US Open 2008 report

The skills needed for both power and touch give us golf’s fascinating qualities and it will be evident tomorrow when 45-year-old Rocco “never stops talking” Mediate takes on 32-year-old Tiger “never stops winning” Woods in the playoff. Tiger had many memorable moments from the weekend and his shot out of the rough to 18 today was very, very good. Rocco deserves to be there with a great final round. It’s always refreshing to see him play and listen to him interviewed.

The ending to today’s final round was superb and let’s hope the US Open’s unique 18-hole playoff is not an anti-climax. It would have been nice to see Lee Westwood make the playoff for a number of reasons but not least of all just in case one of the golfers has a day to forget. He hung on most of the day though and didn’t quite have the grit in the end.

As far as the Aussies went most had a tough time of it on the weekend. Rod Pampling finished well for a tie for 14^th but the most surprising result in my mind was the good performance by Jarrod Lyle. Admittedly he finished well off the pace at 10-over and a tie for 48^th but for a guy on the Nationwide Tour trying to get his PGA Card for next year it’s a good result. He has won once this year (Mexico Open) and had 4 top-10 finishes. Jarrod has been around a long time and maybe he is starting to fulfil his potential.

Geoff Ogilvy was the leading Australian but a couple of bogeys around 9 and 10 messed up his chances. Aussie Golfer believes his round of 69 on Thursday though was the first time he has ever gone under par for a round at the US Open. And he’s won one! It tells you something about the US Open courses.

On the subject of course setup, often on a final day of a major, the pins get moved to tough or at least different positions.

The idea to shift the tee position on the 14^th was a great one and rarely done. The tees on 14 were not only moved but moved forward! The front tees are 244 metres from the green and brought some extra excitement to the back nine. Watching the pros battle it out on a tough US Open course is always great but to throw in a reachable par 4 (for everyone!) was excellent thinking.