8/21/2023 0 Comments R markmywordsHis 2021 US Open title came at Torrey Pines in relatively nearby San Diego and is one of his five victories, including two this year, in the Golden State. The American and Australian Smith are two of 15 LIV players playing this week, the list including former US Open champions Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer, as well as Sergio Garcia, who returns to major action after qualifying in Austin, Texas. Koepka, who was runner-up to the Spaniard Rahm at Augusta, was imperious in proving some LIV players can still compete at the highest level when he won at Oak Hill last month. There is good reason to expect that trend to continue. Since Fitzpatrick's success, which propelled the 28-year-old from Sheffield into the world's top 10, the following majors have been won by players of world-class pedigree: Cameron Smith (The Open), Rahm (the Masters) and Brooks Koepka (the US PGA Championship). "I'm really rooting for this US Open to rescue us all for a few days from the story that I think everybody knows has been so divisive and I think that the LACC North Course is just the place to do that," said US broadcaster Dan Hicks who leads the NBC commentary team. It is just what the game needs, given the ongoing unrest at the top of men's professional golf. This appears a stage difficult enough for a US Open and if the rough does not prove too ridiculous - always a danger at a US Open - it is sufficiently spectacular to wow those watching. This is a part of the world where big names thrive and stars are born. It is the first time Los Angeles has held the US Open since Ben Hogan won at Riviera 75 years ago. The course has a wonderful flow, building to a tough closing finish where pars will be golden. Scheffler and Morikawa are among the favourites this week on an undulating 7,423-yard par-70 course that is more than fit to stage its maiden major. In 2013 it staged a Pac-12 college event won by current PGA star Max Homa and four years later a strong US team including major winners Scheffler and Collin Morikawa won the Walker Cup there, beating Great Britain and Ireland 19-7. The well-heeled members did not want their golf interrupted.īut following a revamp of the esteemed North Course - which started in 2009 - by leading designer Gil Hanse along with architect and pundit Geoff Shackelford, a slightly more relaxed LACC is now ready to welcome the eyes of the golfing world to their property. In 1982 the club's committee voted 5-4 against accepting the opportunity to hold the US Open four years later. "Dad would have loved to have joined there," Nathanial Crosby, his son and former Walker Cup captain, once said. It is a magnificent course nestling close to Beverly Hills at a club that was once so picky, entertainers - Bing Crosby included - were not welcome. But once the first tee shot is struck, it will be all about the golf.Īnd where better for a blockbuster storyline than Tinseltown itself.įor the first time the US Open is staged in the ultra exclusive Los Angeles Country Club (LACC). No doubt the days building up to Thursday's start will be dominated by talk surrounding implications of this extraordinary deal. The sport remains in tumult after last week's shock announcement of a commercial merger between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour with LIV's backers, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. This week fans will be hoping for something similar. It was a dramatic finish to a championship that, for its four days, pushed the breakout of the sport's civil war into the background, a glorious tournament that showcased golf in its best light. Fitzpatrick's daring nine-iron approach from a fairway bunker on the closing hole helped him beat a chasing pack that included the reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and former US Open winners Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |