ESPN.com - Golf - US OPEN 2003 Columnist

Monday, November 23

Olympia Fields should wait its turn
By Ron Sirak
Golf World

When they pencil in candidates for courses the USGA should visit on a regular rotation for the U.S. Open they should write down Olympia Fields. Our national championship should definitely come back to this place -- like every 75 years. That's about how often it deserves to hold a major. This U.S. Open venue wasn't so much a major championship as it was a major mistake.


	Ron Sirak is the executive editor of Golf World and wrote this story as part of a U.S. Open partnership with ESPN.com.

To say that Olympia Fields saved its reputation by playing tougher on the weekend is to overlook the most important weapon the USGA has in setting up an Open championship course -- the pressure of playing in the event. What made this course play difficult on Sunday was simply that it was Sunday at the U.S. Open. That thought alone is enough to make anyone's collar tighten. The course didn't fight back -- the players retreated.

Check out these numbers: No one in the final 12 twosomes of the day broke par. After Justin Rose closed with a 69 another two hours passed and no one posted a red number for Sunday's round. That has more to do with pressure than it does with the demanding nature of the course. There were low scores to be had -- a 67 by Kenny Perry, 68s by Padraig Harrington and Peter Lonard -- but they were had by players with no chance to win.

From the very beginning of the week this tournament had the feel of a regular PGA Tour event -- except the parking was farther away, massive security lines snarled the spectator entrance, the merchandise tent was bigger and the lines to get a hot dog were longer. The fact that the whining by the players was virtually non-existent should also have told us something. The fact that the last Open was played here in 1928 and that Johnny Farrell defeated Bobby Jones in a 36-hole playoff should also have told us something.

How thoroughly did the players have their way with Olympia Fields? Vijay Singh tied the single-round U.S. Open scoring record with a 63 on Friday. Singh and Jim Furyk broke the 36-hole record by one stroke at 133. And Furyk shattered the 54-hole record by three shots, needing only 200 blows to play the first three rounds. And how about this: Furyk tied the all-time U.S. Open low score of 272 despite a bogey-bogey finish. Only Jack Nicklaus (1980) and Lee Janzen (1993), both at Baltusrol playing to par-70, and Tiger Woods (2000) at Pebble Beach, playing to par-71, managed such a low number.

There haven't been this many records broken in Chicago since Disco Demolition Day at Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979, when a promotion at a White Sox game got a little out of hand.

"I think it deserves another stab at it," Fred Funk said about whether Olympia Fields should get another U.S. Open. But that's likely the thoughts of those who get perturbed when the USGA makes life difficult for them. "I like a golf course where you are not miserable for 18 holes," said Kenny Perry, who finished tied for third at 279.

More accurate was the summation by Tiger Woods: "With the rain it never looked like a USGA event until today," he said after staggering home with a 72 to finish at 283, 11 strokes back.

Enjoy the creampuff, guys. Next year's Open is at Shinnecock and it's a safe bet the USGA will set that sucker up to kick some butt.

Truth be told, the weather did conspire against the USGA. Rain early in the week softened the course and cloud cover that lasted until the weekend kept the course from firming up. Also, the famed Chicago winds were nowhere to be found.

But it also seems as if the USGA might have backed off a little bit in the face of the widespread grumbling from players about how difficult Bethpage Black was for last year's U.S. Open, when Woods was the only player to break par. The rough was cut back from 7 inches to 3 1/2 inches on Tuesday. Time after time, a wayward drive nestled in the grass but the offending player was able to get a medium or even long iron on the ball and rocket it greenward. At Bethpage, an errant shot meant the caddie handed his player a sand wedge with the only choice being to just chunk the ball back to the short grass.

There was definitely something missing at this U.S. Open. Perhaps it was a great golf course. The buzz was just down a few decibels and the fact that the final round never got closer than three strokes was a perfect conclusion to a tournament that lacked intensity from start to finish. Somehow it made sense that Furyk -- the man with the wandering swing -- won in a city famous for The Loop.

But any player who walked away from Olympia Fields thinking the USGA is suddenly a kinder and gentler organization had better think again. The blue jackets who run golf wanted a U.S. Open in the Chicago area and Medinah had already been scoffed up by the PGA Championship. So they settled on Olympia Fields.

Enjoy the creampuff, guys. Next year's Open is at Shinnecock and it's a safe bet the USGA will set that sucker up to kick some butt.

But there will be another easy course in the rotation down the road. See you back at Olympia Fields in 2078. That will be just soon enough.