Five Questions Heading into the U.S. Open at Merion

Five Questions Heading into the U.S. Open at Merion











Travis Mewhirter June 12, 2013 8:22 PM




COMMENTARY | It's finally here: the U.S. Open, the second major, golf's supposedly toughest test of the year, and it's back at Merion, the place where Ben Hogan hit the most famous 1-iron of all time and where Lee Trevino once outdueled Jack.

There's nostalgia, the ubiquitous "will Tiger ever catch Jack?" storylines, a hot Matt Kuchar, a struggling Rory McIlroy, and a pretty little -- still currently underwater -- course less than 7,000 yards long about to challenge one of the most elite fields in golf, and, of course, plenty of questions coming in. My top five:
1. Happy anniversary Tiger?

When it comes to majors, Tiger will always be the first question until he surpasses Nicklaus. Exactly five years ago, Woods was playing Torrey Pines on one leg while the other was quietly suffering an ACL tear. And he won, beating a short-hitting chatterbox named Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole playoff. What a poetic narrative this would be for Woods to end his half-decade major drought, once thought to be a preposterous stretch for the world's No. 1 pre-fire hydrant.

Merion doesn't set up quite as well for Tiger as Torrey or Pebble Beach, where he won in 2000 by 15 strokes, did. It's quirky, with monster par threes and a glut of short par fours -- a ball striker's heaven. Woods is better when he can uncork driver and float high-irons into the green while most of the field is left hitting middle irons. At Merion, the headcover may come unsheathed maybe two or three times per round, his low irons doing the majority of the work off the tee.

But, Woods has also won four times this season -- double that of anybody on Tour -- as many times he has ever won entering a U.S. Open. A fifth would be a happy anniversary indeed.
2. Merion or the field?

As mentioned above, this antique, wicker basket toting track just outside Philadelphia is quirky. It's playing 6,996 yards, the shortest since Shinnecock Hills in 2004 and Southern Hills in Tulsa three years before that. The optimal survival strategy for a course that short short is to play firm and fast, chasing balls into its shin-high rough and sending approaches bouncing off greens. That's exactly how Merion had been playing -- until this week. Five inches worth of rain has morphed it from Open-ready, firm and rigid like the USGA wanted, to a spongy, vulnerable, birdie-prone golf course, not much unlike any other tournament.

What the rain does provide, however, is even shaggier rough and the elimination of any roll off the tee, making the holes seem somewhat longer than what they actually are. Most expect a bird-a-thon, but Merion may be underestimated.

3. Can Adam Scott go two in a row?

It seems like forever ago when the Aussie used that long, sweeping, stroke of the belly putter to bury Angel Cabrera in a sudden-death playoff at Augusta for the Masters. It was Scott's first ever major and the fourth by a belly-putter wielder.

In a group made for TV, the No. 3 player in the world is paired in the opening two rounds with Woods, No. 1 in the world, and McIlroy, No. 2 in the world.

Two U.S. Open champs and Scott, who has never seriously contended at an Open. Maybe the Masters will be the impetus he needed.
4. Is it Kooch's time?

As I wrote last week, Matt Kuchar is the hottest name in golf right now -- but he's never won a major. Aside from Tiger, the smiling assassin is the only other player on Tour to have more than one win. Merion's short setup plays well for Kuchar, notorious for playing small ball off the tee, relying instead on steady ball striking to lead him to his Tour-leading 35 Top 10s since 2010.

Many count him out, saying he doesn't have Tiger's killer instinct or Rory's ethereal ability, but if there's one U.S. Open course where Kuchar can win, Merion is it.
5. Will we see 2011 Congressional dominating Rory, or 2013 struggling Nike Rory?

The Irishman's struggles have been well-documented this season. We haven't seen many shades reminiscent of the kid who blew past Congressional in 2011 for an Open-record 16 under or the one who would later win the 2012 PGA Championship by eight strokes, the same margin which he won his inaugural major.

As noted above, he's playing with Woods and Scott, good company to be in if a boost in concentration or motivation or whatever it is that he needs. McIlroy is traditionally solid in majors, aside from his meltdown at Augusta in 2011. Since 2009, the 24-year-old McIlroy has finished in the Top 10 six times, but was cut from last year's Open at Olympic.


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But this isn't Olympic, and maybe something a little different is what McIlroy needs.



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Travis Mewhirter has been working in the golf industry since 2007, when he was a bag room manager at Piney Branch Golf Club in Carroll County, Maryland, and has been involved, as a player, since 2004. Since then, he has worked at Hayfields Country Club, where the Constellation Energy Classic was formerly held, and has covered golf at the high school, college, and professional levels.