Thursday at the U.S. Open – Club TFE Comment Section

We’re off and running at Pinehurst. We will keep this page updated throughout play with anything we find notable. Feel free to drop in with your own notes and observations!

First, we have to start with a shoutout to Logan McAllister. Good belt.

Tiger stinks at putting

It’s officially time for Tiger to experiment with the flatstick again. He’s noticeably bad on the greens and his stats back it up. I know he doesn’t get that many tournament reps these days so his sample size isn’t huge, but you’d think he would want to make the most of his opportunities. – Will Knights

What “turtleback” actually means

I’m enjoy these visualizations on the telecast of the “effective size” of Pinehurst No. 2’s greens. (Side note: the sixth green is terrifying, and stretching that hole to 245 yards, as the USGA did for the final round in 2014, is utterly insane.) -Garrett Morrison

Kaymer-proofed?

This is purely anecdotal, but I haven’t seen many players putting from off the green today. Perhaps, as rumored, the surrounds at No. 2 are somewhat fuzzier than they were in 2014. In any case, the variety of chips on display during the first round—low and high, runners and spinners—has been fun to watch. -Garrett Morrison

It’s not even a question

I trust that the vast majority of Club TFE members agree with us that Valhalla isn’t the best major championship venue, but the fact that we went straight from there to this kind of major test is very funny to me. The shot values at Pinehurst No. 2 are so much higher and the course so much more demanding. How were people actually sticking up for Valhalla? THIS IS WHAT MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF SHOULD LOOK LIKE. And this column from Garrett is looking better every day. – Will Knights