2013 U.S. Open: Will Merion Force the USGA to Visit More Classical Courses?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 24, 2013

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What do you get when you put 156 modern day touring pros on a classical American golf course which challenges every aspect of their game?

You get the Merion Massacre.

Heading into the 2013 U.S. Open, many so-called “experts” had predicted that the top players in the world would tear apart Merion’s short 6,996 yard East Course.

And when Mother Nature dropped more than three inches of rain on the course during the week leading up to the Open, turning Merion’s lightning fast and severely undulating greens into nothing more than large sponges, many thought it was a near certainty that more than a few U.S. Open scoring records would be shattered. 

Needless to say, just about everyone who had made a bold prediction on how easy Merion would play during the 113th U.S. Open left Ardmore, PA with their tails between their legs on Sunday evening when not a single player finished under par for the tournament. 

Merion reared her teeth right from the opening tee shot on Thursday morning and wound up being one of the more difficult U.S. Opens venues in recent memory.

So how is it that a soft 6,996 yard golf course wound up giving the world’s top golfers absolute fits for four consecutive days?

Well, the so-called experts didn’t factor in one key aspect of Merion’s historic East Course – it’s a course that demands precision in an era of bomb and gouge golf.  

The USGA grew out the rough, narrowed the fairways and put the pins in very difficult locations on Merion’s severely undulating greens.

Miss a fairway and you are dead.

Short-side yourself on an approach shot and you are dead.

Heck, even players that managed to find the green in regulation but positioned themselves poorly were bringing bogey or worse into play.  

Modern day touring pros are not used to the ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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