Next Major Up: The U.S. Open


April 14, 2008

By Dave Shedloski

The year’s first major championship is in the books and Trevor Immelman, the 1998 U.S. Amateur Public Links winner, is the  Masters champion. For those who curry the favor of history and harbor ambitions of making their mark in golf, it’s not too early to start thinking about the 108th U.S. Open Championship.

An aerial view of the South Course's 14th hole, which will play as a 435-yard par 4 during the U.S. Open. (John Mummert/USGA)

This is predominantly true for the players who build their schedules and their games around the four major championships with the intent of peaking at the right times. This was no less true for Bob Jones as for Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

Many of today’s top players strive to harmonize with the major championship rhythm. Now that the 72^nd Masters Tournament is complete, it’s not unusual for some players to at least start glancing ahead to mid-June and the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.

Torrey Pines South, designed by William Bell Sr. in 1957 but renovated by Rees Jones in 2001, will measure - depending on the round - 7,541 to 7,643 yards (a record for the Open) and be converted to par 71 when it becomes the second publicly-owned facility to host the U.S. Open behind Bethpage State Park’s Black Course (2002).

“I look forward to the U.S. Open at the start of every year,” said 2003 champion Jim Furyk, who won his title at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club and has been runner-up in the last two U.S. Opens at Winged Foot and Oakmont. “Obviously, I’ve done OK in the tournament, and I wish I could have found another shot here or there the last couple of years.

“I haven’t played Torrey Pines very much because it just doesn’t set up well for my game, but I’ll have to wait and see how it looks after the USGA gets in there. I know it’s going to be hard, and it’s going to be long, but it’s still the U.S. Open, so you sort of know what to expect. A lot of golf between now and then, though.”

One player who is ready to start preparing for Torrey Pines immediately is Phil Mickelson – and he has toured Torrey Pines plenty in his lifetime. The San Diego native used to play high school matches there, same holds true for the Junior World, and he’s won three of his 33 PGA Tour titles at the Buick Invitational, which is annually contested there.

He admitted that the Open, “has been in the back of my mind,” since long before the Masters, where he tied for fifth place. Mickelson has won three majors and is a four-time U.S. Open runner-up, the last coming in 2006 at Winged Foot when he double-bogeyed the 72nd hole. What he cherishes most is a U.S. Open title.

“I've been playing practice rounds there sporadically for some time now,” said Mickelson. “Growing up there, that tournament means a lot to me, living in San Diego playing high school matches there at Torrey. I've been out there a bunch and I've been thinking about it a lot.”

David Toms won the 1984 Junior World at Torrey Pines, and he was forthright in sharing his mindset after tying for 42nd at the Masters despite battling a bad back that has limited his schedule thus far.

“I have to say I’m not a fan of Torrey Pines, and that’s after doing well there when I was younger,” said the 2001 PGA champion. “That said, we play it [on the PGA Tour] at a time of year that isn’t conducive to my game. I might like it a lot more in the summer, and I might like how it is set up. But that’s a long time off. I’m just hoping I will be healthy for it, because I know it will be tough.”

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion at Winged Foot Golf Club, said the familiarity of the venue might be a factor in how soon players begin to look ahead to the Open, though he no sooner had finished at Augusta National than he was ready to gear up for the year’s second major.

“Usually what we face is a golf course that almost no one has played, or at least they haven’t played it much, so no one has an advantage,” said the logical-thinking Aussie, who tied for 39^th at the Masters. “This year we go to a place that everyone knows pretty well, so still no one has an advantage. It all equals out.

“But I’m thinking of it right now. Some good tournaments ahead … Wachovia, Memorial, some courses that are sort of tough golf courses that play a bit like an Open. The U.S. Open is just a much tougher version.”

Fellow Aussie Adam Scott went one step further than merely thinking of the U.S. Open immediately. Walking away from the 18th green at Augusta National toward the famed antebellum clubhouse, the world’s No. 5-ranked player wore a determined expression on his face.

“It’s 10 weeks away … but I think I’m playing well. I’m ready to play it this week,” he said. “I wish it were this week.”

Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usga.org.