Congratulations Graeme McDowell

[Grumpy Old Man]

Very composed performance last night.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I realise this is extremely petty but I just can't feel happy for him based on that horrendous acccent. Great achievement and everything but I just can't warm to the guy.

[Donny B.]

He played an absolute horror of a course superbly while greats like Woods, Els and Mickelson were all over the shop.

A fantastic achievement to win what most people consider to be the hardest major.

[Danthefan]

He played an absolute horror of a course superbly while greats like Woods, Els and Mickelson were all over the shop.

A fantastic achievement to win what most people consider to be the hardest major.

To be fair Donny yesterday he shot worse than Els and Mickleson and was one better than Woods. Consistency over the 4 days is what did it for him. The back 9 yesterday the way they had it set up must be one of the hardest 9 holes in golf. And it's not even a long course.

[Sauvignon Blank]

He played an absolute horror of a course superbly while greats like Woods, Els and Mickelson were all over the shop.

A fantastic achievement to win what most people consider to be the hardest major.

Erm, actually its not a horror of a course. The course itself played quite benign. Drivers were taken out of the players hands not just because of accuracy requirements but also because its not overly long with some of the par 4s downhill.
As US Open courses go it was not overly difficult, what was 'horrible' to use your terminology were the greens. They are Poa Anna greens and quite frankly are horrendous to putt on, coupled with the fact they are small. The Pro's hate them but wont come out and criticise Pebble Beech.

Most players struggled on them and not off the tee.
Hence Woods, Mickelson and Els having no discernable advantage off the tee. When you see great putters like Woods and Harrington struggle on greens you know there's something up.

Not sure where you got your 'hardest major to win' from and who you are referring to as 'most people consider' but the US open is as tough as any other Major, no more no less. It usually comes down to the heat of the battle and who makes less mistakes, McDowell in this case made very few, along with Havret.

Congrats to McDowell on a wonderful display of nerveless Golf. The more Irish & European major winners the better.
The mid-atlantic accent is another story tho' Fookin' Horrendous drawl

[the spoofer]

He played an absolute horror of a course superbly while greats like Woods, Els and Mickelson were all over the shop.

A fantastic achievement to win what most people consider to be the hardest major.

Erm, actually its not a horror of a course. The course itself played quite benign. Drivers were taken out of the players hands not just because of accuracy requirements but also because its not overly long with some of the par 4s downhill.
As US Open courses go it was not overly difficult, what was 'horrible' to use your terminology were the greens. They are Poa Anna greens and quite frankly are horrendous to putt on, coupled with the fact they are small. The Pro's hate them but wont come out and criticise Pebble Beech.

Most players struggled on them and not off the tee.
Hence Woods, Mickelson and Els having no discernable advantage off the tee. When you see great putters like Woods and Harrington struggle on greens you know there's something up.

Not sure where you got your 'hardest major to win' from and who you are referring to as 'most people consider' but the US open is as tough as any other Major, no more no less. It usually comes down to the heat of the battle and who makes less mistakes, McDowell in this case made very few, along with Havret.

Congrats to McDowell on a wonderful display of nerveless Golf. The more Irish & European major winners the better.
The mid-atlantic accent is another story tho' Fookin' Horrendous drawl

I kinda disagree with you there SB, it wasnt just the greens that the pros couldnt hack. The bunkering is excellent and most of them struggled when they hit the ball over the cliff.

Having said that, I thought the 14th was daft.

[Donny B.]

Not sure where you got your 'hardest major to win' from and who you are referring to as 'most people consider' but the US open is as tough as any other Major, no more no less. It usually comes down to the heat of the battle and who makes less mistakes, McDowell in this case made very few, along with Havret.

I'm not going to get into another endless debate with you but check the winning scores over the last twenty years and they're generally a lot higher than the other three majors. Very often a score of par or one or two under will be enough to win it. The USGA generally do set them up to be hard as f**k and that's why it's a very tough major to win.

[intothewest]

Not sure where you got your 'hardest major to win' from and who you are referring to as 'most people consider' but the US open is as tough as any other Major, no more no less. It usually comes down to the heat of the battle and who makes less mistakes, McDowell in this case made very few, along with Havret.

I'm not going to get into another endless debate with you but check the winning scores over the last twenty years and they're generally a lot higher than the other three majors. Very often a score of par or one or two under will be enough to win it. The USGA generally do set them up to be hard as f**k and that's why it's a very tough major to win.

Looking at the stats..only Tiger (at his best) who shot -12 in Pebble in 2000 and Furyk in '03 have been significantly under par in recent history...so it would seem to point to tough course conditions. There have been weather issues at some Open's, but there has also been some spectacularly brutal golf played by some top pro's, anyone remember the year Harrington blew up, cant remember when it was..Mickelson couldve won it one year aswell and lost the plot...and anyone saying that Pebble beach isnt a hard course is mad...at its worst its comparable to playing Ballybunnion in mid-winter and thats pretty horrific.

[Sauvignon Blank]

Looking at the stats..only Tiger (at his best) who shot -12 in Pebble in 2000 and Furyk in '03 have been significantly under par in recent history...so it would seem to point to tough course conditions. There have been weather issues at some Open's, but there has also been some spectacularly brutal golf played by some top pro's, anyone remember the year Harrington blew up, cant remember when it was..Mickelson couldve won it one year aswell and lost the plot...and anyone saying that Pebble beach isnt a hard course is mad...at its worst its comparable to playing Ballybunnion in mid-winter and thats pretty horrific.

Think your referring to Bethpage Black in Harringtons case and Winged Foot in Mickelsons case. Mickelson couldn't control his ball over the closing holes which saw him hit a drive on 16th a full 70 yards off line missing the adjoining fairway and landing on the roof of a corporate tent, much to the amusement of Bruce Critchley and Ewan Murray.
Monty had that US Open in the bag after splitting the fairway on 18 and selecting his favourite club (7 Iron) to put it on the green, take 2 putts and walk away champion. However Monty lost his nerve and sliced it into the rough front right of the green....he took 6 and Goeff Ogilvy won...by default some might say.
Nobody said Pebble Beech isn't hard, I certainly didn't. I did say it was not horribly tough. It is not as difficult as courses like Bethpage Black, Pinehurst No 2, Oakmont and Shinnecock Hills.
Bethpage and Pinehurst are brutal examinations of ones game.
My original point was the greens in Pebble are small and the Poa Anna grass is shockingly bad to putt on. MCDowell is an average hitter of a golf ball but his iron play and putting in particular were spot on last week. He mastered those tricky greens.

[intothewest]

Looking at the stats..only Tiger (at his best) who shot -12 in Pebble in 2000 and Furyk in '03 have been significantly under par in recent history...so it would seem to point to tough course conditions. There have been weather issues at some Open's, but there has also been some spectacularly brutal golf played by some top pro's, anyone remember the year Harrington blew up, cant remember when it was..Mickelson couldve won it one year aswell and lost the plot...and anyone saying that Pebble beach isnt a hard course is mad...at its worst its comparable to playing Ballybunnion in mid-winter and thats pretty horrific.

Think your referring to Bethpage Black in Harringtons case and Winged Foot in Mickelsons case. Mickelson couldn't control his ball over the closing holes which saw him hit a drive on 16th a full 70 yards off line missing the adjoining fairway and landing on the roof of a corporate tent, much to the amusement of Bruce Critchley and Ewan Murray.
Monty had that US Open in the bag after splitting the fairway on 18 and selecting his favourite club (7 Iron) to put it on the green, take 2 putts and walk away champion. However Monty lost his nerve and sliced it into the rough front right of the green....he took 6 and Goeff Ogilvy won...by default some might say.
Nobody said Pebble Beech isn't hard, I certainly didn't. I did say it was not horribly tough. It is not as difficult as courses like Bethpage Black, Pinehurst No 2, Oakmont and Shinnecock Hills.
Bethpage and Pinehurst are brutal examinations of ones game.
My original point was the greens in Pebble are small and the Poa Anna grass is shockingly bad to putt on. MCDowell is an average hitter of a golf ball but his iron play and putting in particular were spot on last week. He mastered those tricky greens.

Yeah thats right it was bethpage where the Dublin/Cork hero blew up! That one where Ogilvy won was a case in point..brutal score to win a major with. And the yanks were loving it..they HATE Monty.
Id have to agree that Pebble Beach prob isnt as hard as Bethpage or Shinnecock Hills, ive seen those 2 with my own eyes and they are savage...Im not name dropping or showing off, Im not some well connected political joker, but I am well connected in the golf world thanks to yankee contacts from visits over here...Those 2 make the likes of say..Brookline or Kiawah seem average, and they arent.

Yeah they were talking about the putting surface on tv the other night, it seems to cause problems alright. McDowell did better than Havret on the dancefloor and that prob got him there. Havret was as good if not better in ever other aspect. He did great for a guy who hasnt played even 5 majors yet.

[jezzer]

I think Bethpage Blk, Carnoustie and Kiawah Island would be the three toughest courses that have hosted majors or Ryder Cups.

Pebble Beach has some stupid holes, but overall is probably not much more difficult than any US Open setup.

In any event, it was a great result from McDowell. Some great golf played - when he went out in the wind late on Moving Day and birdied the first two holes, it was a sign that this guy is mentally a tough bloke.

[intothewest]

I think Bethpage Blk, Carnoustie and Kiawah Island would be the three toughest courses that have hosted majors or Ryder Cups.

Pebble Beach has some stupid holes, but overall is probably not much more difficult than any US Open setup.

In any event, it was a great result from McDowell. Some great golf played - when he went out in the wind late on Moving Day and birdied the first two holes, it was a sign that this guy is mentally a tough bloke.

Ah Carnoustie. Once upon a time when I was younger and more arrogant, I would proclaim to Scottish friends that Ballybunnion on a windy day was the biggest challenge a links golfer could face....then I got to play Carnoustie and St. Andrews and realised how stupid I must've sounded to them! First time i played St. Andrews I had to abandon the round after 10 holes cos I couldnt hit the ball more than 50 yards and had the flue for about 2 weeks after it...just brutal!

[tackle-bag]

I think Bethpage Blk, Carnoustie and Kiawah Island would be the three toughest courses that have hosted majors or Ryder Cups.

You'd better stick Oakmont in there too Jezzer. Traditionally it wasn't the most vicious of courses, but since relatively recent renovations the pros now regard it as give or take the hardest course in the world. 7,300 yards off the professional tees with a Par of 71 and more bunkers than any other Championship course in the United States. Cabrera's winning score there in the 2005 US Open of +5 tells it all really.

[Sauvignon Blank]

I think Bethpage Blk, Carnoustie and Kiawah Island would be the three toughest courses that have hosted majors or Ryder Cups.

You'd better stick Oakmont in there too Jezzer. Traditionally it wasn't the most vicious of courses, but since relatively recent renovations the pros now regard it as give or take the hardest course in the world. 7,300 yards off the professional tees with a Par of 71 and more bunkers than any other Championship course in the United States. Cabrera's winning score there in the 2005 US Open of +5 tells it all really.

".....It is not as difficult as courses like Bethpage Black, Pinehurst No 2, Oakmont and Shinnecock Hills".

[jezzer]

Ah Carnoustie. Once upon a time when I was younger and more arrogant, I would proclaim to Scottish friends that Ballybunnion on a windy day was the biggest challenge a links golfer could face....then I got to play Carnoustie and St. Andrews and realised how stupid I must've sounded to them! First time i played St. Andrews I had to abandon the round after 10 holes cos I couldnt hit the ball more than 50 yards and had the flue for about 2 weeks after it...just brutal!

Never played a Scottish links, but I had a go at Lahinch Championship course in a gale and sleet (in June!) last year. Picked up the ball (or should I say my eighth ball of the day) after nine holes and went for a pint instead! I feel your pain!

[intothewest]

Ah Carnoustie. Once upon a time when I was younger and more arrogant, I would proclaim to Scottish friends that Ballybunnion on a windy day was the biggest challenge a links golfer could face....then I got to play Carnoustie and St. Andrews and realised how stupid I must've sounded to them! First time i played St. Andrews I had to abandon the round after 10 holes cos I couldnt hit the ball more than 50 yards and had the flue for about 2 weeks after it...just brutal!

Never played a Scottish links, but I had a go at Lahinch Championship course in a gale and sleet (in June!) last year. Picked up the ball (or should I say my eighth ball of the day) after nine holes and went for a pint instead! I feel your pain!

Haha..welcome to my world Jezzer! Lahinch (like many others) is beatiful on a summers day,even a calm day in autumn or winter..but when the atlantic decides to throw a gale + rain/sleet at you..its far from enjoyable. Was only down in Lahinch a few weeks back for May Bank Hol and it was heavenly tho..a few beers in Liscannor, a trip out to the Aran Islands to appease the missus..plus 36 holes of golf...nice.