…and not just for playing Scratch irons and wedges either (which is seriously, SERIOUSLY awesome).
Let’s delve into some juicy quotes, shall we? First, as always…link.
“I feel like instead of difficulty, they just go for trickiness, to be honest,” he said.
Moore was particularly critical of the par-five 14th hole and its fast, slopey, raised green. It’s where, in the second round, Zach Johnson made a nine, and Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Y.E. Yang each carded an eight after chipping adventures.
“It would take not much to make that green at least halfway reasonable, and they refuse to do it,” Moore said of USGA officials. “I think they go for a spectacle; they want some hole to draw attention and make everybody look stupid, I guess. It doesn’t reward good golf shots like Augusta (National) does, and I don’t understand why you’d have a tournament that doesn’t reward good golf shots.”
More quotage after the jump.
Moore also slammed the par-three 17th, which plays 208 yards into a bowl-shaped green. When the pin is back-left, it is nearly impossible to hit.
Some players aim for the front bunker. Graeme McDowell called it both “one of the greatest holes in world golf” but also “borderline unfair.”
Said Moore: “It’s completely unreasonable, just a horrible golf hole the way they set it up. I honestly don’t think I could have stopped a 7-iron on it (Sunday).”
Moore hit what he called his “highest, softest” 4-iron, but it did not stay on the green. He scrambled for par.
“I don’t know what they’re trying to demand,” Moore said. “If you can’t even hit a shot that can stay on the green, where’s the skill involved? I just don’t understand.”
That sums it up just about perfectly.
Mike Davis and the USGA has done a fantastic job in recent years prepping the US Open courses in a fair manner that rewards good shots. Unfortunately, Pebble this year was not one of those courses. I think a serious re-evaluation about Pebble’s prospects of hosting another Open need to be questioned as those greens aren’t suitable for a major championship, regardless of how great the rest of the course may play. But if they do come back, I hope they think long and hard about the setup because it ruined a fantastic weekend.
June 22, 2010 at 9:25 am
+13934881 ryan.
lets see what happens in 2019…
June 22, 2010 at 10:41 am
Moore spent too much time in Napa. He needs some cheese for his whine. STFU and play. You’ve played in 132 events, won a whopping 1, and have earned $7.8 million in your 4.5 year career.
I don’t give a fuck if you, with your baggy khakis, ugly painters hat and 3 day meth beard don’t like the greens at Pebble. You shouldn’t even caddy there, let alone play.
/get off my perfectly manicured lawn
June 22, 2010 at 11:20 am
please, jpq…the setup wasn’t good enough to provide scoring opportunities even for the best in the game.
and moore played relatively great on sunday too. it’s not sour grapes here…they’re astute observations.
June 22, 2010 at 11:49 am
spencer: they’re astute observations? Not really. He’s a pampered golfer who thinks if his eggs benedict are cold, his day is ruined.
I heard an interview from Mike Davis and from a guy from Pebble on the Open Committee on it, and they said the problem is, like Shinnecock, that an overcast, windy day that turns sunny and windy at a links course can completely change the playability of a course in a matter of minutes. It’s a high wire act of continual watering and weather watching during the day. The only alternative would be to surround the green with 3″ rough to catch the balls, which results in Dustin Johnson/TC Chen chips.
Why have there never been any issues with 14 and 17 mentioned in the last 93 years, until this week? Sunday’s pin, that everyone bitched about, was the same pin that Watson holed out from the short side rough. Tough hole, but not impossible.
Could they tinker and improve those holes? Probably. How about just playing the course the way everybody else does and has for years, and deal with it?
Read the John Hopkins article on Tiger in the Global Golf Post re his whining and how Faldo dealt w/ it. That’s how I feel as well.
http://digital.globalgolfpost.com/globalgolfpost/20100621?sub_id=EHoM2gUSTcv2T#pg7
June 22, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Methinks jpq would have a different opinion had Jack’s 1 iron not hit the flagstick, and his good shot wasn’t rewarded. Saying it again, Pebble is just not a good US Open venue. Feinstein can suck it.
June 22, 2010 at 12:46 pm
lefty: Jack would have won anyway. That Watson chip-in was a kick to Jack’s gut that still hurts.
Good Open venue. It’s the St Andrews of the US
June 22, 2010 at 1:19 pm
because before then, golfers played on dog track courses that weren’t difficult at all to account for their lack of skill, duh.
but seriously…tell me how those two greens could’ve possibly rewarded a well played shot? they couldn’t have, and there were good shots played to those pins…they were flat out unfair.
you realize the piece of land where watson made his chip is gone, right? it fell into the ocean…that pin position is fine if that land was there, but there was less than 5 feet of green left of the pin and only 20 feet of land keeping it from the ocean.
could they tinker and improve? yes…and they should. why should we give a shit how something played in jack’s era just for nostalgia’s sake?
all ive been harping on is that good shots weren’t rewarded and someone had to give up the lead because there was no way to make up strokes. that’s fine if you’re trying to emulate late aught’s masters, but honestly? i like watching good golf, not a shitfest.
June 22, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Watson’s area for the chip is still there. You said that last week, and I let it go, but since you’re bringing it up, here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/golf/ci_15314513
They lost a chunk of 18 fairway (where Phil’s ball bounced in during Round 1 (I think it was), came back up to land, then went back down, and maybe some others, but not 17th green.
The reason you should care about how it was played is golf is a sport that is NOT MEANT to be played on perfect conditions with perfect lies everywhere. That’s the target golf that these over-developed luxury courses have given us.
They’ve played the courses in Europe for hundreds of years, and no one but the Americans complain, because we’re spoiled
June 22, 2010 at 2:19 pm
ok…i forgot the part about it being resodded and backfilled. my mistake.
and there’s a difference between not having perfect conditions and being stupid and neutering the competition. 17 and 14 were neutering holes, plain and simple.
and even then, im not complaining about the course as much as im complaining about the setup. the setup was dumb and it was something that could’ve been adjusted.
June 22, 2010 at 3:23 pm
but the most important part of the post is still that scratch golf is awesome.
June 22, 2010 at 5:01 pm
but the most important part of the post is still that scratch golf is awesome.
troof son.
June 22, 2010 at 10:47 pm
buncha goo goo gaa gaas in here.
/shitty baby reference