
'We've looked at it in a few spots, but I think we're just going to stick to what the golf course tells you to do,' said long-hitting amateur Matt Vogt, who caddied at Oakmont about a decade ago and competed in the 2021 U.S. Amateur. 'That's what's cool about Oakmont is it's so well designed in spots, it just says, 'Hey, do this.' Sometimes it means hitting it dead straight in between a lot of junk, and it's almost simple in a way. It's like, you've got to do this or consequences.'
Added Rahm: 'There's no chance you're doing that. If you are, you're taking a big risk obviously.'
But what about Bryson DeChambeau? Surely he's thought about it.
Not so much.
'But it's a great idea, thank you,' DeChambeau said. 'I'm going to go check that out now.'
Stay tuned.