The US Open

[o_Hot Rock]

That was a fun 17th. Who among us has the Hovland shot from that rough? Scott with the money putt from 12. Things might be interesting tomorrow.

That was hard to read, I kept getting to 17 (th). And kept thinking a different word, just would not make sense. Oh, golf … next to last.. ****

 

[mstateglfr]

I realize the conditions were completely different, and the course is like 400 yards longer now, but how the Hell did Johnny Miller shoot a 63 on that course in 1973?

I looked it up, and he had 9 birdies and a bogey. Birdied the first four holes. And he won a whopping $35,000. But that's in 1973 dollars, equivalent to about $255,000 today.

He shot that because the conditions were completely different.
He also shot that because he hit all but 1 fairway and hit all 18 greens in regulation, with most of those being within like 20' or something like that.

It was a totally different course 50+ years ago. In addition to being significantly shorter, it had a bunch of trees too(OAKmont). Over 15,000 trees have been removed from the course. While the rough was challenging in 1973, the rough has been grown out and thickened at Oakmont for each of the subsequent Opens(not that it would have mattered much, since Miller hit all but 1 fairway).



Johnny Miller is an unbearable 17nut, but he legit played lights out that day, tee to green to hole. He is like a vegan and a crossfitter combined though. Holy hell will he let you know what he did that day.

 

[Dawgzilla2]

He shot that because the conditions were completely different.
He also shot that because he hit all but 1 fairway and hit all 18 greens in regulation, with most of those being within like 20' or something like that.

It was a totally different course 50+ years ago. In addition to being significantly shorter, it had a bunch of trees too(OAKmont). Over 15,000 trees have been removed from the course. While the rough was challenging in 1973, the rough has been grown out and thickened at Oakmont for each of the subsequent Opens(not that it would have mattered much, since Miller hit all but 1 fairway).



Johnny Miller is an unbearable 17nut, but he legit played lights out that day, tee to green to hole. He is like a vegan and a crossfitter combined though. Holy hell will he let you know what he did that day.

"Totally different" is an exaggeration. It's been considered the toughest course in America pretty much since the day it opened. And those bunkers have been hellish the whole time.

But I don't know how wide the fairways were for the '73 open, and of course the par 3 8th only played about 250 and not 300, but still...

Of course, Sam Burns shot 65 on Friday, so he might think 63 was possible.

 

[mstateglfr]

"Totally different" is an exaggeration. It's been considered the toughest course in America pretty much since the day it opened. And those bunkers have been hellish the whole time.

Its been considered tough for decades, yes. And the bunkers have been tough, yes.

I just view the removal of 15,000 interior trees, lengthening the course by 500ish yards, and further growing out the rough = a totally different course.
It can still be one of the toughest, but its totally different.
The course had turned into a parkland style course by the time the '73 Open was played and it is now an inland links style course. That alone makes it 'totally different'...at least to me.