Pinehurst, N.C. – With a bit of sadness, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington realized during his first practice round of the 105th U.S. Open Champ- ionship that Pinehurst isn’t playing like Pinehurst.
Usually closely shaved, the runoff areas around the saucer-shaped greens of the No. 2 course look more like stubble. The Pinehurst signature resembles chicken scratch.
Harrington, imaginative with his short game, attempted a chip-and-run shot he thought would hop over the sloped side of the 18th green. The ball died in a soft, uneven area, then rolled back toward him.
“Probably the only unfortunate thing about the course (is the chipping areas),” Harrington said. “It’s a bit scraggy.”
A missed green likely will result in an unpredictable recovery. And with Pinehurst’s slick greens, players know they will find themselves in the hollows today during first-round play.
This time Mother Nature – not the USGA – is to blame.
“It’s no secret they had a difficult winter here and it’s taken its toll,” 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk said. “The areas around the greens are supposed to play firmer. But that’s difficult with the conditions of those areas.”
Harsh weather systems that dumped record snowfalls on the Northeast also pushed colder-than- normal temperatures farther south. While North Carolina’s winter never made national headlines, it did delay the growing season.
Drop-off areas that were resodded in preparation for the U.S. Open have not completely healed.
To promote quick growth, course maintenance workers sprayed extra water on the new sod surrounding the greens. Some spots have become soft. The grass in some sections is rather furry. In other areas there is almost no grass.
Nick Price, winner of three majors, predicted that a ball rolling off the side of a green will result in a perfect lie only one-tenth of the time.
“It’s kind of a Catch-22,” Price said. “In order to grow the grass on the sloped areas, they had to water them.
“I was hoping they’d be bone-dry. That’s the way the course was meant to be played.”
What it does, players say, is reduce their options around the greens. In a normal year, there could be several ways to execute a shot from one of Pinehurst’s greenside hollows. A player might choose to chip the ball along the ground, pitch it high over the ridge, bump-and-run it into the bank or putt it up the slope – with a putter or, as Tiger Woods has popularized, using a 3-wood.
Price doubts lofted clubs such as the 9-iron, pitching wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge will be of much use around the greens at this U.S. Open.
“Because of the condition around the greens, you’re forced to basically play one type of shot, which is sad,” Price said. “Everyone is out there playing the 3-wood shot or using the putter.”
Phil Mickelson, who ranks first on the PGA Tour in scrambling statistics, said he prefers to chip from the swales rather than putt, even under these irregular conditions. Furyk predicted a majority of players will try to lob a soft pitch or bunt the ball through the brown spots with a 3-wood.
“You’re just going to have to adjust and adapt,” Furyk said. “I don’t believe you’re going to see a lot of guys hit 5- and 6-irons and try to run it up there because there are some bare areas.”
Woods, the 2005 Masters winner aiming for the second leg of a calendar Grand Slam, suggested his 3-wood will get more work around the greens than from in the fairway.
“But sod lines are coming into effect,” Woods said. “If you hit a bump and run and you land it in that little area that’s been sodded, it bounces differently each and every time.”
With fewer options around the green, getting up and down to save par becomes more challenging.
“You’re going to see a lot of (recovery) shots 6 to 8 feet from the hole,” Price said. “How well you putt those will be key here.”
Mickelson predicted the winning 72-hole score will be much higher than the 1-under-par 279 fashioned by Payne Stewart at Pinehurst in 1999.
Vijay Singh, who finished in a tie for third in the 1999, said he believes the current course setup approaches the limits of playing fairly. The greens, hardened by a lack of rain, are slick, fast and difficult to hold – especially when a shot struck from the thick rough lacks spin.
“I think it’s a tougher setup than Shinnecock,” said Singh, referring to the 2004 U.S. Open that played to the highest final-round scoring average (78.8) since the 1972 Open at Pebble Beach. “Honestly speaking, I think this is the hardest U.S. golf course I’ve played from tee to green and around the greens. It’s going to be one hell of a test.
“We know it’s going to be hard. Every player knows and expects it to be hard. We just have to deal with that.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
