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US Open scoring: Does the USGA go too far, or are US Opens a true test of golf?
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It's not that the United States Golf Association wants to reduce the field at the U.S. Open to so many sniffling babies, getting beat up by gnarly rough, narrow fairways and fast greens.
The stance of the governing body of golf in America, which sets the rules and also operates 17 national championships, including this week's tournament at the Oakmont Country Club, is to see who can rise above the weeping and wailing.
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'We're not trying to humiliate the best players in the world,' said former USGA President Sandy Tatum, after Hale Irwin won the 1974 U.S. Open at 7-over par at Winged Foot. 'We're simply trying to identify them.'
The Oakmont Country Club south of Pittsburgh was built on farmland and offers golfers in the U.S. Open a stern test, despite the lack of water hazards or trees.
That's never more the case than at Oakmont, that Western Pennsylvania beast that will host the Open for the 10th time, more than any course in America.
Players, at least the ones who can park their egos and drivers at the door, accept that the U.S. Open will likely be the most difficult test of the year for them.
What's so tough about Oakmont?
There is no water. Many of the trees were removed during the last renovation. And the course is generally in as ideal shape as any major championship venue.
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But it's a par-70, so two par-5 scoring opportunities are out the window. And it's long, this year playing at over 7,372.
There's a 289-yard par-3 (No. 8), a 507-yard par-4 (No. 15) and a 632-yard par-5 (No. 12).
Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods and Angel Cabrera (left to right) wait on the 18th green of the Oakmont Country Club after the final round of the 107th U.S. Open Championship on June 17, 2007.
Players also have to contend with the "Church Pew Bunker," a massive fairway trap with rows of thick, high grass.
That said, it's been a wet May in the area and rain might fall during the week. The USGA course setup crew is likely not able to greens rolling as fast as they would like (156 players are crossing their fingers) but it also means the rough will be thicker, deeper and wetter.
How tough has Oakmont played?
Tommy Armour won the first U.S. Open played at Oakmont in 1927, beating Harry Cooper in a playoff. They both shot 21-over 301 but with rudimentary equipment and a game that was still evolving in America, that was the norm for the period.
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The first eight U.S. Opens were won with scores of 300 or more, with the highest total for a winner coming in 1901 when four-time Open champion Willie Anderson and Alex Smith went to a playoff after they posted 43-over 331 at the Myopia Hunt Club, near Boston.
It wasn't until Smith shot 295 at the Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest Ill., to win the 1906 Open that someone broke 300 and won.
Sam Parks Jr. nearly cut Armour's score in half when the Open went back to Oakmont in 1935, posting 11-over to win. It was another 18 years before the Open went back to Oakmont and Hall of Famer Ben Hogan had the first under-par winning score at 5-under.
Five years before, Hogan set a record of 8-under to win the 1948 Open that wasn't matched for 32 years, when Jack Nicklaus shot 8-under at Baltusrol.
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While Oakmont was tough, a player on his game could break par. Since Hogan's 1953 victory, six of seven winners at Oakmont have shot under par for the tournament. The lone exception was 2007, when heat and dry conditions super-charged the greens and Angel Cabera won at 5-over.
What are the highest scores to win a U.S. Open, post WWII?
Julius Boros wins second Open
With brisk wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean and torturing the players at The Country Club near Boston, 43-year-old Julius Boros won his second U.S. Open and became the second-oldest Open winner.
Boros, Jacky Cupit and Arnold Palmer survived the breezy conditions the best to make the 18-hole playoff with scores of 9-over par. That remains the highest 72-hole Open score since World War II.
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Boros shot 70 to win the playoff, with Cupit posting a 73 and Palmer a 76.
Hale Irwin survives at Winged Foot
Irwin won the first of his three U.S. Opens with a 7-over 287, two shots over the immortal Forrest Fezler. Arnold Palmer contended in a U.S. Open for the last time. Irwin shot even par and 8-under to win his next two Opens.
Irwin never shot under par for the week, shot 4-over on the weekend and still won. Tom Watson had a 79 in the final round and managed to tie for fifth.
Back-to-back years of 5-over
The U.S. Open years of 2006 at Winged Foot and 2007 at Oakmont produced champions who shot 5-over 285.
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At Winged Foot, Geoff Ogilvy shot 72-72 on the weekend and won. He sat in the locker room and watched Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie self-destruct on the final hole.
Angel Cabrera posted a 69 in the final round to win in 2007 at Oakmont, and like Ogilvy, had to wait for the final group to finish before he knew he had won. That twosome was Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, both of whom could have forced a playoff with a birdie at the last.
How to watch the US Open
June 11
Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open 7 p.m.–9 p.m.
June 12
First round
USA Network, 6 a.m.–5 p.m.
Peacock, U.S. Open All-Access 7 a.m.–5 p.m.
Peacock, late afternoon play, 5-8 p.m.
Golf Channel, Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open, 8–10 p.m.
Featured Groups, USGA App, Peacock, DirecTV, YouTube TV, 7:17 a.m.-1:02 p.m.
June 13
Second round
Peacock, 6:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
NBC, 1–7 p.m.
Peacock, U.S. Open All-Access 7 a.m.–5 p.m.
Peacock, late afternoon play, 7 p.m.–8 p.m.
Golf Channel, Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open 8-10 p.m.
Featured Groups. USGA App, Peacock, DirecTV, YouTube TV. 7:17 a.m.-1:02 p.m.
June 14
Third round
Golf Channel, Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open 8-10 a.m.
USA Network, 10 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Peacock, U.S. Open All-Access 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
NBC, 12-8 p.m.
Golf Channel, Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open 8–10 p.m.
Featured Groups, USGA App, Peacock, DirecTV, YouTube TV, times and groups to be determined.
June 15
Fourth round
Golf Channel, Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open 7 a.m.–9 a.m.
USA Network, 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
Peacock, U.S. Open All-Access, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
NBC, 12 p.m.–7 p.m.
Golf Channel, Golf Central's Live From The U.S. Open 7 p.m.–9 p.m.
Featured Groups, USGA App, Peacock, DirecTV, YouTube TV, times and groups to be determined.
What they're saying about Oakmont
'I think it just puts an emphasis on hitting the fairway and hitting greens. If you're a premier ball striker, you'll be licking your chops. You're legit in the fairway, in the first cut. It's pretty hard to be in the bunker and have an open shot to the green. If you're in the rough, it's very lie-dependent. For the most part, the only control you can have is if you keep it right in front of you. — Xander Schauffele
'It requires patience and discipline. If you just get lazy, like on any drive, any wedge shot, any chip, any putt, you can kind of look stupid pretty fast, especially at a place like this.' — Justin Thomas
'It seems like it's tougher this time around, but that's just maybe with the little bit of added length. It's going to make it a little more difficult. But yeah, somehow I figured out a way to get it under par. It was mostly the driving. Obviously even driving it in the fairway here, it's still really difficult, but I hit a lot of good drives and a lot of good iron shots. — Dustin Johnson on winning the Open at Oakmont in 2016.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: US Open: USGA makes sure it's historically, the toughest major to win
