At Memorial, at certain stages during the week every part of my game was pretty good. It’s hard to get everything to click for four rounds. It’s a long time, it’s a lot of golf, it’s a lot of shots. You need it all to click at the right time and a little bit of luck. There’s a lot more needed than just playing good golf.
It will be a big mental battle this week but I love US Open’s, I always have and I’m really looking forward to the test.
I think the USGA try to set up the golf course as close to par to win the tournament. There’s just so much that can go against you when you’re out there playing but you have to pick yourself up at every stage and move on. It’s just a complete mental battle as well as physical, probably one of the toughest tests in golf. I enjoy it for a week. I wouldn’t look forward to doing it every week but I’m looking forward to it this week!
I played Winged Foot last year for the first time and I didn’t know how I was going to shoot a good score around there. But I played Torrey Pines yesterday and it feels more playable.
I do think the long hitters have an advantage because the rough is quite patchy and you will be able to hit some greens out of the rough but there’s still no substitute for being on the fairway. We’re all professional golfers from the fairway. If I can go out and hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, that’s going to be my key to success this week.
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The course plays a lot different to the Farmers Open in January. It’s browner, it’s firmer, the greens are firmer and it plays shorter because of the run on the fairways. It will play a lot tougher.
Trying to gauge the winning score, I think it will be a few under this week, maybe two to five or six under but we’ll have to wait and see what the USGA do.
With the climate as well in San Diego, it’s cooler and sunny so I think the course will bake out over the weekend. I expect the weekend to be very difficult.
I remember watching the US Open in Torrey Pines with Tiger holding that putt on 18 on the Sunday. Rocco Mediate was incredibly unlucky, he was about a quarter of an inch away from winning the US Open and if Tiger missed that putt as well and he’d win it. He was incredibly unlucky in the playoff as well. The winning score was level par then so I guess they’ll try and do the same this week. If you shoot anything around par every day you’ll come in pretty happy.
Read: What our golf traders fancy for the US Open
Preparation
I chose not to play last week. My game is in good shape so I just felt I’ve needed to keep it ticking over by playing golf. For US Open’s and major’s in general, you want to be as fresh as you can going into the weekend of it. It’s such a mental battle so being fresh in your mind and body could be the difference between winning and losing rather than anything to be doing with your game. I feel fresh and ready to go.
Ryder Cup Qualification
I haven’t been quiet about wanting to make the Ryder Cup team. I really want to do that this year. It’s one of my main goals. I’ve come quite close in the last few weeks to getting into one of the automatic spots but there’s a lot of golf to be played. I want to keep going out and clocking up some points.
I don’t want to give Paddy (Harrington) any headaches when it comes to it in September.
It was nice to go out and play with Paddy at the PGA, I obviously pay a lot of golf with him and a lot of practice rounds with him but it was nice to go out and perform alongside him and do it when it mattered most so hopefully he seen something there and took from that.
READ MORE GOLF:
- 5 Fab Punts for the 2021 US Open
- What our golf traders fancy for the US Open
- Lawrence Donegan: The scene is set for Bryson v Brooks at Torrey Pines
- Here’s what the prize money is for the US Open
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