This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
Welcome to the United States Open Championship. Welcome to Chambers Bay. Welcome to ... the unknown. Literally. This golf course has been open for eight years. Only the U.S. Amateur has been played here. And the USGA admitted it botched that setup, and changes were made since. So basically, no one really knows much about the place.
And as a result, no one really knows what to expect this week. And the dirty little secret is, we're not sure anyone who writes columns like this one knows what stats are going to be important either. It's a nightmare for fantasy players, who don't know what to weigh higher than others. So let's dissect things:
History doesn't do us any good -- no recent U.S. Open champ played in that 2010 U.S. Am, and the guy that won it, Peter Uihlein, failed to qualify for this year's championship.
Arguably the biggest two names who played were Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, but then again, the course has changed to soften some of the trouble spots that made Spieth, as he said in the media center earlier this week, want to forget the week entirely and helped Reed win a hole of match play with a nine(!), according to a story he told Tiger Woods. And consider that recent champs like Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, and Rory McIlroy were all professionals when the Am rolled through. So history doesn't help.
Does the fact that Spieth's caddie Michael Greller used to caddie at
Welcome to the United States Open Championship. Welcome to Chambers Bay. Welcome to ... the unknown. Literally. This golf course has been open for eight years. Only the U.S. Amateur has been played here. And the USGA admitted it botched that setup, and changes were made since. So basically, no one really knows much about the place.
And as a result, no one really knows what to expect this week. And the dirty little secret is, we're not sure anyone who writes columns like this one knows what stats are going to be important either. It's a nightmare for fantasy players, who don't know what to weigh higher than others. So let's dissect things:
History doesn't do us any good -- no recent U.S. Open champ played in that 2010 U.S. Am, and the guy that won it, Peter Uihlein, failed to qualify for this year's championship.
Arguably the biggest two names who played were Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, but then again, the course has changed to soften some of the trouble spots that made Spieth, as he said in the media center earlier this week, want to forget the week entirely and helped Reed win a hole of match play with a nine(!), according to a story he told Tiger Woods. And consider that recent champs like Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, and Rory McIlroy were all professionals when the Am rolled through. So history doesn't help.
Does the fact that Spieth's caddie Michael Greller used to caddie at Chambers Bay and had his wedding here matter? Will that experience come in handy? Will the fact that Spieth played the course during Greller's wedding week (and after the changes were made) matter? Quite possibly. One would think it would give him an upper hand over those who, on the surface, don't have much experience, especially on a links setup that appears very susceptible to wind and temperature changes (it is located on water).
Normally at a U.S. Open, driving matters as the rough is brutal. But at Chambers Bay, 100-yard fairways are in place on multiple holes. So will that matter? Or will placement of tee shots matter more because of the undulating terrain and the angles needed to get into the greens? This golf course can stretch to 7,800-plus yards, though most don't think it'll play that long at any point this week.
Total driving is the combination of distance an accuracy. Those leaders in that category on the PGA Tour this season who are in the field this week are, in order: Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Charlie Beljan and Russell Henley.
These green complexes are crazy. CRAZY. Have you seen this place on TV yet? So lag putting is going to be key as hitting shots close may not happen. There's a ShotLink stat called 3-putt avoidance for greater than 25 feet. The leaders in the field this week are: Anirban Lahiri, Spieth, Henley, Sergio Garcia, and Francesco Molinari. Maybe that's the key stat this week.
Chambers Bay is a links-style course, which means scrambling and mental creativity around the greens could be key. Those who lead that category on the PGA Tour are: Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, Matsuyama, Spieth and Billy Hurley III.
Or maybe the intangibles that will win out. That could mean it's Michael Putnam, who hit the first ever tee shot at Chambers Bay in 2007 and will hit the first one again on Thursday morning in the U.S. Open. Or maybe it's Ryan Moore who lives nearby. Or maybe it's a complete flier. No one really knows.
But what is known for sure is that this week is going to be a hard test, both for the guys playing the tournament and fantasy players trying to win some cash. Good luck to all.
