What the US Open field is saying about the Shinnecock Hills carnage on Saturday that saw +3 set the clubhouse lead early and then watch as the late starters battled to match it.
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Dustin Johnson – 77
‘I didn’t play badly at all,’ said the world No 1. ‘But with the greens this afternoon, it just became tough. There were four or five holes where I could have putted the ball off the green.’
Brooks Koepka – 72
‘Some of these greens, there is no grass around the holes, and the ball just keeps running away,’ Koepka said. ‘I don’t have anything nice to say about the green at the 15th, so I won’t say anything.’
Justin Rose – 73
‘I think some of the pin placements were over the line. I don’t think the course was necessarily over the line, but pin placements relative to speed and firmness on a couple of occasions, that was the edge. The edge was reached.’
Rickie Fowler – 84
‘It would just be nice if I’m not sitting here wishing I made cut at five or six over. So that’s all I would kind of say on it,’ said Fowler, highlighting how much the earlier starters benefitted on Saturday. ‘When it’s that big an advantage to playing in the morning versus the afternoon, I think it takes away from the work that the guys have done the first two days.’
Justin Thomas – 74
‘The set-up on a couple of holes, but the weather definitely made it a lot harder,’ said JT, adding weather to what’s become a sheer set-up debate.
Henrik Stenson – 74
‘Well, I mean, it’s a difficult golf course. I expected it to be a difficult week, and I guess it’s lived up to those expectations and beyond. It’s not unusual that we kind of end up in these discussions, where the players and, you know, fans think it’s either too hard or fair or whatever. But it is what it is, and I’m pretty happy with the way I played today.’ And was the course set up too hard? ‘I’d say it’s a little bit over the line. I don’t know what the polls are saying at the moment.’
Patrick Reed – 71
‘The golf course is not – they are not going to lose the golf course. I would say the closest green they have so far is No 18. It was really, really firm. It was really glassy.
‘Where that pin placement is and everything, there is no issue whatsoever if you are in the middle of the green. You would have to hit a bad first putt to three-putt there. I mean, you are not going to hit a good putt there and walk off with a five. If you hit a good putt, you are either going to make birdie or you are going to make par.
‘I feel like the whole entire golf course is fair, even with how the wind is blowing, even with 13th and 15th, where those pins are. There’s going to be a lot of guys that are going to complain about those two holes. If you hit two quality golf shots on both of them, and you leave yourself in the right spot – if you hit it past the flag on 15th, up over the green, you have a good chance you are chipping right back up in the wind and some guys are putting it from back there. You can make a three that way. There’s ways to play those two holes, but we’re going to have to wait and see.’
Ian Poulter – 76
‘Did Bozo set the course up or are the @USGA going to accept responsibility or just say “IF WE HAD A MULLIGAN” I would have liked about six mulligans today. But they are not allowed at this level. “Apparently”.’
Zach Johnson – 72
‘We’re not on the edge. I thought we could be on the edge, but we’ve surpassed it,’ said Johnson. ‘It’s pretty much gone, especially the latter part of the day for us. It’s pretty much shot. It’s really unfortunate, because in my opinion, some of the best land and certainly one of the best venues in all of golf, especially in this country, is Shinnecock Hills. It’s as good as it gets.
‘Unfortunately, they’ve lost the golf course. I feel for the membership, because I know many of them. I feel for the spectators because they are seeing pure carnage – unless that’s what they want. And I feel for the USGA because I don’t think this was their intent.
‘But when you think of things that happened in the past, you have to err on the side of caution. And that wasn’t done today.’
Rafael Cabrera-Bello – 76
‘It was not a fair test of golf,’ said Cabrera-Bello. ‘Greens were unplayable, with unnecessary pin positions. The USGA found a way to make us look like fools on the course. A pity they managed to destroy a beautiful golf course.’
Mike Davis – USGA
‘This golf course will be slowed down,’ said Davis. ‘There will be water put on the greens.’
