US Open Thoughts...

Shoot...again it's been a month since I've posted.  It's not that I don't think about writing and sharing thoughts about golf...I do!  But life sometimes gets in the way, and I guess it takes a trigger, like the US Open, to get me back to my writing happy place!

Where do you start on the US Open at Chambers Bay?  I guess first I should note I gave my second standing ovation of the year to Jordan Spieth - your 2015 US Open Champion!  I'm a big fan of Jordan so I'm really happy for him.  But I'll be totally honest, I was pulling for Jason Day, and at the end, for Dustin Johnson.  Sometimes I get caught up in a story...like Day's vertigo and DJ's redemption of sorts, so I just find myself rooting from my heart.  But all the credit goes to Spieth (and his caddie!) for his great performance and just hanging in there until the end.

And sometimes I get caught up in the golf course...like Augusta, or TPC Sawgrass, or Pebble Beach, sometimes for me part of the joy of watching golf is just taking in the course.  I wish I could say that happened to me, but it didn't.   Now I know a lot was said about Chambers Bay...A LOT.  I read players comments, media/blogger comments, and fan comments, and to be honest, I just couldn't get myself to like it.  Every time I saw a ball roll into a bunker after seemingly looking like a great shot, I would groan.  I get that it's a certain "course style"...and I realize that everyone had to play under the same conditions, but none of that could convince me to like it.  Maybe it's just that I like trees so much. 

Then we had the network and announcers.  If you know me well, you know that I have been a long time Greg Norman fan...I had a poster on my wall, cried when he lost the Masters, and have purchased enough "Shark Wear" to open my own store.  That said, from what I watched, the commentating was, well, not awesome.  But it was their first run and I'm sure they will be able to make improvements for next  year.  I think the funniest part of all of that were all of the comments about missing Johnny Miller!  On the plus side for me was having Fox prime time coverage on Thursday & Friday...not having Golf Channel can really limit what golf I can watch, so being able to watch the first 2 rounds was a real treat.

Watching Dustin Johnson miss the comeback putt to tie was painful...I just wasn't expecting it.  I was already prepping myself for a Monday 18-hole duel with Spieth and then I see the ball go past the left side of the hole, and just like that, we've got a champion.  Johnson played some great golf and it felt like it might be his time.  But golf is a funny game like that.

I didn't watch as much as I could have, but what I did, I enjoyed - and we'll see how the Season of Spieth continues in July!