Phil Mickelson Playing Smart at Merion

Phil Mickelson Playing Smart at Merion
Conservative Approach Off Tee Plus Steady Short Game Has Lefty in Great Position After First Round











Mark McLaughlin June 13, 2013 4:18 PM




COMMENTARY | Phil, you're no longer an idiot.

Your decision to leave driver in the bag offsets


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any questions we had about your transcontinental commute for a 7:11 am first-round tee time at the US Open at Merion Golf Club.



And your commitment to dial back your aggressive style to keep your ball in play around a penal, rain-soaked East Course at Merion is paying dividends in the form of a 3-under-par 67 and the early first-round lead.

That's a far cry from the freewheeling mentality you've carried into past US Opens, most notably the decision to hit driver on the 72nd hole at the 2006 Open at Winged Foot which led to double bogey, a bitter second place finish and your classic line, "I am such an idiot."

Sure is nice to be playing approaches from the fairways on 11 of 14 holes. And stroking birdie putts on 14 of 18 greens.

It must have been tough to play the 500-yard 18th hole with a three-wood and five-wood while your buddy Keegan Bradley was hitting driver, mid-iron but you ended up with a par.

It's also encouraging that your short game has not suffered from this new, low-key approach. Your clutch putts for par on the rugged third, fifth and sixth holes tell me that you can handle the misses that are inevitable on such a tightly pinched setup.

All those par saves remind me of your run at Winged Foot in 2006. Just don't go crazy with any heroic attempts to salvage wayward tee shots with 3-iron recoveries from the deep rough.

Your round even had some gravy, like the delicate 20-footer for birdie on the first hole, the kick-in birdie after a precise wedge to a rain-softened seventh green and then the bomb on the ninth, your 17th hole on probably your longest day of the year.

That rain delay had Merion playing about as receptive as it will all week and you took advantage. Even better, you can sleep in tomorrow morning while the afternoon wave finishes up their first rounds.

This calculated risk strategy seems to be working out. So far, so good.

Mark McLaughlin has reported on the PGA Tour for the New York Post, FoxSports.com, Greensboro News & Record, and Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. He is a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Follow him on Twitter@markmacduke.

Mystery of Merion starts to unfold at US Open

Mystery of Merion starts to unfold at US Open











PGA.COM June 13, 2013 4:41 PM

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The U.S. Open has returned to Merion after 32 year away.(Getty Images)


By Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. - The affection was genuine. Even better was beating Jack Nicklaus in a playoff. So when Lee Trevino got his hands on the U.S. Open trophy in 1971, the man who never lacked for one-liners gushed, "I love Merion, and I don't even know her last name."

For this generation of stars, Merion is more like a blind date.

No other course with four U.S. Opens had to wait such a long time - 32 years - for another chance to test the world's best players. Even with Tiger Woods back to No. 1 and winning at a ridiculous rate, so much of the talk at this major championship has been about Merion.

For years, it was considered too small to handle such a big tournament and the big hitters with their modern equipment. And with soft greens from more than 6 inches of rain in the last week, the question is whether the course will yield the kind of scores rarely seen at the toughest test in golf.

On Thursday, the mystery of Merion will start to unfold.

"It's been how long, 32 years? And with all the technology since then?" Steve Stricker said as he headed to the first tee Wednesday for one last practice round. "Someone asked me the other day about someone shooting a 62. And what I wanted to say was, `You're crazy.' But you just don't know. We don't know what's going to happen. And in a way, that's kind of cool."

Not so cool was the weather expected for the opening round.

Merion already took a beating last Friday when more than 3 inches of rain sent water over the edges of some bunkers and left small streams on fairways and greens. More rain on Monday caused the course to be closed three times.

The forecast called for increasing clouds, gusts and showers Thursday morning, with stronger storms likely to arrive around noon.

"Sure, we want it firm and fast," USGA Vice President Thomas O'Toole said Wednesday. "We happen to play a sport that's played outdoors. We received significant rain over the last week, and some tell us that we'll have even more significant rain tomorrow. So it's not a perfect world. It's not a perfect game. But we take what we're dealt with."

Whether a golf course is big or small, soft greens typically are a recipe for low scores. Then again, Merion is not a typical golf course.

It measures 6,996 yards on the scorecard - the shortest of any major championship in nine years - and has a stretch of seven holes in the middle that are short even by yesterday's standards. Compare those holes with the scorecard from when Ben Hogan won the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion, and four of those holes were actually longer by a few yards in Hogan's day.

Players typically reach for the wedge to chip out of the rough around the greens at the U.S. Open. At Merion, they could be hitting wedge into the green for their second shot on at least six holes. That's what has caused all the clamor about low scores.


And with the rain, it's reminiscent of how Congressional was vulnerable two years ago, when Rory McIlroy shattered U.S. Open scoring records at 16-under 268.

"I've been reading about how many scoring records are going to be broken," Nick Watney said. "I've been around here once. And I think that's insane. It's funny to me. People look at the yardage and think it's going to be easy. Even if it's soft, the greens are sloped. The rough is thick. OK, we'll have wedges into some of the greens, but that doesn't mean you make birdie on all those holes. There's enough tough holes to counteract that."

Even so, the winning score has gone down in each of the four previous U.S. Opens at Merion, from Olin Dutra at 13 over par in 1934 to David Graham winning at 7 under in 1981, the last time this major championship was here.

"Where did David Graham shoot 7 under? From there?" Nick Watney asked as he pointed the end of his driver to a spot some 30 yards from where he was standing. "Because he didn't do it from here."

Watney was standing in the middle of the putting green. He took three steps to his right and was standing on the 14th tee. As an example of longer holes being made more difficult, a new tee on the 464-yard hole is where members practice putting.

The biggest fear with rain on the horizon is what will happen the rest of the week. The forecast is reasonable after Thursday, but in soft conditions, balls start to pick up clumps of mud as the sun starts to dry the course. And while players often are allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway in muddy conditions on the PGA Tour, they don't do that at the U.S. Open.

The USGA famously referred to the local rule as "lift, clean and cheat."

"We wouldn't be adopting that rule this week," O'Toole said.

It all begins with Cliff Kresge hitting the opening shot of the 113th U.S. Open at 6:45 a.m. local timeThursday - weather permitting, of course.

Woods, McIlroy and Masters champion Adam Scott play Thursday afternoon in the power grouping of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the world. Sergio Garcia plays on the opposite side of the draw, teeing off Thursday morning. So does Phil Mickelson, who left Philadelphia on Monday when the weather was bad to practice in San Diego. He planned on being home, anyway, so he could watch his oldest daughter graduate from the eighth-grade. Mickelson was scheduled to arrive about 4:15 a.m. Thursday, just three hours before his tee time.

Stricker called Merion the "longest short course I've ever played." Graeme McDowell is another guy who isn't buying into the fear over low scoring.

"Everyone is saying that it's going to be 62s and 63s on this golf course, which I kind of disagree with at the minute," McDowell said. "I think 10 or 11 of these golf holes are as tough as any U.S. Open I've seen."

The lowest score in major championship history is 63, and it has happened only four times in the U.S. Open - Johnny Miller at Oakmont in 1973 on a soggy course, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf on the same day at Baltusrol in 1980 during a wet week, and Vijay Singh on a rain-softened course at Olympia Fields in 2003.

"You've got more birdie opportunities than ever," Ernie Els said. "I'm playing my 21st U.S. Open, so I've seen a lot of trouble out there. But this is one where you can get on a run. You can make some 3s. That's not a number that's really familiar in the U.S. Open. But as I say, you start missing shots, the rough is as bad as I've ever seen it."

Tiger Woods appears to tweak wrist on second swing of U.S. Open

Tiger Woods appears to tweak wrist on second swing of U.S. Open











Eric Adelson June 13, 2013 6:39 PMYahoo Sports





ARDMORE, Pa. – Five years after limping through his last major victory with a serious leg injury, Tiger Woods appears to be dealing with new pain.



Three times in 11 holes the No. 1 golfer in the world shook his left wrist after hitting a shot out of the thick rough at Merion Golf Club. The first came on the very first hole of the U.S. Open when Woods grimaced in after hitting the approach shot, only his second swing of the tournament.

Four holes later, Woods again landed in the right rough and used a wood to put his second shot onto the green. After following through, however, he winced and grabbed the same wrist.







View gallery.Woods struggled in the early goings Thursday. He was 1-over par through four holes before play was suspended due to weather – a delay he likely appreciated.



Woods' playing partners, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy, were both 1-under under through four before the weather horn blew while the threesome was on the fifth green.

Woods dropped another stroke after play resumed, but got back to plus-1 after dropping a lengthy putt – 60 feet or so – on No. 6.

Then at 11, Woods again found himself in the rough and again he shook his wrist after hitting the shot, this time in the most demonstrative manner yet. A few moments later, as Woods was lining up a par putt, play was suspended for the day due to darkness. Tiger would make the putt after play resumed Friday, but bogey the 12th en route to a 3-over 73. he's six shots back of first-round leader Phil Mickelson, who fired an improbable 67.

All three shots that caused Woods' pain came while he was trying to hit out of the rough, which is quite deep at Merion. In both cases, Woods tried to recover from errant tee shots with forceful swings through the thick grass. He did not need any medical attention.

After the partial round, Woods didn't say much and didn't address his wrist. "I've got a lot of holes to play tomorrow," he said.

Wrist injuries are very common in golf, as players propel the club at rapid speeds through every swing. Woods tweaked his right wrist last year, in the first tournament of 2012 at Pebble Beach, yet did not need to withdraw.






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Duke notches first PGA Tour win in playoff over Stroud

Duke notches first PGA Tour win in playoff over Stroud











June 23, 2013 6:52 PM



(Reuters) - Tour veteran Ken Duke beat fellow AmericanChris Stroud with a birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Travelers Championship on Sunday to notch his first PGA victory at the age of 44.

After they both parred the 18th in the first hole of sudden-death, they returned to the 18th tee. This time Dukeknocked his approach inside three feet and sank the winning birdie putt after Stroud's long birdie try trickled by the hole.

Both players finished the regulation 72 holes in 12 under par at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, with Duke firing a four-under 66 and Stroud chipping in at the last to post a 67 and force the playoff.

Graham DeLaet of Canada finished one stroke out of the playoff on 11-under-par 269 after shooting 69.

Another stroke back was 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson, who relinquished the lead with a triple-bogey six on the par-three 16th after finding the water fronting the green with his tee shot.

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Mark Meadows)

Golf-U.S. PGA Tour Travelers Championship scores

Golf-U.S. PGA Tour Travelers Championship scores











June 23, 2013 6:52 PM


June 23 (Infostrada Sports) - Scores from the U.S. PGA Tour Travelers Championship at the par-70 course on Sunday in Cromwell, Connecticut

Ken Duke wins play-off at the second extra hole

268 Ken Duke (U.S.) 69 68 65 66

268 Chris Stroud (U.S.) 66 69 66 67

269 Graham DeLaet (Canada) 65 70 65 69

270 Bubba Watson (U.S.) 63 67 70 70

271 Webb Simpson (U.S.) 65 69 72 65

J.J. Henry (U.S.) 68 67 68 68

272 Ryan Moore (U.S.) 68 70 66 68

Charley Hoffman (U.S.) 61 73 66 72

273 Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 67 72 71 63

Stuart Appleby (Australia) 69 67 69 68

Morgan Hoffmann (U.S.) 68 71 66 68

Jeff Maggert (U.S.) 70 70 65 68

274 Rickie Fowler (U.S.) 72 68 70 64

Brendan Steele (U.S.) 68 68 72 66

Ricky Barnes (U.S.) 67 68 71 68

Russell Knox (Britain) 69 67 69 69

Justin Rose (Britain) 67 68 68 71

275 Kevin Sutherland (U.S.) 69 70 68 68

Keegan Bradley (U.S.) 69 65 72 69

Patrick Reed (U.S.) 66 66 73 70

Tommy Gainey (U.S.) 66 67 70 72

Jim Herman (U.S.) 69 67 67 72

Nick O'Hern (Australia) 67 66 68 74


276 Gary Christian (Britain) 71 69 70 66

Greg Owen (Britain) 70 69 69 68

Jerry Kelly (U.S.) 67 68 71 70

Andres Romero (Argentina) 71 68 67 70

Hunter Mahan (U.S.) 62 71 70 73

Nicholas Thompson (U.S.) 71 66 66 73

277 Bryce Molder (U.S.) 67 70 73 67

Cameron Percy (Australia) 71 68 71 67

Erik Compton (U.S.) 72 66 71 68

Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 69 70 70 68

William McGirt (U.S.) 67 68 73 69

Aaron Watkins (U.S.) 69 69 70 69

Chris Williams (U.S.) 71 68 69 69

John Merrick (U.S.) 65 71 71 70

D.J. Trahan (U.S.) 71 68 68 70

Brian Davis (Britain) 72 67 66 72

Marc Leishman (Australia) 66 70 68 73

Justin Thomas (U.S.) 72 66 66 73

Richard Lee (U.S.) 66 71 66 74

278 Jonas Blixt (Sweden) 70 67 73 68

Chez Reavie (U.S.) 71 69 70 68

Bo Van Pelt (U.S.) 67 70 72 69

K.J. Choi (South Korea) 70 68 70 70

Harris English (U.S.) 72 67 69 70

Vijay Singh (Fiji) 70 68 69 71


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Ian Poulter (Britain) 73 66 67 72

Tag Ridings (U.S.) 68 65 71 74

279 Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 65 70 75 69

Lee Dong-Hwan (South Korea) 72 68 70 69

Tom Gillis (U.S.) 69 69 71 70

Brad Fritsch (Canada) 70 69 70 70

Kevin Stadler (U.S.) 68 67 73 71

Brian Gay (U.S.) 68 69 71 71

Brian Harman (U.S.) 69 69 69 72

280 Zach Johnson (U.S.) 65 70 75 70

Noh Seung-Yul (South Korea) 68 68 72 72

Robert Streb (U.S.) 67 70 70 73

Chris Kirk (U.S.) 66 72 69 73

Tim Clark (South Africa) 73 67 66 74

281 Dicky Pride (U.S.) 67 71 72 71

David Mathis (U.S.) 67 71 72 71

Mark Wilson (U.S.) 70 69 71 71

Heath Slocum (U.S.) 71 69 70 71

Brendon De Jonge (Zimbabwe) 67 67 75 72

Tim Petrovic (U.S.) 69 70 70 72

282 David Branshaw (U.S.) 67 71 72 72

283 Rod Pampling (Australia) 65 74 71 73

Chad Campbell (U.S.) 70 69 70 74

284 Casey Wittenberg (U.S.) 68 69 71 76

Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 66 66 72 80

287 Lee Westwood (Britain) 67 73 69 78

Two early starters set course record at Meadows

Two early starters set course record at Meadows












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Corey Prugh admitted to having nerves before he teed off, but still shattered the existing Meadows Course record. (Montana Pritchard/The PGA of America)

PGA.COM June 23, 2013 7:29 PM


By T.J. Auclair, PGA.com Interactive Producer

SUNRIVER, Ore. - Prior to a shot even being hit in the 46thPGA Professional National Championship at the Sunriver Resort on Sunday, all 312 players in the field knew that if there was a low score to be had, it would be at the Meadows Course.

The Meadows is being used along with the more difficultCrosswater Club for the first two rounds before the cut is made and play moves exclusively to Crosswater for the final 36 holes.

What players probably didn't realize, is just how low some could go at the Meadows.

Playing early and through a pitter-patter of rain that picked up in intensity at times, Corey Prugh and Rod Perry each blitzed the Meadows Course to the tune of an amazing, course-record, 8-under 63 to share the clubhouse lead.

Prugh and Perry were an incredible five shots better than fellow early starters Kirk Hanefeld, Stu Ingrahamand David Muttitt. All three finished with a 3-under 68.

"As long as it's not cold, nothing really bothers me," said Prugh, a PGA assistant Professional at Manito Golf and Country Club in Spokane, Wash. "It wasn't cold and wet is fine with me. I'm from the Northwest and it gets wet up here. I tried to keep it pretty simple. I got lucky, a few putts fell - even a couple from some distance. I actually missed a couple of short ones, but I hit them good. As long as you're hitting them fine, they'll fall in eventually. It was pretty simple. I just putted good."

Prugh, the older brother of Alex Prugh, who plays on the Web.com Tour and has played on the PGA Tour, finished seventh in his PNC debut a year ago, which earned him a trip to the PGA Championship. Even with those experiences under his belt, Prugh still felt some nerves when he teed off Sunday morning.

"I have tons of nerves always.," he said. "Tiger said once, 'If you're not nervous, you don't care.' I'm always nervous. The experience was good as a confidence booster meaning that I didn't have to reinvent some sort of wheel to get as good as I believe I am, but as good as everybody else is."


Without question, the putter was friendly to Prugh in Round 1. Like Perry, he needed just 25 putts.

Playing the back nine first, Prugh parred his first three holes before rolling off six consecutive birdies beginning on No. 13. Birdie putts from 10 and 15 feet, respectively, dropped on holes 14 and 15, before Prugh buried a 40-footer for birdie at No. 16 and a 20-footer at 18.

"The greens were perfect," Prugh said. "Hats off to the grounds crew at both places. It's just perfect. It's easy. The greens aren't too tricky to read and they're rolling at a perfect speed. Early on they felt a little slow with the rain, but I figured it out. Sometimes you figure it out, I guess and some days you don't."

For his part, Perry - the PGA Head Professional at Crane Lakes Golf Course in Port Orange, Fla., who tied for second at the 2012 PNC - also got hot on the back nine after going out in 3-under 32.

Perry birdied Nos. 11-14 to get to 7 under before picking up one last birdie on the par-5 17th to finish at 8 under.

"I knew I was on the lesser of the evils today, playing the Meadows Course," said Perry, who believed that he last posted a 63 in a 2010 North Florida PGA Section event. "So, I knew I needed to get off to a good start, knowing that tomorrow was going to be more challenging and playing in the afternoon (at Crosswater Club), the wind was going to blow more and also playing the more difficult golf course. I just loved the golf course. It's in perfect condition and the greens were phenomenal. You can make some putts if you're lucky enough to hit it in there close. I was fortunate to do that today."

Perry missed only three greens and got what he called his big break of the round with his putter.

"I got away with one," he said. "I didn't get up and down (for birdie) from the greenside bunker on 10 (a 534-yard par 5), and felt like I had dropped half a shot. I knew the big guys are going to be hitting long irons in there, no problem. Then, I made about a 45-footer on 11 that was moving pretty good. It just happened to hit the center of the hole. That kept my round together. If that putt goes by four or five feet and I miss it, all of a sudden I've dropped a shot and half starting the back nine. I got a cookie out of the cookie jar without getting my hand slapped."

There's still plenty of golf to be played in Round 1, but Prugh and Perry both set an early mark that'll be difficult to top. So good, in fact, that it broke the competitive course mark of 65, set by 2004 National Champion Bob Sowards of Dublin, Ohio, in the second round of the 2007 PGA Professional National Championship.

Korean Park moves two ahead at U.S. Women's Open

Korean Park moves two ahead at U.S. Women's Open










June 28, 2013 7:43 PM

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(Reuters) - South Korea's Park Inbee moved a step closer to her third major victory this year when she seized a two-shot lead in the weather-interrupted second round of the U.S. Women's Open in Southampton, New York on Friday.

Shortly before play was suspended for the day as fog enveloped the challenging Sebonack Country Club layout, the in-form Park rolled in a birdie putt on the 18th green to complete a four-under-par 68.

That left the Korean world number one at nine-under 135, two ahead of compatriot Kim In-kyung, who had played well for a 69 earlier in the day despite gusting winds and several tough pin positions.

American Lizette Salas was at four under after shooting an even 72, level with England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff, who was two under for the round with three holes to complete when the siren sounded to halt the action.

The cut was projected to fall at five-over 149 with Taiwan's former world number one Yani Tseng, third-ranked Norwegian Suzann Pettersen and reigning Women's British Open champion Shin Ji-yai of South Korea among those destined to miss out.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)