SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This is the U.S. Senior Open, all right. Here at Del Paso Country Club, all the earmarks are present and accounted for: skinny fairways, heavy-duty rough, firm and fast greens.
The rough, both alongside the fairways and around the greens, is suffocating. It swallows golf balls.
"As tough as it's ever been for a U.S. Open or U.S. Senior Open," said Tom Watson, the first-round leader with a 66. "For me, that defines a U.S. championship."
Colin Montgomerie agreed. "My game was built on these type of courses," he said after his second straight 2-under-par 68.