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BBC News
an hour ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Let the alibi artists stand aside' - why Oakmont is toughest US Open test
Pittsburgh, America's historic steel city also famed for coal mining, is known as a hub for hard industrial these qualities extend to its most famed golf course. There are few, if any, tougher more uncompromising tests than Oakmont Country Club, the home of this week's US is a place where players have to roll up their sleeves and get on with it despite the golfing environment's stark champion Bryson DeChambeau summed it up for his legion of YouTube followers when he said: "This course doesn't just challenge your game, it challenges your sanity."This is the latest in a long line of observations about a course that will stage the US Open for a record 10th time, starting on Thursday. Seven-time major winner Gene Sarazen started the trend when he said Oakmont possesses "all the charm of a sock to the head".The US Open is meant to be the toughest test and of all the courses that stage the Unites States' national championship, this appears the toughest. It is the ultimate US Open venue. 'A poor shot should be a shot lost' Huge undulating, sloped greens are lightning fast. Another legend, Sam Snead, joked: "I put a dime down to mark my ball and the dime slipped away."It was seeing a Sarazen putt run off an Oakmont green at the 1935 championship that inspired Edward Stimpson to invent the measuring device known as a "Stimpmeter" to calibrate just how fast a green is times major champion Lee Trevino noted the difficulty of the greens when he observed: "Every time I two putted at Oakmont, I was passing somebody on the leaderboard."The rough is thick and juicy and its 175 bunkers are harsh, penal hazards. Phil Mickelson, who this week plays his 34th and most likely final US Open, thinks it is "the hardest golf course we have ever played".Geoff Ogilvy, the champion in 2006 at Winged Foot - another brutal venue, said: "Playing Oakmont was like the hardest hole you have ever played on every hole."The course was built in the early 20th century by Henry Clay Fownes after he sold his burgeoning steel business to Andrew Carnegie. The Fownes family were among the best players in Western Pennsylvania at the they had the wealth to indulge their sporting passion and they transformed 191 acres of farmland at a place called Plum on the outskirts of Pittsburgh into one of the most feared pieces of golfing architecture ever was the only course HC Fownes designed and it has more than stood the test of time. He did not see golf as any kind of beauty contest."Let the clumsy, the spineless, the alibi artists stand aside, a poor shot should be a shot irrevocably lost," he the course opened in 1904 it measured 6,406 yards and was par-80. This week it is stretched to 7,431 yards and the par score is "Soakmont" when it last staged the US Open, heavy rainfall softened fairways and greens, Dustin Johnson's winning score was still only four under, admittedly including a controversial penalty for unintentionally moving his ball on the fifth hole of the final runners up Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy, who were three shots behind, were the only other players to beat Angel Cabrera won in 2007, the course was fast and firm and the Argentine was the only contender to break 70 on the final day. His 69 was enough to finish five over for a one-shot win over Furyk and Tiger Woods. 'Bunkers not designed to be a bail out' This time we can anticipate a similar scenario to the one that yielded Johnson's first major nine years ago because the Pittsburgh area has suffered its wettest spring on greens will still be very quick but perhaps more likely to hold approach shots than they were in 2007. But the five-inch deep rough will be damp, lush and unlike most recent US Open venues it will not be 'graduated' with shorter grass nearer the immaculate fairways. It will be short grass and then long grass with nothing in between - classically uncompromising in the finest Oakmont bunkers are not designed to be a bail out. The sand is unsympathetic and forms a genuine hazard, as do strategic ditches that criss-cross the the third and fourth fairways lies the famous 'Church Pews' bunker, more than 100 yards long and up to 43 yards wide with a dozen turf islands (the pews) striped across to punish wayward tee par-three eighth could be stretched to more than 300 yards and is the longest 'short' hole in championship golf. "I haven't played it since they lengthened it to be a short par five," Jack Nicklaus, the winner at Oakmont in 1962, recently hate the idea of par-three holes playing at such length. Nicklaus called it "crazy" but it is a good golf hole and par is just a number, albeit one that can mess with a player's therein lies the ultimate aspect of US Open golf. Yes the United States Golf Association want to test every club in the bag but they also want to examine the 15th club - the one that resides between the winner will be the player who deals best with the inevitable setbacks inflicted by a course known as "the beast" but who also plays the best might seem an obvious statement, but accurate driving and unerring approach play can yield rich rewards. After a third-round 76, Johnny Miller fired a final-round 63 to win in 1973 with what is still regarded as one of the greatest rounds ever 2016 Lowry shot a 65 to take the 54-hole lead, so low scores are over four long days, which may well suffer weekend weather interruption, there will be sufficient snakes to counterbalance the very few ladders afforded by this ultra-demanding short, it is going to be very, very hard work; just as it should be at the US Open in this part of the world.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Today in Sports - Carlos Alcaraz becomes the youngest man to win grand slams on all three surfaces
June 9 1888 — James McLaughlin sets the record for wins by a jockey in the Belmont Stakes, six, when he rides Sir Dixon to a 12-length victory. McLaughlin's record is matched by Eddie Arcaro in 1955. 1899 — Jim Jeffries knocks out Bob Fitzsimmons in the 11th round in New York to win the world heavyweight title. 1914 — Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the first player in modern baseball to get 3,000 hits. 1930 — Paavo Nurmi runs world record 6 mile (29:36.4). 1934 — Olin Dutra edges Gene Sarazen by one stroke to win the U.S. Open. 1940 — Lawson Little beats Gene Sarazen by three strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open golf title.x 1945 — Hoop Jr. wins the Kentucky Derby, which is run one month after a national wartime government ban on racing is lifted. 1946 — Joe Louis KOs Billy Conn in 8 for heavyweight boxing title. 1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, wins the Belmont Stakes in record time to capture the Triple Crown. Secretariat sets a world record on the 1½-mile course with 2:24, and a record for largest margin of victory in the Belmont, 31 lengths. 1978 — Larry Holmes scores a 15-round split decision over Ken Norton for the WBC heavyweight title in New York. 1979 — Coastal, ridden by Ruben Hernandez, spoils Spectacular Bid's attempt at the Triple Crown with a 3¼-length victory over Golden Act. Spectacular Bid finishes third. 1984 — Swale, ridden by Laffit Pincay, wins the Belmont Stakes by four lengths over Pine Circle. Swale dies eight days later. 1984 — French Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert 6-3, 6-1; 2nd women in Open Era to hold all 4 Grand Slam titles at once. 1985 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 29 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 111-100 victory over the Boston Celtics and the NBA title in six games. 1990 — Monica Seles holds off four set points in the first set tiebreaker and goes on to become the youngest winner of the French Open, beating two-time champion Steffi Graf 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Seles is 16 years, six months. 1991 — In the first all-American men's final at the French Open since 1954, Jim Courier rallies to beat Andre Agassi 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 for his first Grand Slam title. 1993 — Patrick Roy makes 18 saves and the Montreal Canadiens capture their 24th Stanley Cup, beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 in Game 5. 2001 — Stanley Cup Final, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO: Colorado Avalanche beat defending champion New Jersey Devils, 3-1 for 4-3 series win; Avalanche 2nd title. 2001 — Jennifer Capriati beats Kim Clijsters 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 to win the French Open, her second consecutive Grand Slam title. 2003 — The New Jersey Devils end the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' surreal season, winning the Stanley Cup with a 3-0 victory. Mike Rupp, who had never appeared in a playoff until Game 4, scores the first goal and sets up Jeff Friesen for the other two. 2007 — Rags to Riches, a filly ridden by John Velazquez, outduels Curlin in a breathtaking stretch run and won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first of her sex to take the final leg of the Triple Crown in more than a century. 2008 — Ken Griffey Jr. becomes the sixth player sixth player in baseball history to reach 600 homers with a drive off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Cincinnati Reds' 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins. 2010 — Chicago's Patrick Kane sneaks the puck past Michael Leighton 4:10 into overtime, stunning Philadelphia and lifting the Blackhawks to a 4-3 overtime win in Game 6 for their first Stanley Cup championship since 1961. 2013 — Rafael Nadal becomes the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the French Open final, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. 2015 — Chris Heston, San Francisco Giants throws a no-hitter against the New York Mets, 5-0. 2018 — Justify becomes the 13th Triple Crown winner by winning the Belmont Stakes with Mike Smith aboard. 2019 — Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz shot while visiting Dominican Republic. 2019 — French Open Men's Tennis: Rafael Nadal beats Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1; 3rd straight French singles title; 12th overall; first to win 12 singles titles at same Grand Slam; 18th major. 2022 — The controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series gets underway at the Centurion Club, Hertfordshire; PGA suspends 17 participating players. 2024 — French Open Men's Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz becomes the youngest man to win grand slams on all three surfaces, coming back to beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in a final lasting 4 hours 15 minutes
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Top 200 golf courses in America? 2025 list features 3 in Minnesota, 7 in Wisconsin
Golf Digest has been releasing top 100 course rankings in the United States annually since 1966, and its 2025 rankings were unveiled Tuesday. Minnesota had just one course in the top 100, while Wisconsin nabbed four spots. There are more, however, in the "Second 100 Greatest" list. The top Minnesota course is Interlachen Country Club in Edina at No. 64 overall. Here's what Golf Digest wrote about it. When Bobby Jones won the 1930 U.S. Open at Interlachen (completing the second leg of what would become the game's first Grand Slam), fellow competitor Gene Sarazen insisted the course was tougher than everything but Oakmont. In the decades that followed a series of architects including Robert Trent Jones, Geoffrey Cornish and Brian Silva worked to keep Interlachen's edge, but nothing could staunch the march of time that made the course one-dimensional through the shrinkage of greens and the maturation of the hundreds of trees that had been planted, shading fairways and masking the property's natural land movements. Enter Andrew Green in 2023, who was given the resources to strip back the layers and rebuild the course based on the blueprints Donald Ross developed in 1922 when he remodeled the course. Interlachen's edginess is back, with ominous, strategically arranged bunkers guarding greens and fairway lines, and the expanded putting surfaces presenting a range of come-and-get-me hole locations that haven't been seen in ages. The restored bunkering shines a spotlight on Interlachen's wondrous undulation, punctuating focal points like the shared promontory of the second and seventh greens and the majestic rise toward the fortress putting surface of the par-5 12th. The five courses in Wisconsin that made the top 100 are Milwaukee Country Club in River Hills at No. 97; Sand Valley: The Lido in Nekoosa at No. 69; Erin Hills Golf Course in Hartford at No. 49; and Whistling Straights: Straights Course in Sheboygan at No. 29. You may be wondering where the likes of The Quarry at Giants Ridge, The Wilderness at Fortune Bay, Hazeltine National Golf Club, and The Classic at Madden's Resort are in the rankings? You'd be right to wonder considering three of the four cracked Golf Digest's top 100 public course rankings in 2023 (the last time public rankings were released). However, Hazeltine is the only one of the bunch to even crack Golf Digest's "Second 100 Greatest" list. Hazeltine, home to the PGA Championship in 2002 and 2009, the Ryder Cup in 2016 and the KPGA Championship in 2019, made the second list at No. 137. Hazeltine will also host the 2026 KPGA Championship and the 2029 Ryder Cup. Only one other Minnesota course made the Second 100 Greatest list: Spring Hill Golf Club in Wayzata, checking in at No. 107. Three other Wisconsin courses made the second 100: Sand Valley Golf Resort: Mammoth Dunes in Nekoosa (165); Sand Valley in Nekoosa (134); and Blackwolf Run: River in Kohler (128).
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Quail Hollow Under Heavy Rain Before PGA Championship
The second major tournament of the golf calendar is just a few days away as the best players in the world flock to Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rory McIlroy took the first major win of the year, claiming his first Masters victory while joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only six golfers to complete the career grand slam. He enters the PGA Championship as the second betting favorite behind World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Advertisement With the start of the PGA Championship just three days away, Charlotte is experiencing some unfortunate weather conditions. Golfer who hoped to hop on the course for a practice round - or two - aren't doing so in favorable conditions. A photo of major winner Hideki Matsuyama went viral earlier May 12 afternoon when he hit the putting green for some the pouring rain. Around the same time another post hit social media showing off the torrential downpour where one of the greens on the course appeared to be under a significant amount of water. "I don't think the heavy stuff's coming down for quite a while," CBS Sports golf reporter Patrick McDonald said. According to the Weather Channel the inclement conditions in Charlotte are here to stay for the next 24 hours with heavy rain and thunderstorms on May 12 and scattered thunderstorms on May 13. Advertisement While the course is under duress from the weather early in the week, conditions for May 15-18 are ideal with temperatures in the mid-80's and less than 25% chance of rain in each of the four days of the tournament. Related: Rory McIlroy, Wife Make Big Life Decision
The Independent
07-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Rory McIlroy reveals ‘defeating own mind' key to long-awaited Masters breakthrough
Rory McIlroy believes 'defeating my own mind' was key to winning the Masters and will take 'nothing but positive vibes' into next week's US PGA Championship. McIlroy's thrilling victory at Augusta National made him just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam and came on his 11th attempt to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in golf's most exclusive club. It was a victory which many observers had doubted would ever happen given McIlroy's long major drought, especially after he had failed to convert a two-shot lead late in the final round of last year's US Open at Pinehurst. And the World No 2 almost squandered a five-shot lead with eight holes to play before beating Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose with a birdie on the first play-off hole. 'I always had hope,' McIlroy insisted ahead of his title defence in the Truist Championship. 'I wasn't going to show up at Augusta and feel like I couldn't win. The week that I feel like that I'll go up there for the Champions Dinner and swan around in my green jacket, but I won't be playing. 'Yeah, I always had hope. I always felt like I had the game. And I think, as everyone saw on that back nine on Sunday, it was about getting over… I don't know what the right phrase is, but defeating my own mind was sort of the big thing for me and getting over that hurdle. 'Look, I'm just glad that it's done. I don't want to ever have to go back to that Sunday afternoon again. I'm glad that I finished the way I did and we can all move on with our lives.' McIlroy enjoyed a deliberately low-key week of celebrations after the Masters, both in England – to see the house he is having built – and Northern Ireland, where he admitted he and mother Rosie were 'both a mess for a few minutes' as the emotions kicked in. The World No 2 then finished 12th in the defence of his Zurich Classic title with close friend Shane Lowry before fulfilling more media obligations in New York, but is keen to get back to business as usual, especially now he is free of what he called the 'burden' of chasing the career grand slam. McIlroy has also won four times at Quail Hollow, which hosts next week's US PGA Championship and has forced the Truist Championship – formerly the Wells Fargo Championship – to move to Philadelphia Cricket Club this year. 'I'm obviously going to feel more comfortable and a lot less pressure, and I'm also going back to a venue that I love,' McIlroy said when asked about the year's second major. 'It's nothing but positive vibes going in there next week with what happened a few weeks ago and then with my history there and how well I've played at Quail. 'Yeah, it probably will feel a little bit different. I probably won't be quite as on edge as I have been for the last few years when I've been at major championships. 'I'll probably be a little bit better to be around for my family and I'll be a little more relaxed. I think overall it will be a good thing.'
