USGA take action to fix "unfair" 9th & 18th greens

The U.S. Golf Association has taken radical action to rectify unfair conditions on the ninth and 18th greens for the U.S. Open golf championship starting on Thursday.

Players have been complaining about hitting approach shots to the elevated greens - particularly the difficult par-4 finishing hole - that landed in the middle of the putting surface only to roll back down 40 yards into the fairway.

USGA Championship Committee chairman Fred Ridley said ON Wednesday that groundskeepers had stopped mowing the two greens and that water and fertilizer were being applied to slow them down and compensate for severe sloping.

"The greens at 9 and 18 are being maintained at a higher height ... to achieve a consistent speed and firmness with the other greens, and certainly to maintain a fair surface given the conditions on those greens," Ridley said on the eve of the championship.

Ridley said he was confident there would be no problem during the tournament and that extra watering was an "hour-by-hour issue" based on heat and wind.

"This morning I saw Tiger (Woods) hit the green and it held, and then (Mark) O'Meara and (Rocco) Mediate. If they hit it in the middle of the green it needs to stay there," said Ridley.

Notes were left in the players' lockers assuring them that the USGA was addressing the problem greens.

Course superintendent John Szklinski said: "We prepared it (the 18th) just as we did all the other greens, and it's come up under the extreme conditions as being too fast.

Szklinski said that with hand watering and fertilizing the green "will be fine by Thursday and the player will be rewarded for a good shot. The ball may release down to the front, center portion of the green, but it won't roll off."

Ridley said they discovered the problem last Friday when officials rolled a ball up the 18th green and watched it roll well back down into the fairway.

"The modern day bent grass is very different than the grass in 1977 (the last Open here). The big difference with this grass is that it is very fine bladed, there is not grain, it sits straight up," he explained.

"There's no resistance to the ball once it starts rolling and the 18th green has a very steep slope to it.

"It's an incremental process. This condition didn't exhibit itself until last week. It's a combination of the preparation process combined with the elevation conditions of the greens.

"We want to identify the best player, not embarrass him," said Ridley, repeating the famous explanation of USGA course set-up uttered by former USGA president Sandy Tatum.

The 18th, with its elevated, two-tiered green, was particularly a concern since the 466-yard hole is considered the toughest on the course. The winners of all five major championships held at Southern Hills all ended their triumphant runs with a bogey at 18.

The par-4 ninth is short enough at 374 yards that a player will at least be hitting a short iron for his approach.

Speaking of the 18th, USGA agronomist Tim Moraghan said: "We have to remember that it is a very, very tough golf hole that we made tougher for what we think is the best championship.

"Now, if they are short, if they're left or right, or over in the bunker, that's just part of the deal. But that player that hits it in the center of the green should and will be rewarded.

Ridley said that the severity of the 18th would affect pin placement.

"No. 18 is probably the most difficult finishing hole ever in a U.S. Open championship," said Ridley.

"While normally we try to locate four of the most challenging hole locations on 18, this year we actually are going to be trying to locate some areas that aren't quite as challenging, given the severity of the green, the difficulty of the hole as a whole."