This kind of feels like the year that Tom Watson lost in the playoff to Stewart Cink. 94% of the golf world was pulling for Phil to win but a really good guy ended up winning. Justin Rose is a good person and he's paid his dues too. I'm not sold on the setup of the course, especially 18. If the best players in the world can't make a birdie over two days that's a bit too much. Wonder if Phil wishes he had the driver in the bag yesterday as he walked to 18?
Other random thoughts after viewing the final round nearly start to finish with the leaders...
Hunter Mahan after hitting driver on Par 3 loudly on live TV... "I hit a F#*$ing driver on a par 3!?" -- no, not really you hit a huge weak fan job.
Steve Stricker made a great 8 on that par 5. Is that possible? I mean a 1 putt 8 after hitting 2 balls out of bounds. Doesn't the USGA's equitable stroke index allow him to write down a 7 and move on?
I really thought Phil was going to hole that chip on 18 but you knew he wasn't going to make par. It was either going in or he was going to T-2 costing lost of you money in the pool.
The USGA got VERY lucky they didn't have a delay. There would have been no time to finish it as they were pushing up to sunset. I was shocked they didn't start the final round at least 1 hour earlier.
Still not a fan of the wicker baskets at the U.S. Open. Is it neat? Yes. Do they need to bow down to Merion's membership for the U.S. Open? No, I don't think so, especially since they didn't sell any replicas or minis.
I like to watch the Masters more because the final round doesn't look like my regular Saturday game. I'd rather see some guys have a chance to make birdies. Think about how much more exciting the finish was this year at Augusta vs. Merion. El Pato making that 3 to tie Scott after he thought it was over. As it turns out Phil had a 0 for 146 chance.
As for our pool, those who picked Graeme McDowell got relatively luckly. There were five who either picked Jason Day or Phil but it could have been worse. Admit it Greg, you picked Jason Day and were rooting hard for Phil to chunk that chip on 18!
We do have a new leader in Mrs. King and several others who jumped into the top 10. Here are the updated standings...
| Jennifer
King |
- |
$7,238,258 |
| Bill Horton |
- |
$7,226,076 |
| Hunter Hughey |
- |
$6,676,804 |
| Mike Jones |
- |
$6,618,134 |
| Jim Fisher |
- |
$6,328,776 |
| Stefen
Lovelace |
- |
$6,074,036 |
| Don Adams |
- |
$5,895,300 |
| Gray Kitchens |
- |
$5,860,643 |
| Kyle Rubeling |
- |
$5,857,586 |
| Andrew Tucker |
- |
$5,807,945 |
| PLAYOFF CUT
LINE |
|
|
| Matt Saler |
- |
$5,704,736 |
| Jake Louricas |
- |
$5,646,536 |
| Greg Adams |
- |
$5,544,394 |
| Travis Brown |
- |
$5,088,655 |
| Stephen
Riddick |
- |
$4,941,989 |
| Patrick King |
- |
$4,905,830 |
| John Barnes |
- |
$4,818,164 |
| John Reilly |
- |
$4,528,002 |
| Ryan Jordan |
- |
$4,495,679 |
| Allen Freedman |
- |
$4,482,867 |
| Mike Hubbard |
- |
$4,214,772 |
| Joe Eber |
- |
$4,031,726 |
| Troy
Engebretson |
- |
$4,029,507 |
| Russ Tigue |
- |
$3,973,927 |
| Tom Roberts |
- |
$3,955,898 |
| Jason Swanson |
- |
$3,847,921 |
| Tim Baker Sr. |
- |
$3,725,509 |
| Jeff Wilson |
- |
$3,643,253 |
| Jeremy Hammond |
- |
$3,567,609 |
| Sean Scoopmire |
- |
$3,543,384 |
| Nick Eber |
- |
$3,417,963 |
| Justin
Marksamer |
- |
$3,280,430 |
| Brian Jones |
- |
$3,221,408 |
| Jim Hobart |
- |
$3,021,939 |
| Brian Remsberg |
- |
$3,011,045 |
| Stefan Manford |
- |
$2,853,117 |
| Blake Browne |
- |
$2,743,935 |
| Chris Hood |
- |
$2,733,431 |
| Brian Marchant |
- |
$2,679,270 |
| Jamie Pimentel |
- |
$2,357,174 |
| Sue Hubbard |
- |
$2,346,631 |
| Mark Eber |
- |
$2,248,517 |
| Chip Kay |
- |
$2,097,707 |
| Mark Wilson |
- |
$1,863,943 |
| Alex Yates |
- |
$1,513,487 |
