113th U.S. OPEN
MERION GOLF CLUB
Ardmore, Pennsylvania
June 13-16, 2013
Purse: $8,000,000
Winner: $1,440,000

This week the PGA and European Tours head to Pennsylvania for the 113th playing of the U.S. Open.  Coming into the week the biggest storyline the USGA had hoped for was a return to historic Merion Golf Club (last U.S. Open visit was 1981).  However, save for some marquee groupings for the first two days (how does Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott sound?), the main talking points have been the extremely wet weather that has led to hole and course closures, reduction of practice rounds, contingency plans and more discussion than is ever normal on how much manpower it takes to keep certain holes in playable condition.  Firm, fast, tight fairways & thick rough are all words that are synonymous with USGA setups at their major championships.  Tight & thick they’ll have.  Firm and fast they won’t.  More wet weather is in the forecast for both Thursday and Friday so soft conditions will prevail for the week.  This will make for somewhat easier scoring conditions perhaps but make no mistake, a stern test awaits.  Course form this week is non-existent as not many in the field have played Merion before in competition (save for a few amateur rounds back in the day).    

Tournament Notes

Field Watch:  49 of the Top 50 OWGR are in the field (David Lynn-vacation).  Defending Champion:  Webb Simpson; Runner-ups: Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson.
Past Champions:  Joining Simpson in the field are Rory McIlroy; Graeme McDowell; Lucas Glover; Tiger Woods; Angel Cabrera; Geoff Ogilvy; Michael Campbell; Jim Furyk and Ernie Els.
Course Length:  Measures 6.996 yards on the card (Par 70 (36-34).
Field:  156 players including 10 amateurs.
Cut:  Top 60 and ties and anyone within 10 shots of the lead.  

Merion Golf Club Weather [Forecast]:  THU:  Scattered Strong Storms 60%; High 74F Low 59F; Winds SE at 15mph.  FRI:  Scattered T-Storms 50%; High 70F Low 56F; Winds NW at 19mph.  SAT:  Sunny; High 77F Low 59F; Winds NW at 9mph.  SUN:  Mostly Cloudy; High 83F Low 68F; Winds SSW at 8mph. 

Names to Watch (Odds):

• Tiger Woods (6/1) – His last victory in a major was all the way back in 2008; which happened to be a U.S. Open.  Three-time U.S. Open champion as well as five other top 10 finishes; (including runner-up in 2005 and 2007).  Has only missed one cut in 17 U.S. Opens.  Five top 10s in eight 2013 starts including four wins.  Naysayers abound due to Woods’ “drought” in the majors since 2008, but he just won The PLAYERS where he hadn’t won in 12 years.  Boom.  Only concern here is Tiger is 152nd on Tour in Scrambling from the Rough converting only 28 of 55 attempts.          

• Graeme McDowell (22/1) – Mixed bag for GMAC in his last four starts.  Won the RBC Heritage and the Volvo World Match Play (European Tour), but missed the cut at both The PLAYERS and at the BMW PGA (European Tour).  However, has not missed a cut in eight U.S. Open appearances and has finished no worse than T18 in his last four starts.  2010 champion and co-runner up last year.  Ranks first on PGA Tour in driving accuracy, a must at any U.S. Open venue.

• Phil Mickelson (22/1) – Doesn’t have a stellar record in his last two U.S. Open starts (T65 in 2012; T54 in 2011), but Mickelson is a five-time runner up in this event and the clock is definitely ticking for him to be crowned a U.S. Open champion.  Wet conditions have to favor Mickelson’s high ball flight into the greens and go straight for the pin mentality.  T3 and T2 in his last three PGA Tour starts with a MC at The PLAYERS.

• Lee Westwood (33/1) – Has seven top 25 finishes in 11 PGA Tour events so far in 2013 including five top 10s.  Withdrew from the Memorial after an opening round 76 but four straight top 10s prior including a T8 at the Masters and a T8 at The PLAYERS as well.  Only two missed-cuts in 13 U.S. Open starts and five top 10s including back-to-back in 2011 and 2012.  Ranks 14th on PGA Tour in Total Driving and 3rd in Scrambling.
  
• Sergio Garcia (40/1) – Sergio hasn’t won yet in 2013 but has finished in the top 20 in 11 of the 12 worldwide events he’s played in.  Like Westwood he has only two missed-cuts in 13 U.S. Opens.  Has four top 10s including two in the last four years.  2nd on PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Putting and 1st in Scrambling From The Rough.

• Jim Furyk (40/1) – Tied for the lead after rounds two and three in last year’s U.S. Open and was on his way to his second victory before an untimely duck-hook drive on #16 left him finishing in a T4.  Has made 16 of 18 U.S. Open cuts.  Methodical start to his 2013 season with 11 made cuts in 12 events but only two top 10s have him quite a ways down the money list at 53rd as well as 50th in Fed Ex Cup points. 

• Jason Day (45/1) – Come on Aussie Part Two?  With his fellow countrymen Marc Leishman and Adam Scott, Aussies dominated the back-nine coverage Sunday at the Masters in the first major of the year where Day finished solo third.  Granted, Augusta National is a different beast than Merion and Day is a relative new-comer to majors but he’s now had three top 3s in majors including a T2 in the 2011 U.S. Open.

• Billy Horschel (80/1) – Horschel is one of the biggest news makers this year on the PGA Tour.  Has made 14 of 15 cuts with six top 10s including a win, a second and a third.  Will be interesting to watch Horschel in his first go at it in the U.S. Open.  132nd on Tour in Scrambling doesn’t necessarily bode well for a USGA event but he’s deadly accurate tee to green, 11th on Tour in Ball-Striking and he’s 1st in Total Birdies with 265. 

• Scott Stallings (100/1) – Another first-timer at the U.S. Open but is red hot coming in.  After four straight missed-cuts Stallings has finished in the top 5 in each of his last three events including a T2 last week.  Nine of his last 12 rounds have been in the 60s.

• Russell Henley (110/1) – Started off his rookie season on the PGA Tour with a bang winning his first start at the Sony Open.  Added two T6’s as well at the RBC Heritage and at the Memorial Tournament.  Has played the U.S. Open twice (as an amateur) and made the cut both times including low amateur honors in the 2010 playing at Pebble Beach.     

My Golf Channel Fantasy picks:  Group 1:  Tiger Woods; Group 2:  Jason Day; Group 3:  Russell Henley; Group 4:  Jerry Kelly.