munneypicks

2015 U.S. Open

Tournament: Even though we have reached the 2nd major of the season, the year is certainly moving by quickly as there are only about 14 weeks left in the 2015 season. Nevertheless, here we are at the Unites States’ national championship. This year, the USGA has decided to take its’ talents out west, just outside of Seattle, Washington to Chambers Bay. A relatively new golf course that many players are just now getting familiar with as it has never hosted a professional event. The USGA has done an excellent job of creating hype around this year’s championship. Many players have criticized the course for its’ setup claiming that it may play too unfairly but the U.S. Open has always been about embracing the challenge and thriving in that moment. This year will be no different. Chambers Bay is a links style golf course and as always with links courses, experience and a creative short game will be key. But let’s not forget that this is a U.S. Open so Mike Davis of the USGA will try his best to make sure that par is a good score around here. There is a bit of guesswork to be done as not even the players know exactly what to expect. The first hole can be played as either a gettable par 5 or a tough par 4. Another par 3 on the course can play either uphill or downhill depending on the wind and hole location, so we will have a lot of variables here. Majors can bring out the best and worst in golfers and I expect the 115th edition of the U.S. Open to be no different.

Field: Since it’s a major, you can expect the world’s top golfers to be in the field. But with any “Open” tournament, there will be several qualifiers, amateurs, and players you’ve never heard of. An interesting note is that some of the players will be playing Chambers competitively for the 2nd time. The 2010 U.S. Amateur won by Peter Uihlein was held here. Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Ben An, and Patrick Reed are some of the players that were in the field then.

What to Look For: When you look back at the results from the 2010 U.S. Amateur, one thing really stands out. And that’s the fact that the cream rose to the top. Many players on top of the leaderboard were also some of the top amateurs at the time. That is the sign of a world class course. As anyone who has played links golf knows, it takes some getting used to. That will be no different at Chambers Bay. Players with links experience in either the Open Championship or on a few of the European Tour stops would be an added bonus for me this week. Chambers looks like it will play firm and fast and from what we saw in 2010, a player with a creative short game will surely have to use it around some of these green complexes. The fairways are very wide which could lead to some of the bombers having an advantage if the wind stays down which the forecast suggests. We want a hungry player with links experience and a positive attitude this week. Undoubtedly a player will hit a good shot and end up with a bad result because of the bounces at Chambers. The player who puts that behind him and gets up and down for par will gain many strokes on the field.

Picks:

Phil Mickleson to Win: I don’t think anyone in the field is more motivated that Phil. He needs this Championship to become the 6th golfer in history to complete the career grand slam. Phil has mentioned that he struggles to find motivation week to week, but I think that’s because he has so little left to prove. Winning the U.S. Open would validate him in a way that nothing else can at this point in his career. Additionally, absent Seve Ballesteros, Phil may have one of the best short games in the history of golf. He’s creative, he has good distance off the tee, and he’s spent days at Chambers preparing for this moment.