I finally caved and bought a set. I went to the driving range for the first time yesterday and it was, uh, amusing.

I actually watched a bit of the NEC tournament today while getting ready to do the yard work. I turned it off after Tiger Woods missed a tap-in putt. He was two or three strokes back of the lead and from what the commentators were saying, wasn’t putting a whole lot better on the earlier holes. So, I go out, do the yard work, pick up some Chinese, and get some groceries. I come home and find that Tiger won the tournament.

How does he do that?

But, did I not say even par could theoretically win this tournament? I think I did…

So, I’m watching the US Open again today, and they just put this stat up:

Rounds under par:
Round 1: 9
Round 2: 14
Round 3: 1

ONE ROUND UNDER PAR! (and its by a guy whose 51 years old and is playing on (seniors) Champions Tour. This is just a ridiculous tournament.

Another thing, Jason Gore, currently in third place, gives hope to non-atheletes everywhere. This guy last week was playing, not on the PGA tour, but on the Hooters Tour! (alright, in his defense, it used to be called the Futures Tour, and is used for future PGA pros, but still….)

I might have to be a fair weather fan on this one and shift my loyalties for just this week to the “nobody”. Go Jason!

Update: Make that 2 rounds under Par. Retief Goosen just finished his round with a birdie. Just insane.

So, I’ve been watching the US Open (or rather the highlights of it), and some thoughts came to me:

1.) For those of you who know nothing about the US Open, unlike the Men’s Invitational Majors (the Masters, PGA Championship and British Open for example), as well as the other tournaments, the US Open is the only tournament that any person can qualify for. Theoretically, if I were good enough, I could play in a qualifying tournament, and enter the US Open. (Think Tin Cup.)

2.) The US Open is the only tournament in the world where we say that even par could theoretically win the tournament. Last year’s winner was -5. While that may seem impressive given my above statement, consider this even more impressive statement, there were only two other players below par after the last green. Everyone else in the original 142 person field last year was +1 or worse.

3.) Retief Goosen is the only player to be on the front page of the leaderboard at the US Open each of the last 5 years (and has won this tournament twice). If he wins again, he joins names like Nicklaus, Jones and Snead (all legends in the game).

4.) The rough is really rough. The USGA (United States Golf Association), which assists all the courses for the US Open with specifications for their roughs, fairways, greens and tee boxes, has said that US Open second cut roughs need to be no less than 5 3/4 inches and should not be longer than 6 3/8″ at the start of the tournament. Once the tournament has started (and actually starting 2 days in advance), they do not cut the rough again. Even if you know nothing about golf, think about how long 6″ is (no jokes please), then think about the fact that a golf ball is 1 and 3/8″ in diameter.

5.) For everyone who said boo about Tiger Woods, he’s only 3 strokes back, with a plus one score for the last two days. While this puts him tied for 10th, he’s still only 3 strokes back.

6.) In comparison to the rough, which grows as the weekend goes on, the greens become tougher and tougher as the days go on…or as the players said last year, get closer to becoming a sheer sheet of glass. Its not often that I care what the greens are like, but US Open courses are usually selected because of their difficult pin placements and their difficult approach shots. They are phenomenally hard to run the ball up to, incredibly hard to stop, if you have a long iron or wood to it, and nearly IMPOSSIBLE if you don’t have a good lie for your approach. Remember what I said about even being good enough, this is one of the reasons. The greens have been the biggest concerns by all the players.

It is a shot makers’ tournament, and even more so as the weekend goes on.