OAKMONT, Pa. – If all goes to plan Oakmont, the big and brutish layout befitting this area’s blue-collar persona, will relinquish center stage beginning at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday.
When the first meaningful shot goes in the air at the U.S. Open, all of the handwringing and hyperbole will fade to black.
There will still be complaints, this is the U.S. Open after all, but major championships aren’t supposed to be about growing grass and fluffing bunkers (note to the USGA: next time the championship makes a stop at Chambers Bay, grow grass). These Grand Slam stops are about the players and the play, and perhaps not since the original “Big Three” ruled golf have there been so many potential champions to choose from.