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72 gd | us open 2019
Golf Digest interviewed 57
people intimately involved in
the game, including 35 current
players and 16 major champi-
ons, along with caddies, coach-
es and analysts, and uncovered
details on rapidly eroding re-
lationships with the governing
body. The resentment ran so
deep that at one point in 2016,
leading players say, they even
contemplated the unthinkable:
a boycott of the U.S. Open.
It’s not just the long list of
Open controversies that have
antagonized players (the han-
dling of the Dustin Johnson rul-
ing at Oakmont in 2016 and the
ravaged greens at Chambers Bay
in 2015, to name but two). The
new rules for 2019, and their
implementation, have led big
names to on-course displays of
mockery that would have made
Arnold Palmer cringe.
After Justin Thomas vented
about a lack of communication
with the organizing body, he
was called out on social media
by the USGA, which later apolo-
gized and retracted its allega-
tion that Thomas had canceled
meetings.
So what will happen in June
when the Open returns to Peb-
ble Beach? At least one change:
The USGA’s Mike Davis, citing
his CEO demands, has relin-
quished course-setup duties to
John Bodenhamer, who has run
USGA amateur championships
since 2011.
BY JOHN HUGGAN
& BRIAN WACKER
As you’ll see here, not all
players agree on everything,
but there’s a common tone
that the ruling body faces huge
challenges to win back trust, on
and off the course. Many of the
people interviewed, including
those who are supportive and/
or sympathetic with the USGA,
would speak candidly only with
anonymity. “The U.S. Open
means so much to me and my
family,” one former champion
says before adding some tough
love: “The gap between the
players and the USGA is bigger
than it has ever been. There
is a total lack of respect. And
the USGA people brought it on
themselves.”
‘THEY’RE AMATEURS’
multiple major winner,
including the u.s. open:
They’ve had a bad run of golf
setups, of decisions, and in
some cases, golf courses.
They know this is a bad time.
Controversy is killing the major
championship.
teacher of multiple major
champions: They think they’re
qualified to do what they do,
but, like Bill Parcells says,
“You are what your record says
you are.” Their record is awful.
multiple major winner,
including the u.s. open:
What’s the definition of insan-
ity? Doing the same thing over
and over when it doesn’t work.
That’s where we are.
teacher of multiple major
champions: They’re amateurs
who think they know it all—a
dangerous combination.
multiple major champion,
including the u.s. open:The
USGA could do 10 great things
at a U.S. Open, but the one bad
thing they do is what gets pub-
licized. They overthink it. It’s
golf. It’s not a math equation.
The R&A runs one tournament
a year, and we never hear from
them, because they deal with
flat links greens and they can’t
get them above 11 on the Stimp.
multiple european tour
winner: People overreact.
I can’t see Faldo or Nicklaus
moaning about all that stuff.
caddie for multiple pga
tour winners: The USGA of-
ficial with every group always
▶ it wouldn’t be a u.s. open without a certain amount of moaning
about the difficulty of the conditions and the course setup, but
something changed last year at Shinnecock Hills. After a final-round
debacle there in the 2004 Open, when players began putting balls
into bunkers on one of America’s finest and most historic courses,
the United States Golf Association insisted that things would
be different in 2018.▶But instead of the image of Brooks Koepka
clutching his second consecutive Open trophy, the lingering memory
for many is of Phil Mickelson, a six-time runner-up in the event he
needs to win to complete the career Grand Slam, running after his
ball and stopping it before it could roll off the 13th green. Facing
a possible disqualification, Mickelson was instead penalized two
strokes and made a 10 on his way to an 81. Was it 27 years of U.S. Open
frustration for Mickelson, or was he sending a message for many
of the players, speaking to far-greater issues with the ruling body?
