Paul Casey to USGA: "Boom, I Got Yo Girlfriend!"

Casual viewers of the US Open might think this tournament is like any other tournament. Sure, they recognize that this tournament is named after an actual tournament and not a boner pill, but other subtleties have gone unnoticed. Those casual viewers probably think that this is a tournament pitting 160 golfers against each other but they're completely wrong.

Each year the US Open matches the USGA versus the players and the USGA is looking to go 2 straight. As silly as the tricked up venue at Winged Foot made the players look last year, this years set-up at Oakmont promises to set new standards for player embarrassment (and USGA smiles). At the midway point Argentinian Angel Cabrera leads the tournament at even par and all signs lead to a weekend of heavy carnage. The winning score will likely be higher than the +5 that Geoff Ogilvy won with last week.

So why does the USGA feel the need each year to make the course and not the players the real story? Because it's comprised of desperate, lonely men who are long-time rivals of the PGA Tour and have done everything in their power to differentiate their organization from the low scores (and boner pill ads) the Tour has come to represent.

What the USGA fails to understand is that professional golf is played each week on a series of golf courses that are difficult tests of golf. It's just that the golfers that go low on these courses are the most gifted group of golfers the world has ever seen. These golfers have combined great equipment, sophisticated golf swing instruction and physical fitness into a formula that spits out incredible golfers that can make tough courses look easy. I

It's ridiculous to trick up courses to such an extreme level that the best players in the world average over 6 over par on one day. What makes this fact not just ridiculous but also sad is that this bizarre setup represents one of the 4 most important tournaments of the year. Despite the fact that it's unlike anything the players face the other 40 or so weeks of the year, the players' legacies are ultimately judged on their success in this tournament. It'd be like the NFL playing the Super Bowl on an Arena League field, the MLB use softballs in the World Series or the NBA instituting 8 foot dunk rims for the Finals.

Such an anachronistic venue has a place in the sport, but not as one of it's marquee events. All that being said, Paul Casey's 4 under today when the course average was almost 7 over is the best round of golf turned in by a pro in years.

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Posted at 08:39 PM, on June 16 2007

Paul Casey to USGA: "Boom, I Got Yo Girlfriend!"

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