US OPEN PREVIEW: WHO WILL FLY HIGHEST AT WINGED FOOT?

The 2020 US Open, the last Major tournament to give up its pre-Covid-19 scheduled date, will be held at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York from September 17-20.

At this point in time, it’s not known whether there will be any fans allowed to watch it in person, but the tournament will be sure to attract the world’s best players and a huge global TV audience as top-flight professional golf continues to make its tentative steps back towards the ‘new normal’.

The last major championship played at Winged Foot was the 2006 US Open, and while there was a mix of players battling it out for the title, some of the best short game exponents around at the time featured high on the leaderboard, with Geoff Ogilvy (winner), Phil Mickelson (2nd), Padraig Harrington (5th), Steve Stricker (6th) and Luke Donald (12th) to name just five.

With flat, but narrow fairways, thick rough – up to six inches deep in places – and those famously contoured raised greens, Winged
Foot’s 7,200-yard, par-70 West Course is a brute of a track.

The opening hole, a par four, and the ninth, which at the time was the longest par four ever used in a major championship, both averaged just over 4.4 in 2006. The par-five 12th measured a whopping 640 yards and the only other par five, the fifth, was the only hole to average below par for the week. Tiger Woods missed the cut in 2006, his first ever weekend off at a major championship at that point in his career, and Ogilvy won with a five-over-par total.

Ogilvy ranked second for ‘Total Driving’ and third for ‘All Round’ that week and that makes sense given driving the ball both straight and long was important and that Winged Foot tests every facet of your game. The first five home had A/R rankings of third, first, ninth, tenth and second and Kennie Ferrie, who had been the surprise third round leader before going on to finish tied for sixth, ranked fifth.

On to the more pressing matter of who might win the US Open in 2020, looking at the current US Open odds, Patrick Reed stands out as worth a small investment. The 2018 Masters champion is currently being offered at a generous 40-1 to lift the title and could well be worth a serious each-way flutter if you can get on at those odds.

The price fails to reflect a number of things: his form in New York and New Jersey; his motivation; the way he played over the final six months of 2019; his likely suitability to the course, and, above all else, his ability – which includes the fact we know he can win majors. Reed ended 2019 playing like his world ranking, which made him the 12th best player in the sport. The 29-year-old is currently seventh, after winning the WGC-Mexico Championship back in February and looks nailed on to add to his Major tally sooner rather than later.

Rory McIlroy is the current favourite, at around 10-1, with Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka just behind him at 12s, with Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm lurking around a point or two back. Of those, you have to look at Koepka as the most likely candidate. He wobbled a bit at when he won the US PGA at Bethpage Black last year, having led by seven with a round to go, but he got the job done there back in May. He was fourth behind Jimmy Walker at Baltusrol in 2016, and his US Open pedigree is simply incredible. US Open form figures reading MC-4-18-13-1-1-2, he’s most certainly the one they all have to beat. Koepka finished last season ranked 12th for Total Driving on the PGA Tour and second in the All-Around rankings and he has the form to win to.

McIlroy actually ranked above Koepka in both categories last season, but he’s one to take on around a tough track like Winged Foot, where errant driving will be heavily punished. The Northern Irishman’s US Open win, back in 2011, came on a rain-soaked Congressional and his 16-under-par aggregate score is the lowest in US Open history. The Holywood man is yet to win anywhere with a single-figure under-par score, so is much better suited to easier tasks and his US Open form is generally poor, with three missed cuts from his last four attempts.

In the meantime, with the PGA Tour starting up again next week at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial (June 11-14), it will pay to keep a close eye on who performs best out of the blocks following the three-month lay-off. Some will no doubt be rusty, but others will be wound up like coiled springs, ready to get back to competing and earning again.

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