Thoughts on the U.S. Open Golf Championship

I am a huge fan of the U.S. Open, and watch it every year from start to finish. I enjoy watching it more than most other tournaments because it is more a battle of attrition and nerves, rather than a weekend putting tournament. I want to see the pros battle their emotions and nerves to fight through adversity. Quite often, the winner of the U.S. Open is the one who simply survives.

This week, however, I think we witnessed that the quality of the golf at the highest level is not what it should be. The tournament was held at Pebble Beach, site of Tiger's most dominant victory, Tom Kite's survival in 1992, Watson's magnificent chip in on 17 in 1982 and Nicklaus' classic 1-iron off the pin on 17 in 1972.

Did we see any big, clutch shots like these on Sunday? Incredibly, three of the game's biggest names, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els were all in the hunt on Sunday, at least heading into the round. Yet, no one achieved greatness. Tiger Woods has yet to win a major by coming from behind in the final round. When he presses, he becomes average.

Mickelson is simply never quite sharp enough to win a U.S. Open. Whether it's a balky putter, a wayward driver, or imprecise iron shots, he is never quite up to the task in this tournament. Augusta fits perfectly into his game, as he can hit heroic shot after heroic shot and get away with poor tee shots. The U.S. Open is never so kind.

Ernie Els had the best chance of the three to win. He has won a U.S. Open twice before, but in both cases, he was simply the last man standing, rather than the guy who went out and grabbed the trophy.

Back in the day, we had some tremendous duals in the U.S. Open. Greg Norman against Fuzzy Zoeller at Winged Foot. Curtis Strange against Nick Faldo. Watson against Nicklaus. Nicklaus against Isao Aoki. Palmer against Nicklaus and Ben Hogan in 1960. In more recent times, if Tiger is not on his game, it is just the final survivor who wins. The big names seem to fold up when the opportunity presents itself. This is why other than Tiger's wins, we don't see many big names winning this tournament. Last year, it was Lucas Glover. In 2008 Tiger wins, and is challenged by Rocco Mediate. Lee Westwood was there too, but while a great player, has never won a major.

In 2007, it was Angel Cabrera. He is a great player for about one or two weeks every two or three years. In 2006, it was Geoff Ogilvy. Where has he been since? Nice player, but not destined for greatness. In 2005, Michael Campbell, who has since fallen off the face of the earth. 2004, Retief Goosen, whose meltdown in 2005 allowed Campbell to win. Goosen is never anywhere to be found in majors any more.

In 2003, Jim Furyk. Nice player, but more of a check cashing machine than a great golfer.

When are we going to see the truly great players duke it out for this title? Instead, all we see are nice players wilt in the toughest tournament to win and then mouth off about the difficulty. Witness Ian Poulter whining about the short par 3 7th on Saturday. He complained about the inability to hit the green. Just a few groups later, Dustin Johnson hits it within a foot of the pin on that hole.

I did disagree with some of the conditions put in place by the USGA this week. The 17th was a joke. Last I had heard was that only 7 players had hit that green all day on Sunday. That was less than 10% of the players. If they wanted the green to be that firm, they needed to move up the tee.

The 14th hole was a mockery. While somewhat entertaining to watch, that hole simply embarrassed the pros, who had trouble holding that green with a wedge.

Otherwise, I thought the course provided a great test, and Graeme McDowell is a worthy champion, although he simply survived.