Congratulations to Gary Woodland who stood firm under the pressure of a charging Brooks Koepka, the world number one and winner of four of the last eight majors he had played in. Others launched a challenge, most notably England’s Justin Rose, but all faded away as Woodland stuck to his task.
GolfPunk isn’t really that into the mushy stuff which makes us generally quite uncomfortable and exposes our lack of emotional intelligence and stunted personal development. It used to be that it was only the BBC’s series DIY SOS The Big Build that could get to us, but not anymore, now the obvious friendship between US Open champion Gary Woodland and Amy Bockerstette, is quite simply something else.
Once upon a time what golfers wore on the course was not something that was talked about much. This might have something to do with the fact that they wore a standardised uniform of shirt, jumper of varying style and slacks. Oh, and of course the obligatory golf shoe which usually looked like something your grandad thought was cutting edge.
I just placed a bet on the US Open. I got odds of just shy of 6/1 on one Mr Brooks Koepka. My heart is with Justin Rose and, if his amazing short game continues, he may well win but my head says that Koepka will come through to make history.
Justin Rose shot a third round 68 to close the gap on leader Gary Woodland to just one shot, with the field a further three shots back. Looming ominously in the pair’s rear-view mirror is one Brooks Koepka who shot a bogey free round of 68 to continue his slow, but continuous, move up the leaderboard.
America’s Gary Woodland shot a 65 to take the lead in the US Open and join Justin Rose and Tiger Woods in the record books with the joint lowest score in a US Open at Pebble Beach. He leads England’s Justin Rose, who added a round of 70 to his own 65, by two shots as they go into the weekend.
Jordan Spieth is very much making the headlines at Pebble Beach. An eventful second round sees him 1 under par overall after making seven birdies and five bogeys and apparently learning a lesson from Thursday by acknowledging that he is the one making the shots!
England’s Justin Rose birdied the final three holes of his round to post a six under par 65 and lead the U.S. Open by one shot. One of GolfPunk’s tips, Ricky Fowler, sits in second place alongside his fellow countrymen, Xander Schauffele and Aaron Wise, and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen. Rose’s round is the joint lowest ever shot at Pebble Beach in an U.S. Open.
Jordan Spieth was having a decent round yesterday. Level par for the first seven holes and all was well with the world, until the par four 8th. On a hole that requires precision and tidy positioning off the tee, Speith’s tee shot hit the fairway but then rolled too far, ran out of runway and dropped over the cliff edge.
Tom Watson, a five time major winner, had often struggled at the US Open and coming in to the 1982 event he was not in great form. The US Open was the one he really wanted and to get it he was going to have to beat arguably the best ever golfer, Jack Nicklaus. He did it and will forever be remembered for ‘the shot’ on the par three 17th of the final day.
Tiger Woods didn’t just win the 100th US Open at Pebble Beach in 2000 he totally obliterated the field. Tiger was so far out in front that If it had been a Formula One race Tiger he would have lapped the whole field several times.
When Graeme McDowell teed up at Pebble Beach in 2010 for the US Open golf championship, he had not previously won on the USPGA. However, he was a golfer in form having won the week before at the Celtic Manor Wales Open. 72 holes later and he stood on the final green sinking a short putt for the US Open title.
