Breaking down the favorites for Chambers Bay, Inbee Park's sixth major title, another out-of-nowhere PGA Tour winner, Andrey Pavlov's unmitigated disaster and more in this week's file-before-the-boarding-door-closes edition of the Monday Scramble:
Get ready for the Unknown Open.
After months of criticism and bellyaching about the mysterious links-style course near Puget Sound, the best players on the planet will finally tee it up in what figures to be the most fascinating major of the year.
Fascinating for a number of reasons: (1) The course is unlike any we’ve ever seen for a U.S. Open, with firm-and-fast fescue turf that will play more like a British links; (2) the early reviews have been so overwhelmingly negative that attitude and patience likely will be just as significant as crisp ball-striking and timely putting; and the players’ pent-up frustration with the USGA – from past setup failures to the anchoring ban to the arrogant claims that only those who arrive early and play often have a chance to win – ensures this is a make-or-break week for Mike Davis and Co.