NBC
Some criticism of Los Angeles Country Club’s Brooks Koepka is on display Sunday at the US Open.
On Friday, Kupka mentioned how he didn’t like that there were so many holes in the LACC where, “no matter what you hit, the ball ends up in the same place.” No hole is better exemplified than the par-4 3rd.
The fairway on the 419-yard hole is at least 50 yards wide in some areas, but is sloped to deflect nearly every ball to center left. After three days of tournament play, plus several practice runs by pros who hit it straighter than humans, the teams at the bottom of the lane are piling on.
It’s basically dumb luck if your tee shot stays out of the tee at this point and Dylan Waugh found that the hard way early in his last round.
Even with the tee box raised about 35 yards on Sunday — tee shots are supposed to be hit where there are fewer splits — Wu’s drive found a hole just 84 yards from the pin.
And as far as expenses were concerned, this may also have been the Grand Canyon of stadiums as nearly a quarter of the Wu ball had to be below ground level.
Not even a supporter of Wu’s caliber could negotiate a brutal outage. He tried to cut the ball to assure the ball first contact, and the boy did. He rounded the wedge and sailed 35 yards over the pin and under a tree.
(Pros, they’re just like us!)
Somehow, the trees behind the green actually bounced Wu’s ball to the rim, but left him with a brutal shot to the green, dodging him toward the front right pin and past him. His back was restricted by the trees behind him and his view of the ball may have been obstructed. Not to mention, viewers couldn’t see his ball buried in the open in the broadcast.
But, despite the skull he just hit, Wu is a pro after all and can still do some things with a golf ball that a weekend hack can only dream of.
With a deft touch, Wu somehow slammed his ball onto the shooting surface and watched it seep out and get closer and closer to the hole. He even got some props from playing partner John Rahm. The ball stopped 10 feet seven inches from the hole.
In the end, Wu missed the putt for his second straight bogey. However, as far as stealth comes, this has to be one of the best things he’s made in his career. In addition, he ran a bit after that, with three birdies on his next five holes to get to one under for the day.
But Wu’s ghost is a stark harbinger of what the leaders will face next in the final lap – when another set of teams is on track.