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By The Numbers
7 a.m. Time amateur Rickie Fowler is scheduled to hit the first tee shot in the U.S. Open today.
14 Projected green speeds at Bethpage Black based on Stimpmeter readings.
30 Days it has rained at Bethpage in the previous 45 days.
Weather Forecast
Two words describe it – not good.
Today's forecast is for rain, possibly heavy with temperatures near 70 and winds blowing up to 20 miles per hour. It's slightly better for Friday but there's still a chance of more rain with temperatures in the low 70s.
Chip Shots
Bob Dedman Jr., owner of Pinehurst Resort, said the resort hadn't thought of staging the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open on consecutive weeks in 2014 until USGA executive director David Fay pitched them the idea in February.
“It seems like a logical thing to do,” Dedman said Wednesday at Bethpage.
“We're uniquely situated to do it because we have other courses for our resort guests and members to play.”
Dedman said there are still many plans to be worked out over the next five years but he believes the doubleheader will enhance the Women's Open and Pinehurst's international image.
“I'm glad the USGA had the confidence that Pinehurst could pull it off and I think we will,” Dedman said…
Former Charlotte 49ers golfer Trevor Murphy looked around Bethpage Wednesday afternoon and still had a bit of wonder about how he got there. The U.S. Open was never something he paid much attention to growing up when he was more interested in skiing.
“I could recite the podium at every Winter Olympics since 1988 but ask me who won the 1998 U.S. Open ( Lee Janzen) and I don't know. No clue,” Murphy said.
Murphy now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he's playing the Gateway Tour. He'll play an Egolf Professional Tour event next week in Charlottesville, Va., after the U.S. Open.
“I'm pretty excited (about the Open),” Murphy said. “I feel I've prepared as much as I can for it. I'm here to enjoy it. That's what I want to do”…
The U.S. Open will return to Oakmont Country Club in 2016, the ninth time it will have been played at the club. It most recently hosted the Open in 2007 when Angel Cabrera won…
Observations
If the predicted rain arrives, this U.S. Open could be a real mess. It's already squishy at Bethpage because of the rainy spring in the Northeast. Will a wetter course benefit the longer hitters even more?
Perhaps, but Mike Davis, who sets up the courses, has shown the good sense to move tees around and he'll likely use a shorter set-up on the wettest days.
For all the challenges Bethpage presents with its length, they're tempered by relatively benign greens. The speeds will be quick, if they can keep the greens somewhat dry, but there aren't the big, sweeping contours many Open venues have. That should cut down on 3-putts until the nerves kick in.
They Said It
“It's really nice that the average guy gets to play it, be it through a lot of hard work. Most great courses are inaccessible for 99 percent of the people so the fact this one is accessible is pretty cool.” – Geoff Ogilvy on the public course status of Bethpage.
“We're not going to play lift, clean and place. We'll suspend. If it's not fair to be playing the ball as it lies, we'll suspend play. We'll stay here until we have a champion.” – Jim Hyler, chairman of the USGA's championship committee, on potential problems caused by the predicted rain.
