Johnson. Rahm. Thomas. McIlroy. Predicting who will raise the trophy at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot is easy. Winged Foot will win. It always does. “It was really hard,” Justin Thomas, coming off a three-win PGA TOUR season, said after an early scouting trip before THE NORTHERN TRUST last month. He then went on to rave about how much he loved it. That’s not an atypical response to this Tillinghast gem that dates to 1923, which has been lengthened 213 yards and will play as a 7,477-yard par 70. Hard but still great. Padraig Harrington, who needed three pars to win the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot but made three bogeys, calls it, “A great, classic golf course.” See? No hard feelings. “You have to hit all the golf shots,” Harrington says. “It does ask a lot of questions.” Not everyone has the answers, but the U.S. Open grades on a curve. Hale Irwin won the so-called Massacre at Winged Foot in 1974 at 7 over par. An aberration? Nope. Geoff Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open at 5 over (71-70-72-72) after late gaffes by Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, Jim Furyk and, most famously, or infamously, Phil Mickelson. [Desk: please link to Sean’s story about the players who had the trophy in their grasp only to drop it.] “The word in the locker room was, ‘How hard is this thing going to play?'” Irwin says of the ’74 U.S. Open. “It was not an optimistic locker room, let’s put it that way. Forget birdies. My plan was to accept par at face value and be very happy with it. Also, don’t make double-bogeys, because there were just no real obvious opportunities to get those back with birdies.” Jim Colbert was so wrung out by ’74, when he tied for fifth, that he later told ESPN he considered Winged Foot, “Probably the hardest golf course of all time.” Narrow fairways. Thick rough. Long par 3s. And steeply pitched greens that slope and move like Augusta National’s and are so nuanced that the Golf Channel’s Arron Oberholser (T16 in ’06) predicts they will be very hard to learn in a matter of days, or even over the course of the week. Then there’s the finishing stretch of 16, 17 and 18 – three exceedingly difficult par 4s. “Of the three U.S. Opens that I played before I hurt myself,” Oberholser says, “there was no finish like it, nothing that difficult. If you get it done at Winged Foot, you are earning it.” The thing about Winged Foot, say Oberholser and others who know it, is that it can be very hard to stop making bogeys once you start. (Harrington can attest to that.) “It was your typical old-school U.S. Open,” Furyk says of ’06, when he missed a 5-foot par putt on 18 that would have forced a playoff. “Tight fairways, heavy rough, have to get the ball in play. It puts stress on you over and over and over again. It’s going to withstand the test of time.” Thomas calls Winged Foot really hard but also fair and “not tricked up” and “right in front of you.” Webb Simpson, who lost in the first round of match play at the 2004 U.S. Amateur at Winged Foot, sang a similar refrain when asked about the course. “I love it,” Simpson said. “I feel like it’s just a brutally hard golf course, but they do it the right way. We come to a lot of these courses and they’ve got bunkers, you carry it at 295 or 300. Winged Foot, it’s like Harding Park, it’s right in front of you. It’s long, it’s hard, there’s really not a whole lot of birdie holes, so I think that’s a perfect venue for a U.S. Open golf course.” Of the five U.S. Opens at Winged Foot, ’74 was probably the hardest (especially with old equipment), but ’06 was hardest to watch. Other than the 1999 Open Championship (Jean Van de Velde) it might be the most “lost” major ever, a sort of golfing five-car pileup from which only one man walked away. Not for nothing was it dubbed the Massacre at Winged Foot II. Few remember the misadventures of Harrington, Furyk and Montgomerie. They just remember Mickelson making double-bogey on the last hole of the tournament after hitting his tee shot off a hospitality tent, then trying a crazy second shot that turned out more die than do. “I am still in shock that I did that,” he said. “I just can’t believe that I did that. I’m such an idiot.” Now 50, he has been U.S. Open runner-up a dispiriting six times. Winged Foot is just 30 minutes north of New York City, about which Frank Sinatra crooned, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.” A Winged Foot U.S. Open is the golfing equivalent of that – take crazy weather out of the equation and there’s just no tougher test. “I hit a lot of fairways and consequently hit a lot of greens,” says Irwin, who would win two more U.S. Opens among his 20 TOUR wins. “So those kinds of courses were less problematic for me than they were for other people, and my career showed that. “But that kind of a win can propel you on,” he added when prompted by the Sinatra line about New York. “Once you’ve come through a Winged Foot situation, other than coming up against terrible weather, you’re not going to encounter much that’s more difficult than that.”
Winged Foot, a Tillinghast gem, is one of New York’s finest but very hard
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2nd Round 2 Balls – W. Simpson / G. Woodland | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Webb Simpson | -150 |
Gary Woodland | +125 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – B. Garnett / N. Dunlap | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Brice Garnett | -115 |
Nick Dunlap | -105 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – A. Eckroat / E. Barnes | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Austin Eckroat | -200 |
Erik Barnes | +165 |
2nd Round Match-Up – K. Kitayama v M. Pavon | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Up – Status: OPEN | |
Kurt Kitayama | -110 |
Matthieu Pavon | -110 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – M. Pavon / E. Van Rooyen | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Matthieu Pavon | -140 |
Erik Van Rooyen | +115 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – R. Werenski / A. Long / S. O’Hair | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Adam Long | +160 |
Sean O’Hair | +170 |
Richy Werenski | +190 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – T. Merritt / J. Overton / C. Tarren | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Troy Merritt | +105 |
Callum Tarren | +140 |
Jeff Overton | +425 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – C. Hoffman vs T. Merritt | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Charley Hoffman | -115 |
Troy Merritt | -105 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – L. Hodges / A. Svensson | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Adam Svensson | -120 |
Lee Hodges | +100 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – E. Grillo / C. Young | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Cameron Young | -185 |
Emiliano Grillo | +150 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – J. Herman / L. Griffin / A. Cook | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Lanto Griffin | +110 |
Austin Cook | +165 |
Jim Herman | +320 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – K. Stanley / R. Barnes / S.H. Kim | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
S H Kim | -165 |
Kyle Stanley | +320 |
Ricky Barnes | +320 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – J. Bramlett vs S.H. Kim | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Joseph Bramlett | -110 |
S.H. Kim | -110 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – T. Finau / A. Schenk | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Tony Finau | -130 |
Adam Schenk | +110 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – J. Walker / H. Higgs / T. Alexander | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Tyson Alexander | +125 |
Harry Higgs | +200 |
Jimmy Walker | +220 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – R. Knox / A. Noren / S. Stevens | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Alex Noren | -105 |
Sam Stevens | +160 |
Russell Knox | +400 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – A. Noren vs N. Hojgaard | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Alex Noren | -115 |
Nicolai Hojgaard | -105 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – V. Perez vs S. Stevens | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Sam Stevens | -110 |
Victor Perez | -110 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – C. Kirk / M. Hughes | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Chris Kirk | -120 |
Mackenzie Hughes | +100 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – C. Reavie / B. Horschel / N. Hojgaard | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Nicolai Hojgaard | +120 |
Billy Horschel | +145 |
Chez Reavie | +330 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – N. Hardy / F. Molinari / S. Ryder | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Sam Ryder | +140 |
Nick Hardy | +160 |
Francesco Molinari | +240 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – N. Hardy vs G. Higgo | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Garrick Higgo | -110 |
Nick Hardy | -110 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – B. Cauley vs S. Ryder | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Bud Cauley | -110 |
Sam Ryder | -110 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – B. Horschel vs N. Lashley | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Billy Horschel | -115 |
Nate Lashley | -105 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – S. Burns / K. Kitayama | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Sam Burns | -120 |
Kurt Kitayama | +100 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – A. Smalley / J. Suh / D. Lipsky | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Justin Suh | +150 |
Alex Smalley | +165 |
David Lipsky | +220 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – A. Smalley vs H. Norlander | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Alex Smalley | -125 |
Henrik Norlander | -105 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – C. Davis v E. Cole | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Up – Status: OPEN | |
Cam Davis | -110 |
Eric Cole | -110 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – J. Day / E. Cole | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Jason Day | -125 |
Eric Cole | +105 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – C. Hoffman / B. Cauley / C. Yuan | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Bud Cauley | +165 |
Carl Yuan | +175 |
Charley Hoffman | +180 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – S. Bae / H. Norlander / H. Buckley | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Henrik Norlander | +135 |
Hayden Buckley | +170 |
Sangmoon Bae | +230 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – C. Davis / B. Hun An | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Byeong Hun An | -120 |
Cam Davis | +100 |
2nd Round Match-Up – C. Davis v A. Putnam | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Up – Status: OPEN | |
Andrew Putnam | -110 |
Cam Davis | -110 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – N. Lashley / C. Gribble / C. Kim | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Nate Lashley | +115 |
Chan Kim | +135 |
Cody Gribble | +375 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – J. Bramlett / R. Sloan / M. Schmid | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Matti Schmid | +145 |
Joseph Bramlett | +150 |
Roger Sloan | +250 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – C. Kim vs M. Schmid | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Chan Kim | -110 |
Matti Schmid | -110 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – R. Henley vs S. Theegala | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Russell Henley | -110 |
Sahith Theegala | -110 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – R. Henley / A. Putnam | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Russell Henley | -165 |
Andrew Putnam | +140 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – V. Perez / T. Lawrence / MJ. Daffue | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Victor Perez | +120 |
Thriston Lawrence | +170 |
MJ Daffue | +275 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – G. Higgo / B. Stuard / J. Byrd | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Garrick Higgo | -115 |
Jonathan Byrd | +210 |
Brian Stuard | +320 |
2nd Round Match-Up – MJ Daffue v T. Crowe | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Up – Status: OPEN | |
Trace Crowe | -120 |
MJ Daffue | +100 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – L. Glover / S.W. Kim | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Si Woo Kim | -125 |
Lucas Glover | +105 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – K. Bradley / J.T. Poston | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
J.T. Poston | -140 |
Keegan Bradley | +120 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – A. Fitzpatrick / K. Dougherty / R. Pereda | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Alex Fitzpatrick | +125 |
Kevin Dougherty | +130 |
Raul Pereda | +350 |
2nd Round Match-Up – A. Fitzpatrick v A. Dumont De Chassart | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Up – Status: OPEN | |
Alex Fitzpatrick | -130 |
Adrien Dumont De Chassart | +110 |
2nd Round Match-Ups – J. Thomas vs J. Spieth | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups – Status: OPEN | |
Jordan Spieth | -115 |
Justin Thomas | -105 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – S. Scheffler / J. Spieth | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Scottie Scheffler | -225 |
Jordan Spieth | +185 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – J. Bridgeman / T. Whitney / J. Deraney | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Jacob Bridgeman | -120 |
Tom Whitney | +170 |
Joseph Deraney | +450 |
2nd Round Match-Up -R. Hoey v J. Bridgeman | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Up – Status: OPEN | |
Jacob Bridgeman | -115 |
Rico Hoey | -105 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – W. Clark / S. Theegala | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Sahith Theegala | -120 |
Wyndham Clark | +100 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – Pi. Coody / J. Campillo / T. Longbella | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Jorge Campillo | +120 |
Pierceson Coody | +145 |
Thomas Longbella | +330 |
2nd Round Match-Up – P. Coody v J. Campillo | |
Type: 2nd Round Match-Up – Status: OPEN | |
Jorge Campillo | -120 |
Pierceson Coody | +100 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – Y. Saso / X. Lin / A. Jutanugarn | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Xiyu Lin | +125 |
Yuka Saso | +160 |
Ariya Jutanugarn | +275 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – M. Homa / T. Fleetwood | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Max Homa | -110 |
Tommy Fleetwood | -110 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – A. Furue / S.Y. Kim / L. Grant | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Sei Young Kim | +140 |
Ayaka Furue | +160 |
Linn Grant | +240 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – J. Thomas / K. Kisner | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Justin Thomas | -370 |
Kevin Kisner | +290 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – J.Y. Ko / P. Tavatanakit / S.Y. Ryu | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Jin Young Ko | +130 |
Patty Tavatanakit | +160 |
So Yeon Ryu | +260 |
2nd Round 2 Balls – C. Bezuidenhout / C. Phillips | |
Type: 2nd Round 2 Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -165 |
Chandler Phillips | +135 |
2nd Round 3-Balls – L. Thompson / B. Henderson / L. Ko | |
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls – Status: OPEN | |
Lydia Ko | +135 |
Brooke Henderson | +150 |
Lexi Thompson | +280 |
Tiger Woods Retirement | |
Type: To announce retirement in 2024 – Status: OPEN | |
No | -650 |
Yes | +400 |
To Join LIV Golf | |
Type: To Join LIV – Status: OPEN | |
No | -2500 |
Yes | +1000 |
Adelaide | |
Type: Winner – Status: OPEN | |
Jon Rahm | +600 |
Bryson DeChambeau | +900 |
Joaquin Niemann | +1100 |
Cameron Smith | +1200 |
Talor Gooch | +1200 |
Tyrrell Hatton | +1200 |
Dustin Johnson | +2000 |
Abraham Ancer | +2200 |
Brooks Koepka | +2200 |
Louis Oosthuizen | +2200 |
Click here for more… | |
PGA Championship 2024 | |
Type: Winner – Status: OPEN | |
Scottie Scheffler | +400 |
Jon Rahm | +1200 |
Rory McIlroy | +1200 |
Ludvig Aberg | +1600 |
Brooks Koepka | +2000 |
Xander Schauffele | +2000 |
Bryson DeChambeau | +2500 |
Collin Morikawa | +2500 |
Max Homa | +2500 |
Patrick Cantlay | +2500 |
Click here for more… | |
US Open 2024 | |
Type: Winner – Status: OPEN | |
Scottie Scheffler | +400 |
Jon Rahm | +1200 |
Rory McIlroy | +1200 |
Ludvig Aberg | +1600 |
Collin Morikawa | +2000 |
Viktor Hovland | +2000 |
Brooks Koepka | +2500 |
Cameron Smith | +2500 |
Patrick Cantlay | +2500 |
Xander Schauffele | +2500 |
Click here for more… | |
The Open Championship 2024 | |
Type: Winner – Status: OPEN | |
Scottie Scheffler | +500 |
Jon Rahm | +1000 |
Rory McIlroy | +1000 |
Viktor Hovland | +1100 |
Brooks Koepka | +2000 |
Cameron Smith | +2000 |
Cameron Young | +2000 |
Collin Morikawa | +2000 |
Ludvig Aberg | +2000 |
Jordan Spieth | +2500 |
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Requests | |
Type: Requests – Status: OPEN | |
The Open Championship – Alex Noren – Top 20 Finish | +200 |
Solheim Cup 2024 | |
Type: Winner – Status: OPEN | |
USA | -140 |
Europe | +135 |
Tie | +1200 |
Ryder Cup 2025 | |
Type: Winner – Status: OPEN | |
USA | -135 |
Europe | +135 |
Tie | +1000 |