U.S. Open Returns To Its Roots

Don’t rush for an eye examination or adjust your television screen or fret about hallucinating. That will be the U.S. Open, all right, even though it might appear to be a picture out of the British Isles and that the greenskeeper went mow-crazy around the putting surfaces.

The centennial Open this week will be nothing if not odd.

The usual claustrophobic, tree-lined, strait-jacket feel, exacerbated by high rough ringing the greens, is out. Shinnecock Hills, the 104-year-old course on Long Island, will serve up a pleasant hybrid of British and American golf.

In a significant deviation from the norm, the U.S. Golf Association has abandoned its setup of high collars of rough around the sloping greens on 10 holes. Closely cropped fairways will wrap around the greens at Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14 and 17. That will create runoff areas and force players to be more imaginative.

The change delights the elite players in world golf. Makes them gush, even. Therein lies another Open difference. Players aren’t treating this Open as a trip to a root-canal specialist. Enthusiasm replaces caution.

“That is the way the course should be set up,” said Corey Pavin, looking for his first major title. Instead of being asked to slash with a sand wedge from deep grass, players 6 or 7 yards off the green can opt to chip, putt or lob shots. In 1986, when Raymond Floyd won the Open at Shinnecock, only the ninth green wasn’t enclosed.

“This makes me happy,” said reigning British Open and PGA champion Nick Price. “I’ve always been a believer of running the ball instead of flopping it out. This will bring the bounce of the ball back into the game.”

“I’d like to see more of it,” said 1991 Open champion Payne Stewart, who co-led in ‘86 with five holes to play. “That’s what golf is all about.”

The fairways are slightly un-Openlike, too, in that they are a tad wider than usual. They were 28 to 30 yards wide in 1986. This year they are 29 to 35. That is a marked contrast from last year, when the fairways at Oakmont (Pa.) were narrowed to 20 to 25 yards.

“For those who remember Oakmont,” said David Eger, USGA director of rules and competitions, “they’re going to think this is a driving range.”

Such a setup probably will bring into contention some players who normally aren’t factors in Opens. This tournament historically favors a straight rather than long driver. But now, bombers who sometimes get loose off the tee, such as Davis Love II, Mark Calcavecchia, Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples, figure to stand a better chance.

“If I’ll ever sniff a U.S. Open,” said Calcavecchia, “Shinnecock and Pebble Beach would be the places.”

Wind figures to be a factor, too. Shinnecock has a British links feel, open to the elements. In ‘86, wind gusted to 40 mph during the first round, and the average score was almost 78.

“The wind is going to blow,” said the defending champion, Ernie Els. “It is more like kind of a British Open course.”

Yes and no.

The fairways are tumbling. Trees don’t come into play. Green fairways are bordered by tan, native rough instead of bluegrass. The greens are small and tilted. And the wind is a resident. British flavor, sure. But in so many ways old-style Shinnecock plays like an inland American course, not a links.

“At least in the sense that you don’t have to take a 7-iron from 200 yards and land it 30 yards in front of the green,” Eger said. “Most of the time you can land the ball on the green, as we’re more used to in America.”

The course drew high praise from players in 1986. Ben Crenshaw, a co-leader on the back nine, recalls fondly. “It’s a fantastic collection of holes,” said Crenshaw, Masters champion and golf historian. “You couldn’t have a better setting for golf.”

The USGA agrees.

“Shinnecock is one of the best courses in the world, with a feel to it which no other Open course resembles,” said David Fay, USGA executive director. “When we started looking around in 1989 for a course to hold the 100th anniversary Open, Shinnecock was the logical choice.”

Fay calls Shinnecock one of the Open’s two “showstopper sites.” The other can be found on the Monterey Peninsula. “Your heart beats a little faster when you go to Pebble Beach and Shinnecock,” Fay said.

The Open will be the third at Shinnecock and 14th in New York. Ninety years after James Foulis won at Shinnecock, Floyd outdueled an all-star cast in ‘86, finishing two strokes ahead of Lanny Wadkins and Chip Beck. In shooting a 1-under 279, Floyd was the only player to break par.

Midway through that final round, nine players were tied for first at one over par, and none was Floyd. He was 2-over, a stroke behind Greg Norman, Hal Sutton, Lee Trevino, Bob Tway, Payne Stewart, Mark McCumber, Crenshaw, Wadkins and Beck. Stewart led by one with six holes to play but went 4-over from there. Floyd charged past the pack by making birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 16.

“I smile every time I look at pictures of myself winning there,” Floyd, set for his 30th Open, says now. “What a wonderful place.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE U.S. OPEN ON LONG ISLAND This year’s U.S. Open will be played on Long Island for the sixth time. This is the third time Shinnecock Hills Golf Club has been the host. Here are the presious results:

Year Winner Course 1896 James Foulis Shinnecock Hills G.C., Southampton 1902 Laurie Auchterlonie Garden City G.C., Garden City 1923 Bobby Jones * (76) Inwood C.C., Inwood 1932 Gene Sarazen Fresh Meadows C.C., Flushing 1986 Ray Floyd Shinnecock Hills G.C., Southampton * won in playoffs, playoff round in parentheses