Fast greens could turn US Open into ‘great war of attrition’- Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is gearing up for what he describes as a “war of attrition” as Pinehurst hosts the 124th US Open Championship. Woods, who finished third behind Payne Stewart at Pinehurst in 1999 and was the runner-up to Michael Campbell in 2005, missed the 2014 tournament due to a back injury.

 

In 2014, Germany’s Martin Kaymer dominated the first US Open held at Pinehurst since Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore’s restoration work. Their updates replaced the traditional heavy rough and narrow fairways with sandy ‘native areas’ and challenging ‘turtleback’ greens. The difficulty of keeping the ball on the ninth green even led to a forward tee being used, with officials cautious of repeating the issues at Shinnecock Hills in 2004, when fast greens and a controversial pin placement stopped play until the seventh green was watered.

 

Defending champion Wyndham Clark recently warned that the Pinehurst greens are already approaching a difficult state, with Woods predicting tricky scenarios where players may find themselves chipping or putting back and forth across the greens.

 

“This course will test every part of your game,” Woods said, emphasizing the mental discipline required to succeed. “I’ve been preparing and working on my game plan for the challenge.”

 

The 15-time major winner noted that the course is different now, having switched from bentgrass to Bermuda grass, which adds a new level of difficulty. “It’s grainy, and I’ve used long irons and woods around the greens,” he explained. “We’ve all putted off a lot of greens already. It’s going to depend on how severe the USGA wants to make this, but I foresee a repeat of 2005, with players going back and forth across the greens.”

 

Woods praised the work done on the course since its renovation, noting the challenge of playing on greens originally designed by Donald Ross. “When Ross built these greens, I don’t think he intended for them to be running at 13 on the stimpmeter. Back then, they were as fast as fairways.”

 

He added, “These greens are tough, and with the conditions this week, it’s going to be a true test of endurance. By the end of the week, the greens might get so slick that your putter slips while you’re bending down to read a putt.”

 

Woods anticipates that the scores will reflect the challenge, predicting that the leading score at the end of day one might be the lowest anyone sees all week. “It’s going to be a tough but exciting battle for all of us.”