Observations during another weather delay at the Open

Observations from the U.S. Women’s Open, at least that part of it that has been played between three weather delays:

-Michelle Wie has some serious problems in her golf game.
She sounds like someone on the verge of developing the driver yips as she talks about how uncertain she is of her ability to hit fairways off the tee. It’s not her wrist but her confidence and that’s harder to get back than a healthy wrist.

-When Wie said Thursday there was a thin line between 69 and the 82 she posted, you had to shake your head. She saved herself several strokes by holing medium-length putts in the first round.

-However it happened, it’s a very good thing she won’t be playing in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.

-I’m surprised by how high the scores are at Pine Needles. The rough is not killer but the greens and the areas surrounding them have extremely demanding. Players are having trouble getting the ball close to the hole and really struggling to save shots when they miss greens.
They’re getting the full Donald Ross effect.

-USGA officials knew they were gambling with the weather by playing the Open at this time of the year but this has been a bad draw.

-The two previous Opens at Pine Needles were played about a month earlier when the chance of afternoon storms is not as great. The trade-off for playing the Open now is to have the Bermuda grass fully grown in, making the course play as it was designed to play.

-The weather delays are a nuisance but they don’t mean the Open won’t return to Pine Needles in another eight to 10 years.

-It’s fun to watch Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel play golf. They have a style about them that so many players lack. What a story it would be if they could get in the mix here on Sunday – or whenever this Open eventually ends.

Ron Green Jr.