The Oakmont Country Club members sitting on the covered patio behind the ninth green aren’t taking nominations for the most amazing shots they’ve witnessed during the three rounds of the U.S. Open. Mostly because what they are witnessing they’ve never seen before at their club.
Here is a prime example:
In his first round Friday morning, Sergio Garcia hit his tee shot at No. 10 in the deep rough left of the fairway, an area from which there is little chance, if any, of stopping an approach on the green. Any good Oakmont caddie will tell you the only way to do so is land your ball about 15-20 yards short of the green and let it trundle on to the surface. With any luck, it will stop somewhere near the back of the green, which tilts sharply away from the player.
Johnny Miller called that green “the craziest in the world … devious.” It is so severe Phil Mickelson four-putted there in 2007.
Garcia not only stopped his ball on the surface, 9 feet from the hole, he did so by landing his approach on the green. That is hard to do from the tightly mowed grass in the fairway, let alone the 4-inch strands of rough.
But Garcia did. And, to further snub his nose at Oakmont lore, he made the putt for birdie.
The members on the porch couldn’t see any of that because the 10th green sits below the fairway, out of view from their location. Good thing, though. They wouldn’t have believed it.
Crazy things have been happening for three days at Oakmont, where the U.S. Open is starting to look like a U.S. Open, but Oakmont is still not looking like Oakmont.
Oh, sure, the club beat up some of the best players in the world. Four former U.S. Open champions missed the cut, led by Rory McIlroy, who double-bogeyed his final hole to miss by two shots. Phil Mickelson missed the cut for only the third time in 26 U.S. Open appearances. Two of those have been at Oakmont.
The top three players in the world — Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and McIlroy — were a combined 17-over par for 36 holes.
But Oakmont is playing nothing like it did the previous time it played host to the U.S. Open in 2007. At least, not right now. And that’s too bad.
After the second round was finally completed shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday, 10 players were under par. What’s more, 39 sub-par rounds have already been recorded, including 22 in the second round. In 2007, there were eight sub-par rounds posted in four days. Angel Cabrera, the winner, had two of them.
Shane Lowry of Ireland, who is 5-under with four holes remaining in his third round, has a chance to do something no player has done in a U.S. Open at Oakmont — shoot lower than 279.
“Balls are staying in a few spots where probably, normally it wouldn’t stay,” said Marc Leishman, who had one of those sub-par rounds (69). “It was gettable, especially with no wind. It was there for the taking if you’re hitting good shots.”
Gregory Bourdy, a Frenchman with four European Tour victories, was chasing Johnny Miller’s record 63 until he bogeyed the par-3 16th and double-bogeyed No. 18. That came a day after Daniel Summerhays made seven birdies in a round of 65. And Dustin Johnson went 32 holes without a bogey. When they started the third round that will be finished today, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day combined to make seven birdies on the front nine to get back into the tournament.
“I really love the difficulty of this golf course,” Bourdy said.
Imagine what he would have thought if 3 inches of rain didn’t saturate the property the other day.
Oakmont is getting another U.S. Open in 2025. By then, to avoid seeing what has been going on the past three days, the members on the porch might want to extend the awning. Like, over the entire course.
That’ll put a stop to it.
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.
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