No. 6 at Oakmont living up to its 1903 heritage

One of the magical things about Oakmont Country Club is how it has remained largely unchanged over the years. The course the golfers are playing this week is similar to the eight previous U.S. Open championships that were played here.

When Oakmont began preparations for this year’s championship one of the few tweaks to the course was on No. 6, where the back-right corner of green was rebuilt and made bigger.

And when the world’s top golfers played the course Friday morning, with the pin location in the new portion of the green, they played it as golfers did in 1903, the year Oakmont opened.

Oakmont members found original drawings of the course designed by founder H.C. Fownes and saw how the green at No. 6 was extended behind the right greenside bunker when the course was built in 1903.

Over time, the back of the green eroded and groundskeepers simply made it smaller.

The expanded green, along with the soft conditions, allowed players to score well on the hole in the second round when the pin location was moved to the front of the green.

There were about twice as many birdies as bogeys on the par 3 that played 185 yards with second-round, front pin location. But when the pin location was in the back for the first round there were 43 bogeys and only 10 birdies.

Sergio Garcia was one of the few to make birdie at the back pin location. His tee shot came within 15 feet of the cup, and he was able to roll his putt in.

“I felt like I hit a lot of good shots,” Garcia said. “I made a couple of good putts.”

Kevin Streelman ran into trouble on No. 6 in his first round. His tee shot landed only 18 yards from the hole, but he ended up making a bogey.

“It’s interesting,” Streelman said. “As wet as it got it didn’t necessarily get easier.”

Many of the players who spent time near the top of the leader board Friday had trouble with the back pin location. Bubba Watson and Henrik Stenson also made bogeys.

“The key around any of these venues, no matter what course it is, you’re going to make bogeys,” Watson said. “You’re going to make a bogey at some point throughout the week, or multiple bogeys. It’s not just because of bad golf. It’s because of the difficulty.”

Added Stenson: “It wasn’t super easy out there. You never expect it to be. It’s definitely getting firmer. If we keep this weather for the next couple of days I would imagine we’re getting closer and closer to what we saw early in the week, wicked putts and firm little bounces on the greens.”

Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.