The 121st version of the United States Open Golf Championship tees it up this coming Thursday at Torrey Pines Golf Course on the Southern California coast. A 36 hole municipal golf course that is the longtime site of the San Diego Farmers Insurance Open, the South Course is the site of this year’s National Open. Torrey Pines hosted a most memorable U.S. Open some 13 years ago when Tiger Woods, playing with a fractured leg, outlasted Rocco Mediate in an overtime win that took place over five days and 91 holes. Torrey Pines South is a beast of a course that plays to a par of 71 and can be stretched out to 7,698 yards. It was designed back in 1957 by Billy Bell, the well known West Coast golf course architect who designed more than 100 courses including Ancil Hoffman, Bermuda Dunes, Sandpiper, Industry Hills, and Lake County’s Hidden Valley Lake.
For most of the year, Joe Six Pack can tee it up at Torrey Pines. Like Bethpage Black, Harding Park, Erin Hills, Whistling Straits, and Chambers Bay, it is one of the few public access courses that have hosted a major championship over the past 10 years. Of course it’s not cheap to play Torrey as current green fees are in the range of $250 with locals paying somewhat less. Both courses, located alongside the Pacific Ocean, are a great walk with jaw dropping vistas.
Because of the pandemic, the U.S. Open was delayed until last September in 2020. Bryson DeChambeau opened a lot of eyes by overwhelming the iconic Winged Foot Golf Club in New York. He was the only golfer under par last autumn and won by six strokes while pounding his driver prodigious distances and gouging wedges out of the rough. It was a true display of power golf. He also showed his true talents with his wedges and his putter.
Unlike the Masters and the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open is truly “open.” Of the 156 golfers in the field, 89 of them are exempt. Exempt golfers include winners of major titles over the past five years, the top 60 in the world rankings, the top golfer from the Asian, Australian, and South African tours, the top 30 Fed Ex Cup golfers from 2020, U.S. Open champs from the last 10 years, the British Amateur winner, and the U.S. Amateur champ and the runner-up. After that, if you can survive a preliminary 18 hole qualifier followed by this past Monday’s “Longest Day of Golf,” a 36 hole regional qualifier at 10 sites, then you get to tee it up alongside Bryson, Phil, Jordan, Brooks, and the others.
What all this qualifying stuff means is that golfers who have struggled of late such as Rickie Fowler or Jason Dufner will be outside looking in while mini-tour professionals and college golfers will be in the field. While it is true that some “name” PGA Tour regulars made it through Monday’s 36 hole qualifying such as Chez Reavie, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Rodgers, Fabian Gomez, European Tour regular Thomas Aiken, and Branden Grace, so too did Cameron Young, a two time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. So too did Carson Schaake of Omaha who showed true mettle by shooting 68-63 for a nine under 131 total to finish first in the Springfied, Ohio Qualifier. The former University of Iowa golfer does have one victory to his credit this year. He did win $7,500 in an Arizona tournament on the Outlaw Golf Tour in February. Hey, if you’re good enough to shoot 68-63, then you definitely deserve a spot in our National Open.
Of course, it’s been a long time since Iowa driving range pro Jack Fleck beat Ben Hogan in overtime to win the 1955 U.S. Open or since 1967 when El Paso driving range pro Lee Trevino had a top five finish in our National Open. There weren’t any mini-tour options for the likes of Fleck and Trevino way back when like there are today, so there was the occasional “diamond in the rough” moment for those who qualified into the Open. Nowadays everyone has a history in their quest to take home the $2.5 million first place check from the $12 million total purse.
Because of Torrey Pines’ length, you have to assume that it will be a long ball knocker who will rise to the top of the leader board come next Sunday evening. However this is not just the home of the San Diego Open where Patrick Reed shot -14 under to win earlier this year. The fairways will be narrowed and the areas around the greens will make for difficult chipping and wedge situations from the gnarly kikuyu rough. While it seems like anyone who is anyone can hit the ball 300 yards off the tee nowadays, it will also be imperative to hit greens in regulation. The eventual champion will have to be a power player who doubles as an iron master.
Obvious favorites include the defending champion, Bryson DeChambeau. He is in his prime and continues to play strong golf. Every now and then his driver can lead him astray, but if he is on, then he could be a repeat titlist. Two time National Open champ Brooks Koepka could be considered a favorite if his injured knee continues to heal. He wasn’t at 100% when he finished runner-up in last month’s PGA Championship and he does have the total game as well as the true grit to win majors. Justin Thomas, who won the 2017 PGA, is another golfer who should excel at Torrey Pines while last week’s Memorial winner, Patrick Cantlay, is another one of those golfers entering his prime and is a real candidate for adding a major to his golfing resume. Of course most pundits had Jon Rahm atop their list of U.S. Open favorites as well until he tested positive for Covid-19 last Saturday and had to withdraw with a six stroke lead in the Memorial. He will be able to return to Torrey Pines on Tuesday of tournament week although it’s hard to say how sharp his game will be.
The elephant in the room is the reigning PGA champion, Phil Mickelson. Phil turns 51 years of age during tournament week and was originally a USGA invite into this year’s Open. With his win last month at Kiawah Island, Phil no longer needed the free pass. A San Diego native with great familiarity when it comes to Torrey Pines, a victory for Phil at the National Open would be an even more stunning victory than his PGA triumph last month. After all, it would put to rest his six runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open as well as secure the career grand slam for Lefty. It would make for a true Hollywood ending although the U.S. Open isn’t necessarily that way.
The U.S. Open returns to Torrey Pines on the San Diego coast this Thursday. It is our national championship as well as the most difficult of all tournaments to win. There is little room for error and it can be a true 72 hole grind. Yet the eventual winner will forever have a place in golf history. After all, we are talking about the United States Open.
