I'm looking forward to watching the U.S. Open
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by user The Waiver Wire
Typically, I can't stand watching 18 holes of golf. If I ever tune into a telecast, it'll be when the soon-to-be champion is making his walk up the fairway on the 72nd hole with the gallery applauding. This isn't to say I don't enjoy playing golf, even if my friends and I are generally more likely to hit other golfers than we are to hit par for the course. For a change, I may actually sit down and watch what NBC has to offer tomorrow and Friday. What's different?
ESPN.com's Jeff Bradley had this to write about the course in calling Oakmont "The Green Monster"
In 1994, when Oakmont last hosted the Open, Ernie Els won in a playoff after tying for the regulation lead at 5-under. Since then, Oakmont has gone from a 6,946-yard par-71 to a 7,230-yard par-70. Consider this: Oakmont's greens are not only the fastest in major golf but also the most undulating. Putting into a slope -- away from the hole -- is not unusual. Mix in four dry days in June, and things could get silly.
Most golf fans probably enjoy a 315-yard drive, or a 7-iron from the fairway neatly tucked within birdie range on the green. I'm more sadistic than the average golf fan; a 315-yard drive is fine to me so long as it hooks into the gallery, and a 7-iron is better to me if it's neatly tucked underneath a sprinkler in the rough.
I'm also willing to bet that on some level, we all enjoy golfers struggling a little. Anyone of us who doesn't play every day of the week and twice on Sundays has ended up in nightmare situations, wondering how a ball that's three inches in diameter managed to find the four-inch divot in a massive fairway. It might be nice to see professionals with the same kind of troubles.
Imagine the look on Tiger's face as he puts up a sharp hill to the hole, only to have the ball stop and the top and begin trickling down towards his feet as he looks to the blade of his putter for answers. Or Phil Mickelson hitting his 3rd out of a green-side bunker, and lofting his 4th into another green-side bunker. If Oakmont's difficulty hasn't been exaggerated by the numerous golf writers, I just may get my wish.
So, while some golfers may be praying tonight for birdies, I'll be praying for wind.
