“Nobody ever wins the National Open. Somebody else just loses it.” The words of four-time U.S. Open champion Bobby Jones describing what it takes to win the national championship. It’s an event with a particular identity that for decades was associated with very certain things. But, like virtually every college football fan base, had developed an identity crisis. Ninety percent of college fans think their school should be competing for national championships when reality suggests maybe 10% can or do actually win “Nattys”. The U.S. Open was THE event when I was a kid. The Masters was beautiful and emerging as a brand globally in the 70’s. The PGA was always hot and simply seemed important, but you saw more of it than the other events week to week, and the Open Championship was on so early and for so little time that I couldn’t grasp how amazing it was until I started to gain some context. I knew exactly what the U.S. Open was and it’s time for it to be that again, unequivocally, starting this week at Los Angeles Country Club.
“You not only have to be good, but you have to have two horseshoes up your rear end. You’ve got to be lucky to win the U.S. Open.” Words glibly spoken by Sam Snead who never won the U.S. Open and was gutted by it finishing second on four occasions. Luck, resolve, patience, determination, guts, will, are all words associated with winning the U.S. Open. We don’t invoke phrases that are more closely associated with endurance examinations than we do the biggest event conducted by the United States Golf Association. I was 14 years old when my dad took me to the opening round of the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol. We followed Tom Weiskopf because my dad knew I wouldn’t see any shots if we followed Nicklaus. I saw a 63 shot that day, of course Nicklaus shot 63 that day as well because that’s what he did to Weiskopf. On Tom’s best days Jack was usually just a little bit better or equally as good which meant more anguish for Weiskopf. I loved everything I saw that day including P.J. Boatwright, the executive director of the USGA. Yes, a man in a white oxford button down shirt with a regimental stripe tie and a bucket hat was cool to me. I thought he was golf’s ombudsman and felt that way for his entire career. The men in the blue blazers with the constipated looks on their faces were golf’s high court. They were the judge and jury of what was a proper major championship set up and their championship was the standard by which all golfers of the elite level should be measured one time annually.
‘The U.S. Open has never been exciting to watch. It has always been a sad tournament. There is no excitement, no enjoyment. It is all 
defensive golf, from the first tee to the last putt.” The words of Seve Ballesteros who never won a U.S. Open and whose closest finish was a 3rd place in 1987, five shots behind Scott Simpson. Simpson was a classic U.S. Open player of his time. He made 16 of his first 17 cuts in the U.S. Open and had a five-year stretch including his win where he was in the top 6 four times including a playoff loss to Payne Stewart in 1991. Plodding and patience was rewarded and simply not emotionally malfunctioning was supremely important. Seve would have been challenged in any era to win the U.S. Open but at his zenith he almost got it done because he was a genius as soon as he got off the teeing ground. Today’s player is wired for aggression and the plodder or U.S. Open specialist doesn’t really exist anymore. Lee Janzen is not walking through the clubhouse doors at LACC next week to contend. But, to me, it’s not about the player anymore, it’s about the venues and the set-up. For the last two decades the USGA has tried to be more benevolent, more inclusive of public golf courses as it relates to the host venue while also meandering through clumsy set up situations and potential rules infractions. While all of those things were transpiring the Masters, and Augusta National, was ascending to a place in the public’s consciousness that put them way out in front as the major with unequaled gravitas. While I’m very partial to the U.S. Open Championship as being the most charming and uplifting major to attend and watch, the Masters was taking digital distribution, the media experience, the modesty of concession prices, and the lore of the annual spring renewal to unmatched heights. So, where is the U.S. Open now?
“A difficult golf course eliminates a lot of players. The U.S. Open flag eliminates a lot of players. Some players weren’t meant to win the U.S. Open. Quite often, a lot of them know it.” Jack Nicklaus’ words personify the reputation the U.S. Open had firmly established when he won his first in 1962 and it was in place when he won his last in 1980. It’s not easy to not buckle under public criticism and the scrutiny of your top players and the USGA like all golf organizations have had to adapt as social media has allowed for more noise unchecked by the masses and the stars. Players don’t take on Augusta National on issues of set-up or “fairness”, it’s just not done, but it’s not like it’s not said privately. The USGA has been made vulnerable by their own missteps and the changing times, but one thing must happen for them to regain what was once theirs. Don’t apologize for your event being the hardest. Don’t run from the reputation of the set-up walking the line, embrace it. Don’t try again to go to new places for varying motivations when your rotation of big, brawny and ballsy U.S. Open venues have history on their side. Los Angeles Country Club is already booked for a return visit in 2039 and after this week I believe fans are going to be begging for it to return sooner. The USGA has the mind and skill of Gil Hanse as the true U.S. Open doctor who will not commit malpractice to the detriment of the championship or the hosting memberships of venues going forward including Merion, Oakmont, Winged Foot, and Oakland Hills. Present America’s great golf courses under the most demanding and exacting conditions. Be pragmatic with some interesting design features that give the best golf courses elasticity and variety. Straddle that line and if your set-up crosses it, own the mistake and move on. And most importantly, reclaim the steely refrain of the late Sandy Tatum who stated, “we’re not trying to humiliate the best players in the world, we are simply trying to identify who they are”. Finally, it’s Hollywood, entertain us.