UNIVERSITY PLACE – After three rounds at the U.S. Open, golfers are verbally teeing off on Chambers Bay.
None was harsher in his criticism than nine-time major winner Gary Player.
“(Chambers Bay) is the worst golf course I might have ever seen in my 63 years as a professional golfer,” Player told ESPN. “They’ve got pros putting from 20 feet and hitting the ball 20 feet to the right. A man missed the green by a yard and he’s 50 yards down in a valley. I don’t understand it.”
Player quipped that the course is harmful to the environment.
“It’s actually a tragedy,” he said. “It’s 7,900 yards long. The world is suffering from a shortage of water. Can you imagine the water this course will take?
Many have criticized the greens’ uneven speed and rough texture, which Henrik Stenson likened to broccoli.
“I don’t think they’re as green as broccoli, more like cauliflower.” Rory McIlroy said after his even-par round Saturday left him at 4-over. “They are what they are. Everyone has to putt on them. It’s all mental. Some guys embrace it more than others, and that’s really the way it is.”
Sergio Garcia called them unbefitting of a U.S. Open, saying that it’s like playing the NBA Finals on a court with holes, slopes and no backboards.
Other players have complained about their shots bouncing across sloped fairways. On the 16th hole, Jason Day blasted a drive 370 yards down the left side of the fairway, only to see it roll across the entire span and into the rough right of the green.
“This golf course can penalize you severely for hitting good shots,” Charl Schwartzel said.
United States Golf Association director Mike Davis defended Chambers Bay on Saturday, saying it rewards players to think their way around the course.
Mickelson struggles
Starting his third round eight shots off the lead, Phil Mickelson hoped to get into contention on Saturday.
But after shooting 7-over, the six-time U.S. Open runner-up finds himself well off the pace at 10-over.
“As bad as my score was, I hit a lot of good shots that ended up as bogeys,” Mickelson said. “And through three rounds I haven’t made a double.”
Thanks, kid!
Nick Hardy, a University of Illinois sophomore, made a few friends late Friday evening.
The last player on the course, Hardy’s bogey on his final hole moved the cut line to 5-over, which meant an additional 15 golfers get to play the weekend. They include Jimmy Walker, Sergio Garcia, Angel Cabrera and Ian Poulter.
Some players who barely made the cut offered to buy Hardy dinner.
“I’m like, ‘no,'” he said Saturday. “It’s against NCAA rules.”
