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| Author: | lw789 [ Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:11 am ] |
| Post subject: | venue for the US Open and had to |
PINEHURST, N.C. -- At least Phil Mickelson probably wont face another close call at the U.S. Open. The six-time runner-up and zero-time champion slipped well off the pace Friday with a 73 that left him at 3 over -- 13 strokes behind record-setting leader Martin Kaymer. Its mostly because of his putter. After ditching the claw grip in favour of a more traditional one, Mickelson missed a series of putts that would have put him at least a little closer to Kaymer. "The hole looks like a thimble to me right now," Mickelson said. "Im having a hard time finding it." Now, at a tournament where everybodys seemingly playing for second, hes facing quite a climb to claw back within striking distance on a Pinehurst No. 2 course that 15 years ago was the site of the first of his many second-place finishes. Teenage playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick called Mickelson "the master" of "getting out of trouble" and that ability certainly will be put to the test this weekend. "I feel like Im playing well enough to win the U.S. Open," Mickelson said. "Except for putting." Mickelson has been saying his putting could use some tweaking. Hes 100th among PGA Tour players in total putting this year after finishing 11th in that stat in 2013. So in an attempt to get his stroke back, he switched to a claw grip for the Open. Even after he shot even par during the first round, he said he wasnt sure how long hed stick with it. All of 18 holes, it turned out. "I felt like I identified what I was struggling with, and I thought it was my eye line had gotten well over the golf ball," Mickelson said. "So as I moved the ball away and put my eyes over the ball instead of over the top, I felt like thats how I putted last year, so I went back to my regular grip." Reverting back to the conventional grip for Round 2, Mickelson got off to an encouraging start with birdies on consecutive early holes. Then came the pesky par-3 sixth that "shook me a little bit." Mickelson plopped his tee shot onto the green, but three-putted for a four after his short par attempt hugged the lip of the cup before spinning out. Two holes later, he pushed his short putt wide left and settled for bogey -- the second straight day he bogeyed both holes. "After that," he said, "I was really fighting it." He added bogeys on two holes he birdied a day earlier -- on the par-5 10th, and on the 14th after spinning another short par putt around the lip of the cup. He ended his round by missing an 11-foot par putt on the 18th and tapping in for his fifth bogey. "Whenever you putt well and you make short ones and you make those 5-, 6-footers and youre running a couple of 20-footers in, the game feels easy," Mickelson said. "You dont put pressure on yourself to hit it close. You can hit more of the middle of the greens. Your ball striking then becomes a lot easier. Your targets are a lot bigger." Because that hasnt happened here yet, it sure looks like when Mickelson turns 44 on Monday, hell still be one victory shy of the career Grand Slam. The three-time Masters champ, 2005 PGA Championship winner and 2013 British Open champion began his run of runner-ups at this course 15 years ago when it staged its first Open. He was preparing for a playoff with the late Payne Stewart when Stewart sank a memorable 15-foot putt for par and the win -- and a statue of Stewart in that moment stands just beyond the green on 18. Mickelson led by a stroke heading into the last hole at Winged Foot in 2006 but finished with a double bogey. Last year, at Merion he led during the final round but finished two strokes behind Justin Rose. But after the way his putter struggled in Round 2, second place doesnt sound too bad. Besides, hes only seven strokes behind Brendon Todd for second. "Im not overly optimistic. Obviously Im not in good position, but more than that ... you cant fire at a lot of the pins," he said. "Youve got to make 25-, 30-footers, Im just not doing it. Im not going to give up. You just never know. Ive had rounds that kind of clicked. ... Tomorrow, I need to shoot 6- or 7-under par to have a realistic chance." Black Nike Air Vapormax . -- Phil Mickelson came to the St. Cheap Nike Air Vapormax . -- Kenneth Faried made a turnaround hook shot over Draymond Green with a half-second remaining, and the Denver Nuggets made Golden State wait at least one more game to secure a playoff berth with a stunning 100-99 win over the Warriors on Thursday night. http://www.cheapairvapormaxsale.com/. However, the 38-year-old is in no hurry to sign with another team. "Im not in a rush. This will be my last contract, so I want to do it right," said Burris on Thursday. Cheap Nike Air Vapormax China . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Youth Nike Air Vapormax . Gauteng High Court Judge Dunstan Mlambo ruled Tuesday that South African media houses will be allowed to install three remote controlled cameras in court for the Olympic athletes trial starting next week to capture images that likely will be seen by millions around the world.Nick Dougherty explains why he is so fond of the US Open and reveals what to expect from Oakmont this week. The US Open is well known for teetering on the edge of what is a fair test of golf. The USGA dont always get it right, and weve seen that over the year. Any time they have to water the greens in between groups is a sign that theyve missed it. To be in with a chance of winning the replica set of clubs and golf bag used by this years US Open champion, simply answer this question When conditions are like that, youre relying too much on luck as well as skill and thats nonsense. Having said that, I loved the difficulty of the US Open and it will always be my favourite of the four majors. You know that par is always going to be a good score regardless of where the tournament is and it is fair to say I never played on a gentle course at the US Open.Very rarely does a winner of the US Open say that they were not quite on top of their game, which you do hear sometimes at regular Tour events. Jason Day said that at Sawgrass recently and still found a way to get the job done, but the US Open wont let you off like that. Angel Cabrera ended the week five over when he won the tournament in 2007 But even if you are playing well and full of confidence, youre not going to hit perfect shots for 72 holes. It just means you are tighter with your dispersion when you do make mistakes, and it means knowing where your misses are.If youre playing poorly and missing on both sides, youve got absolutely no chance on a US Open course. And if you make too many mental errors at crucial times, its also not going to get you very far.It is tough to be critical of Phil Mickelson as he has been runner-up in his home Open six times, but a lot of those times its been the odd bad shot that has let him down. This was abundantly evident in that infamous finish at Winged Foot 10 years ago, and he was also too loose on too many occasions as Merion and that let in Justin Rose for the win. Mike Davis said if they ever had a problem with a scheduled host venue for the US Open and had to switch it at short notice, they could tee it up at Oakmont within two or three days. Nick Dougherty on Oakmont I think its the hardest of the four majors to win and, more often than not, the man holding the trophy on Sunday evening will have been the grittiest player over the four days. Graeme McDowell was a prime example of that when he won at Pebble Beach in 2010.It wasnt that he was constantly hitting sensational shots, but he played to his strengths, stuck to the shape of shot he likes to hit and he simply made fewer mistakes than his closest challengers.I hope the Oakmont course is set up in similar fashion this year to when I played there in 2007 because. Although it was not the easiest, or the hardest course I played, it definitely felt the fairest. Oakmont last hosted the US Open in 2007 The fairways are not super tight. I dont like it when its almost impossible to keep the ball on the fairway and all you can do is chop your ball back out. But I do like good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished, and thats what you will get in a US Open at Oakmont.You want the guy holding the trophy at the end to have stood out from the rest under that cauldron of pressure having delivered at the very highest level.dddddddddddd You want the champion to have dealt with all the challenges, both mentally and technically. You dont want to see players being punished for good shots if the USGA get the course setup wrong. You will get the odd bad bounce here and there, and thats fair enough, but youll probably get a couple of lucky breaks as well.But weve seen a few times that players have hit what appear to be perfect shots, only to find its impossible to hold the ball on a fairway or a green, and it rolls down a bank and into a position where its virtually impossible to get up and down.I dont believe we saw any of that at Oakmont last time, so if anyone gets out of position, they will probably only have themselves to blame. I remember the rough being really thick in 2007, and some people dont like to see that - they want to see the pros have a fighting chance to get to the green. Dougherty finished the 2007 US Open in tied-seventh after playing with Woods on the Saturday I agree with that to a point, but because the fairways were that little bit more generous at Oakmont, the punishing rough was fine with me. You knew you had to hit the fairway in order to be able to go at the green.When I played with Tiger in the third round nine years ago, he missed only one green all day, at the 18th, and thats because it was the only fairway he had missed all day and it led to a closing bogey.You stand on each tee knowing if you go offline, youre more likely to make bogey than par, and if youre two over and trying too hard to claw it back, you could be stood on the next tee at four over. It is the ultimate test, its what a US Open is all about and I think well see that again at Oakmont.There was a lot of criticism of Chambers Bay last year, particularly over the condition of the greens and the fact that a couple of holes were off limits for spectators. The USGAs decision to change the par-five 18th into a par-four for the second round also didnt do down well with players or viewers. Chambers Bay recieved criticism from the players during last years tournament Generally, I like what Mike Davis and the USGA do at any US Open venue. I wasnt a fan of changing the par on 18 last year, but I like the way they vary the lengths of several holes. The par-three eighth at Oakmont could be a driver for some players one day, and a short iron the next.Weve seen long, tough par-fours turned into risk/reward driveable par-fours, and each hole can present a completely different challenge for the players over the week.Davis, the executive director for the USGA, was talking about Oakmont recently and said that if they ever had a problem with a scheduled host venue for the US Open and had to switch it at short notice, they could tee it up at Oakmont within two or three days. Heavy bunkering and thick rough are a feature at Oakmont The course is presented virtually the same all year round and rumour has it that the greens are actually quicker for the members than for a major tournament. Im not sure I believe that, but I do know that the challenge is there for all to see, and theres no need to have the layout tricked up.The tournament officials dont have to do much to set it up for a US Open, and if you ever get the chance to play there, youll be presented with pretty much the same conditions at the Tour pros face.That is testament to the design talents of Henry Fownes in the early 20th century, and it is simply a great major championship venue.Watch the US Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf American Golf Competition Win replica clubs and bag of the 2016 US Open champion - enter now! Also See: Critchley on historic courses Lefty: Oakmont is toughest US Open latest news Golf live on Sky Sports Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' ' |
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