If golfers want to win the U.S. Open any year, it’s imperative they keep the ball in the fairway, and that’s never been truer than this year at Erin Hills.
Golf’s second major will be contested this week in Wisconsin, and early indications are the USGA has set up another treacherous track for the world’s best golfers.
High, thick rough and speedy greens are U.S. Open hallmarks, but it’s hard to recall anything like what we saw in a video posted Sunday by Kevin Na.
As Na points out, the fescue looks downright brutal.
So, yeah. Keep it out of the thick stuff.
Na probably won’t be the last golfer to speak out about the conditions this week, and it’s easy to see why it could be frustrating. There’s something to be said for making the golf course difficult to play, especially for a high-profile event such as the U.S. Open, but is there such thing as “too hard,” even for the world’s best?
On the other side, the U.S. Open is one of the biggest tournaments on the entire golf schedule, and it’s supposed to be hard to win. Plenty of weekend hackers don’t mind seeing the pros humbled every now and then, either. There’s also something borderline whiny about someone with more than $23 million in career earnings making a video to complain about course conditions, but hey, to each their own.
It also might be a long week for Na, who has hit just 58.1 percent of his fairways this season — 131st among Tour players.
