When you’re working hard and looking for something good to happen in your game, often you find it at one of your favourite venues; at a place like Muirfield Village.
Everyone knows I’ve always loved Jack’s tournament and although tied-19th isn’t my idea of a great result, it is a positive step and a bit more of an accurate reflection of the way I’ve been hitting it recently. Could have been even better, but for a slightly scrappy finish to my rounds on Friday and Sunday.
But listen, overall I was satisfied with my week. It was my first top-20 in a strokeplay tournament this year and I rolled the ball nicely on those beautiful, smooth Muirfield Village greens. That’s the best part; every week I play I’m getting more and more comfortable with the short putter, improving my feel, giving more of my putts a chance. It’s been a lot of hard work with Sherylle #EyeGym but we’re in a much better place than we were six months or a year ago and that gives me a lot of optimism for the rest of this season.
I’ve got a week off now. We had an SAP golf day in Orlando the Monday straight after Memorial, which was fun, and I also might fly to Albany in the Bahamas for a couple of days’ golf. But, as you’d expect, I’ve already got my eyes on the US Open and basically my main focus this week is getting ready and in a good mindset for Pinehurst.
The first US Open I played here was in 1999, which was Payne Stewart’s year, and I missed the cut then so you’ll forgive me if we gloss over that one! We were back again in 2005, when Michael Campbell won, and rounds in the 60s were like gold dust. No one finished under par after 72 holes. I had a decent week, just outside the top-10.
The course has had a bit of restoration work since then and from what I’ve heard, the set-up is going to be a little different to 2005. The fairways could be a bit more generous than we’re used to in the US Open, so we’re going to be able to hit driver and be more aggressive off the tee.
Make no mistake, though, this is an extremely tough golf course – I’d say one of the toughest on the US Open rotation. The big challenge is the shots into and around Pinehurst’s famous greens, which are shaped like upturned saucers. If you miss greens the ball often gets swept into deep greenside swales and it’s tough getting down in two from there. You have to use your imagination and play a real variety of shots, which is more of a British Open type quality rather than a typical US Open. But I like that. I like it when a golf course gives you some options.
As with any major championship, there will be pins that you realistically can’t go at, so you have to expect stretches of holes where it will be tough giving yourself really good birdie chances. You’ll hear players talking a lot about ‘being patient’ – trust me, it’s an essential virtue in the US Open and again that’s fine with me.
Anyway, this tournament has long been one of the highlights of the year for me. It’s a while since I won my two titles, but I’ve been in the mix a bunch of times since then and, as I said, I always like my chances of having a strong week. Right now I’m just excited about getting to Pinehurst and seeing the course. We might even fly over there for a little scouting mission some time this week. We’ll see how things pan out.
In the meantime, follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.
