Like pretty much all the pro golfers who’ve battled the elements, along with the USGA itself this weekend at Shinnecock Hills, Sergio Garcia is not happy with the way the course has been set up for the U.S. Open.
Sunday morning, the 2017 Masters champion took to his Twitter account lamenting the way one of the world’s most renowned courses and the U.S. Open itself has been “ripped apart” by the USGA this weekend.
As a player and a golf fan myself, it’s sad to see how one of our biggest tournaments @usopengolf gets ripped apart because the @USGA can’t figure out the right set up for the great golf courses we play!!
— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) June 17, 2018
It’s safe to say Garcia’s sentiment is one that’s shared by many of his peers. Zach Johnson criticized the USGA on Saturday, saying, “They’ve lost the golf course.”
Zach Johnson seems to have made his mind up on the ‘have they lost the course’ question @NoLayingUp @TronCarterNLU pic.twitter.com/E9VkWvPMAL
— UK Golf Guy (@ukgolfguy) June 16, 2018
The USGA itself actually concurs…to an extent.
USGA CEO Mike Davis admitted on Saturday that the course was “too tough” during a live interview with FOX Sports. However, he also blamed a lot of the issues on Mother Nature.
“Frankly, we just missed it with the wind,” Davis said. “It blew harder than we thought it was going to blow. And the greens got fast. The firmness was OK, but the speed was too much for the wind that we had.”
Truly, it’s a shame that this major championship will be remembered more for the absurd conditions the golfers had to endure than for the actual golf itself.
The USGA has done what it can to make amends ahead of Sunday’s final round. However, many would argue that the damage had already been done, especially with so many of the world’s best golfers having been jettisoned after the first two rounds.