The course was clearly “gettable” with American Austin Ekroat and world No 2 both compiling 65s to reach three-under. These lower numbers no doubt offended the traditionalists but the US Golf Association must believe it cannot win.
For years, it was slammed for overly penal course set-ups and the anger in the locker room became so pronounced that eight years ago after the farcical condition of the Chambers Bay layout in 2015, that Golf Digest claimed some of the top stars were prepared to boycott America’s national champion.
Since then, the challenge has become much less controversial. In the last seven years the average winning score has been approximately seven-under and that includes the 2018 edition at the brutal Shinnecock Hills that saw Koepka win on one-over.
No doubt, the USGA would have preferred the pacesetters not to be double-digits under after 54 holes, but they were not helped by the mists which softened the greens and thus blunted the design’s bite. There is also the distance issue to consider.
The USGA and R&A, the game’s governing bodies, have finally, following decades of disregard, vowed to rein back the ball. The fact is that there are very few courses in the world that can defend themselves from the modern golfer’s ridiculous length without being tricked up. LACC was not overly manipulated to keep the scoring down and Amen to that.
Furthermore, the LACC putting surfaces were in fantastic condition and as Padraig Harrington pointed out “ these are probably the best greens we’ve ever putted on in a major and if you produce good greens, you’re going to get good scoring”. “I think it’s an excellent setup,” the Irishman added
Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even though it should be noted that a golfer’s affection of otherwise to a course is invariably and uncannily tied to the score of that individual.
Fitzpatrick is not a fan. “There’s just too many holes for me where you’ve got blind tee shots and then you’ve got fairways that don’t hold the ball,” he said.
“Some of the tee shots, I think, are a little bit unfair. You hit a good tee shot and end up in the rough by a foot and then you’re hacking it out. Meanwhile someone has hit it miles offline the other way and they’ve got a shot. Yeah, not my cup of tea.”
Fitzpatrick will be glad to hear that the US Open is not due to return to LACC for another 16 years.
