By Joel Beall

Welcome to the Dew Sweeper’s U.S. Open rundown, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here’s every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of June 14.

Infamous fescue gets a haircut
Phil Mickelson flight plans aside, the most prominent storyline in the early week has centered on Erin Hills’ fescue and its perceived brutality, a stance that received considerable airplay thanks to a viral rant from Kevin Na. So when maintenance crews trimmed the heather in multiple areas throughout the course on Tuesday morning, the move caught many by surprise.

RIP @ErinHillsFescue. Some stars shine so bright they burn out before their time. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/rebmAjY37t

— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall) June 13, 2017

According to the USGA, this was not in response to player complaints. Conversely, given the organization’s desire to avoid any controversy this tournament, it’s hard not to connect the dots.

But don’t worry, the mowing was focused on just four holes, meaning there’s still plenty of chances for Lee Westwood and his caddie to scare the bejesus out of unsuspecting fans this week.

The rough is really thick this week just off the edge of the fairway! ???#usopen

A post shared by Lee Westwood (@westwood_lee) on Jun 12, 2017 at 2:10pm PDT

Spieth’s winning prediction
Most sportsbooks have a -220 figure for an under-par winning score, with the over/under hovering at -2.5. If you’re seeking gambling advice, 2015 U.S. Open champ Jordan Spieth says bet on red, and lots of it.

“I don’t see par winning the tournament,” the 23-year-old said on Tuesday. “I see closer to 5-to-10 under. Someone who has very good control of the ball off the tee will have plenty of opportunities to make birdies, given the conditions that we’re expecting.”

While this tournament has historically aspired to protect par, the winning mark has been four under or better in five of the last eight events. As Spieth alluded, the weather projections are calling for the second coming of Noah’s Ark on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, conferring an aggressive approach usually unseen at the U.S. Open. Combined with Erin Hills’ relatively tame greens (at least from an undulation viewpoint), envision a fair share of fireworks.

Speaking of weather reading…

The forecast looks unfavorable…for Phil
The only thing more unreliable than men is a weather report (amirite, ladies?), but the models as of Tuesday night aren’t painting the four-hour delay Phil Mickelson needs to make his tee time. From accuweather.com:

Which is a shame, because I already penned the screenplay, “Getting On Plane” based on Phil dramatically showing up to the first tee Thursday night, only to realize he couldn’t miss out on his daughter’s graduation afterparty, hopping back on the private jet…and into our hearts.

Hey, there’s still hope.

No. 1’s in the building
One player that is on site is Dustin Johnson. The reigning U.S. Open winner, who notoriously missed this year’s Masters following an accident on basement steps, arrived to Erin Hills late Tuesday after his fiancée Paulina Gretzky welcomed the couple’s second child on Monday night. Johnson, who has three wins and six top 10s in 11 appearances this season, played a practice round on the front nine with Brooks Koepka, showing little rust from the eventful night. He begins as tournament favorite at 13/2 odds.

Rory ready to let it rip
For the No. 2 player in the world, Rory McIlroy is entering Erin Hills with little fanfare. Although he’s a past Open winner, his results since his triumph at Congressional — one top 20 (T-9 at Chambers Bay) and two missed cuts in five outings — are perplexing. The four-time major winner is also assimilating to his recent equipment switch, which includes inserting a new putter in his bag this week. But of greater concern is McIlroy’s health, as injuries that had sidelined the 28-year-old for two months this campaign returned at the Players Championship.

Or should we say, “was” a concern.

“No limitations on my swing whatsoever,” McIlroy said, regarding the status of his back and rib alignments. “Preparation-wise, I may be — instead of hitting five bags of balls, I’ll hit two, just something like that. It’s not as if I can’t hit balls, it’s just a matter of managing how many repetitions I put through it. I mean not really many limitations.”

Mentioned above, McIlroy has fallen by the wayside to Johnson, Spieth, Jason Day and even Jon Rahm in discussion of tournament picks. But wet conditions will stretch Erin Hills’ 7,800 yards even farther, benefiting a chosen few, Rory one of them. (As he pointed out, “I wasn’t crying when I saw that rain last night and this morning.”) Don’t be surprised if McIlroy reminds us this week that he remains one of golf’s best.

The post U.S. Open Wednesday rundown: Fescue cut, Spieth’s prediction, and Phil’s unfavorable weather forecast appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall

Following a string of faux pas at their national championships, USGA officials desperately wants to avoid controversy at this year’s U.S. Open, with Mike Davis even admitting, “We really need a good [one].” Imagine the group’s consternation, then, that the recurring theme the first few days at Erin Hills regards the course’s fescue. Or more specifically, its perceived unfairness.

Wesley Bryan lit the fireworks a few weeks back with a light-hearted video, and other players — most notably, Lee Westwood — have poked fun at the fescue’s gnarly nature. Yet the heather is so severe in spots that Jon Rahm refuses to hit out of it during practice rounds in fear of injury, and Kevin Na’s viral rant against the conditions shined an unfavorable — and unwanted — light on Erin Hills and the USGA.

So when maintenance crews trimmed the infamous fescue in multiple areas throughout the course on Tuesday morning, the move caught many by surprise.

On No. 12, close to 10 yards were mowed down on the left side of the fairway, one of the areas that was catching a fair amount of tee shots. Moreover, instead of serving as a de facto penalty, the new first cut of fescue is tamable, as players are able to advance their shots with relative ease.

The par-5 14th likewise saw trimming, with a team of 30 working on the hole’s right side.

The edging was particularly interesting, as the surface in question is a collection area for those seeking to lay-up.

Erin Hills’ 18th likewise had a fair share of fescue cut, astonishing given the hole’s fairway width.

Speaking with GolfDigest.com, the USGA director of championship agronomy Darin Bevard said this was a plan that’s been in place for awhile, and was not a response to player complaints. The fescue has not been totally tamed, is still thick, formidable and capable of causing havoc in a multitude of areas.

“It’s a small area that we’re talking about,” Bevard said, regarding the trimming.

It’s also a move not universally well-received. In his press conference, Rory McIlroy took umbrage with the decision.

“We have 60 yards from left line to right line. You’ve got 156 of the best players in the world here, if we can’t hit it within that avenue, you might as well pack your bags and go home,” McIlroy said. “These are the widest fairways we’ve ever played in a U.S. Open. Even the first and second cut is another 10 yards on top of that. So if you’ve got 50 or 60 yards to hit into and you’re complaining about the fescue that’s wider than that, I don’t think that’s an issue.”

The USGA could not comment if there will be further fescue mowing this week, although Bevard said the course’s current set-up is what should be expected for tournament play.

The post Erin Hills’ infamous fescue partially mowed down before U.S. Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

ERIN, Wis. — U.S. Open conditions are a bit of a contentious matter with players, their experiences ingraining such a prejudice that reality and perspective tend to go out the window when the topic is breached. Case in point: Kevin Na’s breakdown — literally and figuratively — of Erin Hills’ fescue:

Erin Hills is a great design course but the fescue is almost unplayable. BTW never found the ball. So don’t hit it in there lol. straight hitters have a chance! #usopen #erinhills #mikedavis #lostball #usga

A post shared by Kevin Na (@kevinna915) on Jun 11, 2017 at 10:24am PDT

Given the pressure facing the USGA to host a controversy-free tournament, not quite the introduction the governing body wished.

But is the fescue really that bad? Or are players simply looking for the littlest thing to go wrong? We examined the course Monday morning to discover that Na was absolutely right in his assessment…but not really, either.

Erin Hills is as spacious a course as you’ll see, the property boasting 652 acres in its domain. For comparison, last year’s U.S. Open host, Oakmont, checks in at 218. And the majority of this land is covered in fescue, framing the fairways, tees and greens like infinitesimal islands in the Pacific to create an optic illusion.

Because, in truth, the fairways are some of the widest runways in golf.

Hell, Phil Mickelson could land his private jet on the No. 1 with room to spare come Thursday evening. As Na briefly alluded to, there’s only 5-to-10 yards of rough between the short stuff and fescue, but it fails to convey this generous amount of landing strips before that comes in play.

And while we’re here, the rough itself is shockingly sparse in many spots. Not to say it’s anything like your local muni. Conversely, compared to the Oakmonts and Merions of the Open rota, finding yourself in the rough is not a penalty at Erin Hills.

However, you came here for the fescue, and dammit, we’re going to give you fescue.

We traversed the course to seek out the danger spots, as well as observe how players would respond if they found themselves in such a predicament. Using a water bottle as a marker, we dropped our container in various spots to see if it truly disappeared like Na’s assertion. Why a water bottle instead of a ball? For photographic considerations, obviously. That, and your boy needs to stay hydrated in this Midwest heat wave.

In many cases, Na was correct: your object would vanish just steps off the rough. At one point, I lost the freaking bottle on the left side of No. 2:

I cannot properly convey the embarrassment that comes in such a moment. Especially when I felt Jordan Spieth’s caddie Michael Greller staring, wondering what the **** I was doing.

So forget taking full swings or advancing your shot. Finding a ball when it departs into this green labyrinth counts as a victory.

But here’s the kicker: all the fescue doesn’t have this composition. It’s mostly just the first six-to-eight yards. Once you travel past that barrier, it’s a relative walk in the park. Not only can you find your ball, you can advance it with ease. The picture below is the same spot where I briefly lost my bottle, only this time the bottle is placed 10 yards further from the rough. (And yes, that trampled down area in front is where I was searching for the previously-lost item. If any pros receive a generous lie on No. 2 this week, you’re welcome.) As you can see in the middle of the picture, it’s in plain sight.

On eight separate occasions Monday morning I witnessed players in this second cut of fescue; guys found the putting surface five times from over 170 yards, with only one shot labeled as poor.

This held true around the greens as well. I camped out on the par-3 sixth for an hour or so, and at least one guy in each pairing found the fescue off the tee. Those that were barely in the tall grass struggled, while those that were extremely errant departed without issue.

Moreover, as there are few flat spots on the course, it seemed as if most players aimed towards the peak of slopes in their tee shots. Part of this approach uses the undulations as a natural tee-shot funnel, yes, but the fescue on these hills was sparse, at least compared to the fescue that awaited at the bottom (which makes sense, as it’s a presumable run-off for water and thus equating to a thicker fescue constitution). Meaning a player really has to miss the mark on par 4s and 5s to find the troubled areas. This will undoubtedly happen, especially when the winds begin to blow. And some of said areas offer better angles or improved distance. But, to those averse to danger, bad news is not encircling every tee shot.

Which speaks volumes about Erin Hills’ character and inherent challenge this week. For, in many cases in this tournament’s history, it’s not the longest or straightest or best putter that shines through, but the most resilient and mentally tough. U.S. Open layouts can wreak havoc in a player’s mind. The physicality of Erin Hills’ fescue varies, but it can tangle up many a competitor before the ball’s even in the air. That, my friends, is a formidable hazard.

Main photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

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