Untold Stories of the 2023 U.S. Open

What to expect in this week’s newsletter:

Read Time: 8 minutes

1. 7 Untold Stories from an Amazing Weekend at LACC for the 2023 U.S. Open.

2. The biggest fitness trend in golf.

3. The best links from around the web!

Golf LINKS

Play Better

I Got New Wedges To Cure My Short Game (LINK)

GOLF INVENTOR FLEW to SHOW this NEW INVENTION (LINK)

The Golf Swing Is So Much Easier When You Simply Do This (LINK)

Get Fitter

DRIVING DISTANCE AND SPEED | Paddy's Golf Tip #44 | Padraig Harrington (LINK)

TPI - Golf Improvement's Best-Kept Secret (Golf Assessment) (LINK)

This Training Device changes everything! | Swiss engineers came up with this… (LINK)

Pure Entertainment

The YouTube Golf Championship @ Pursell Farms (LINK)

The Match | Michael Block X Good Good (LINK)

Things Got WEIRD In Our Newest Competition (Bob Does Sports) (LINK)

The Hole In One of The Week

7 Storylines you probably haven’t heard about the 2023 U.S. Open

Wyndham Clark almost quit golf

In 2020, Wyndham walked off the course mid-round and withdrew from the Rocket Morgage Classic not because he was injured but because he was frustrated and angry after a streak of poor play. After losing his mother in 2013 (a big supporter of his golf journey), Wyndham struggled with anger and resentment. He was talented enough to play at the highest level and had made it onto tour but after the WD in 2020, his caddie and then coach (Boyd Summerhays) had a bit of an intervention. The ultimatum was to change or quit. Thankfully, he didn’t quit and in early 2023 Wyndham started working with sports phycologist, Julie Elion, to build mental toughness on the golf course. It seems the work is paying off with 2 wins, including a major, already this year.

Rory’s Putting 

Rory lead the field in strokes gained tee-to-green throughout the event… but couldn’t quite make up for his average putting. While his struggles on the green were abundantly clear in the final round, what you might not know is he actually putted quite well through the first 2 rounds. In round 1 Rory was +2.8 strokes gained putting and in round 2 was +1.9. Over the weekend he was -1.11 and -1.98 strokes gained putting… His incredible play tee to green was almost enough to overcome a very poor weekend putting performance.

Rory’s putting struggles are nothing new. He ranks in the top 10 in strokes gained in 4 major categories, and the top 20 around the green, but doesn’t crack the top 100 in putting.

Where’s Chubbs and a clown mouth when you need em.

Scottie’s Streak

The 2023 season for Scottie started at the CJ Cup in South Carolina where he finished a respectable T45. Since then he has been on one of the most impressive tears of good golf in recent history (perhaps all-time). In the 17 events Scottie has played after the CJ Cup his worst finish was a T12 at the Genesis… 17 straight events he hasn’t finished worse than 12th… that is insane! In the first 3 majors of the year, his finishes were T10 (Masters), T2 (PGA), and 3rd(US Open).

If you are into sports betting, Scottie is a solid pick every week and certainly a favorite going into The Open.

The Low Am at the U.S. Open - Gordon Sargent

Gordon Sargent, who just finished his sophomore year at Vanderbilt University, finished the U.S. Open as the low amateur for the tournament. His impressive performance at the 3rd major of the year was caped by an extremely bizarre moment on the 18th hole of his final round, in which he shot 1-under. His two-and-a-half footer to finish his round was center cut… before it hit the hole and just bounced back out…

The group finishing before Sargent’s had accidentaly adjusted the hole liner while removing the flagstick. Unfortunately, because the damage was not seen and corrected, the rules of the game state that Sargent’s putt didn’t count because it did not come to rest in the hole…

An incident normally only seen on a bad putt-putt course cost Sargent a stroke but thankfully not his low-am finish at the U.S. Open.

The Mystery of the LACC

9 Interesting Facts About LACC (the relative unknown host course to the 2023 U.S. Open)

1. The estimated value of the land the golfcourse sits on is in the “billions”.

2. The last U.S. Open to be hosted in L.A. was the 1948 U.S. Open at Riviera. It is suprising how hidden the LACC feels when it sits in the heart of the city.

3. The course was designed and collaborated on by a man nicknamed “The Captain”.

4. The 2, 18-hole courses have undergone significant redesign work that started in 2008 and just recently finished the final touches this year.

5. The course has an unsual design that includes 5 par-3s and 3 par-5s and begins with one of those par-5s.

6. Thomas (the course designer) liked to say there was a “course within a course”, many ways and multiple configurations that a player could follow.

7. The drivable par-4 10th is 330 yards on the card but only plays 292 with the smallest green on the course. Thomas wanted the short holes to challenge the golfers as much as the long ones.

8. The contrast between the 2 par-3s on the back 9 is something not seen on many courses with the 11th playing up to 300+ yards while the 15th played as short as 92 yards.

9. The finishing 3 holes, all par-4s, play to an average of 518.7 yards… not an easy way to finish!

This Week In Golf

Next Tournament:

PGA - The Travelers Championship (CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT • USA JUN 22 - 25, 2023)

The Line:

That’s it for today!

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