DUBLIN, Ohio – Following a string of high-profile miscues at recent U.S. Opens, many are anxiously awaiting next month’s championship at Pebble Beach, which is widely considered the event’s most storied venue.
“I think we should give [the USGA] the chance to redeem themselves. If they can't redeem themselves at Pebble Beach, then there could be a problem,” Rory McIlroy said on Wednesday at the Memorial.
USGA executive director Mike Davis was at Pebble Beach last week for meetings and said the seaside layout is coming into championship shape on schedule.
“I have never seen it look this good. They’ve had a fair amount of rain lately. It generally just doesn’t rain this time of year [at Pebble Beach],” Davis said. “It’s perfect for the golf course.”
Pebble Beach historically plays much different in June for the U.S. Open than it does for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, when conditions are normally wet and soft. During the 2010 U.S. Open, the course was firm and fast thanks to little rain and plenty of sunshine. Davis said he expects similar conditions in two weeks.
“The big unknown there is when the marine layer is going to lift and when it lifts it gets windier. We may have a day that it lifts early in the morning like it did on the last day in 1992,” Davis said. “I hope that doesn’t happen because you could barely stand up that day.”