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U.S. Open is really good show

Mark Herrmann

June 15, 2008

It is fitting that "Open," like golf itself, is a four-letter word. The U.S. Open does give rise to many other four-letter words, especially from anybody who tries to hack out of the deep rough. Aside from "hack" and "deep," "ouch" is the only one we can print here.

Generally, though, others come to mind, such as "test" (which it always is), "fair" (with a question mark) and "huge" (with an exclamation point - as Craig Currier, the superintendent at Bethpage said in anticipating 2009, "How could you not be excited about hosting the biggest tournament in the world?"

And here is one more that people don't often think about: "show." Yes, as much as players consider it a pain or a grind, the Open has become the best show in golf.

Proof is the fact that this weekend, the Open became the first major golf championship to be televised in prime time. That turned into a programming coup, to drop another four-letter word, right after Tiger Woods put on his own remarkable show by shooting 30 on his back nine Friday - pretty much guaranteeing he would be in the hunt.

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This could turn out to be NBC's biggest Sunday night bonanza since "Bonanza."

Give the U.S. Golf Association credit for giving the Open pizzazz. Putting Woods and Phil Mickelson in the same group this week at Torrey Pines revealed a flair that showed this isn't your grandfather's USGA. No stuffed shirts any more. The Open has become the rock concert of major championship golf, as you will notice again next June when it returns to Bethpage.

Everyone's ears at Torrey this week were ringing from the noise. "I think that every U.S. Open has amazing crowds," Mickelson said Friday. "I think people really appreciate our national championship and come out and support it."

Woods raised the volume by tearing up the front nine (he started on No. 10) while limping. His comeback from arthroscopic knee surgery wasn't Willis Reed and Kirk Gibson combined, which is how a cable golf show portrayed it (kudos to tour pro Woody Austin for shutting down Golf Channel interviewer Rich Lerner's rhapsodizing about Woods' "toughness"). But his 30 was a signature moment by the greatest player ever. It sure was great theater.

The Open has become a terrific stage at a time when critics are blasting the Masters for being so grim. They say Augusta National has been made so hard that the fun is gone. Personally, I don't buy that premise. The Masters is plenty compelling. Still, you can't beat the high drama the U.S. Open has spawned lately, by design and/or mistake:

Unbridled electricity in the stands as Woods won at Bethpage in 2002. The Dust Bowl chaos at Shinnecock in '04, Michael Campbell bursting unexpectedly out of the pack at Pinehurst in '05, Mickelson's train wreck at Winged Foot in '06, Angel Cabrera celebrating after Woods missed a birdie putt on 18 at Oakmont last year. At 108, the Open isn't getting old.

Golfers respect the heck out of the Open. "I shot 30 on my back nine in a U.S. Open, that's not too bad," Woods said yesterday. At the same time, his score shows that the Open course setup isn't totally diabolical. The USGA tantalizes golfers with short par-4s that might be reachable with a strong drive, such as No. 17 at Oakmont, which proved pivotal. The committee is basically telling players, "Go ahead, we dare you." Difficulty mixed with daring breeds excitement.

It doesn't hurt that the Open makes us all feel like shareholders. The USGA has allowed many more spectators on the grounds than it used to and has made a point of taking its big event to public courses, such as Torrey Pines.

We like the idea that it really is open, that if any of us worked really hard on our game, we could qualify. That is ludicrous, of course, because a person needs a 1.4 handicap index just to apply. But it is nice to know someone is looking out for the dreamers.

"I love this tournament because, first of all, it's ours," said Rocco Mediate, who started yesterday's round tied with Woods for second. "It's our tournament. It's the championship of the United States. So it's pretty cool."

"Cool" and "ours" are both very nice four-letter words.