The U.S. Open is now in the books with Webb Simpson as the champion. Congrats to Webb. I hope you all enjoyed the exciting finish. As for myself, I was disappointed to only get two rounds there. Leading up to the event, I worked a bit with Dr. Jim Suttie at Cog Hill on fine tuning my swing and then at the event with Dr. Bob Rotella on getting back into the scoring aspect of the game. I found myself grinding a bit too much on mechanics during tournaments so I left that work for home with Suttie and then did my best to transform my mind into simply getting the ball into the hole as quickly as possible. That has been my recipe for success in the past but how the human mind sometimes needs a reminder the hard way.
The Olympic Club was set up beautifully for the U.S. Open with not much rough, except in the places where a player missed big. The biggest challenge I found was the shaved slopes left and right of some of the putting surfaces. I found myself playing away from them at times because I knew how difficult the up and down would be, which resulted in some longer birdie putts, which lead to frustrating three putts. So it was more like a chess match I was playing with myself out there and I believe that is what the USGA wants. Ironically, I played the difficult holes well but the so called birdie holes were the ones that gave me fits as I played the par 5s three over par and the drivable seventh hole one over par after driving it into greenside bunkers both days.
I am back home in Elmhurst now beginning three weeks away from competition. This was always planned and a reason why I played so many events early in the year. This three week break will recharge me in time for the season’s last two majors and the Fedex Cup playoffs. Oh, and, most importantly the upcoming birth of our third boy, due August 19th.
Watch for me again at the John Deere Classic beginning July 12. I wish you all the best this summer and thanks for cheering me on.
