Bethesda, Md. — Tiger Woods may not be at Congressional Country Club for the U.S. Open that starts Thursday, but his swing coach Sean Foley is keeping busy. Wednesday, on the eve of tomorrow’s Open start, Foley was keeping a close eye on Jon Mills, a Canadian who’ll tee it up in his third Open.
“For me, it’s just ball placement,” Mills told us following a nine-hole practice round and an hour on the range with his teacher. “I’ve been working on some things with [Foley] where my hands have gotten too far back. It almost feels like a forward press; on video it’s not, but to me it feels like that and it helps me make better contact and compress the golf ball.”
The 33-year-old Nationwide Tour golfer has been a student of fellow Canadian Foley for almost two years. He has worked with Foley on gaining more feel around the greens but Wednesday evening he was striping the big dog down the center of the range.
“We worked on some things yesterday,” Mills said. “I wanted to spend a little time working on the same stuff and then rest for the rest of the evening because it’s a long week.”
After his session, Mills assessed his progress. “I don’t know if [Foley] was pleased [with the way I hit it],” Mills said. “I was, and that’s all that matters.”
Mills, by the way, may be from north of the border, but he’s a closet Boston Bruins fan. With the Bruins traveling to Vancouver to take on the Canucks in the deciding seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday night, Mills was pleased to be starting his 2011 Open on Thursday afternoon.
“I have a later tee time so I’ll be able to watch [the whole game],” said a smiling Mills.
Mills, who qualified for the Open at nearby Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., will have plenty of time to sleep off a triple-overtime, should the NHL championship game go that long. He’ll start on the first tee at 2:30 p.m., with Andreas Harto and amateur Scott Pinckney.
A little of this and little of bit of that from an afternoon stroll on the back nine of Congressional:
Els disappoints fans. Is there any golfer with a sweeter swing than two-time (1994, 1997) U.S. Open champ Ernie Els? With the practice range nearly empty Wednesday evening, several fans took in the grace and beauty that is the Big Easy’s motion.
Unfortunately, Els left said boosters — who hovered near his spot on the range with programs in hand — in the lurch. The 41-year-old South African snuck out the side of the roped-off area and into the safety of his Lexus SUV with black-tinted windows
“Thanks for nuthin’,” one spectator grumbled.
No chipping. The 218-yard par-3 10th hole is everything you’ve read about and more. The former 18th hole features a steep downhill shot to a green fronted by water, with bunkers on the side and in the back.
Should be quite a wake-up call for some of golf’s best players, who will begin their quest for the 2011 U.S. Open crown on the pesky par-3. (The USGA has sent golfers off the front and back since 2002 so that all 156 can finish before dark.) You would have to search far and wide to find a guy happy about the 10th-tee start.
“I can’t see too many tougher holes to start on, especially off that back tee,” Els told reporters Tuesday. “Incredibly difficult start….You have to be on right from the go….It’ll be interesting to see how the guys cope.”
World No. 1 Luke Donald was not pleased, either, with his 8:06 a.m. date on the 10th with second-ranked Westwood and Martin Kaymer, third on the world golf rankings leaderboard.
“I would have preferred to tee off one early on,” said Donald. “It’s not too often you begin on a par-3, it’s just a different kind of feel. It’s something you just have to deal with.”
And count five-time U.S. Open runner-up Phil Mickelson among those not happy about the revamped 10th hole.
“Eighteen is like a brilliantly designed golf hole,” said Mickelson, who will turn 41 Thursday. “I think 10 is the exact opposite because the average guy can’t play that hole. He can’t carry that water and get it stopped on that green.”
If the pin is to the front left, as it was for Wednesday’s practice rounds, watch for guys who bail out into the left-hand collection area to use fairway metals or hybrids to get their shots close to the pin. Zack Byrd, who qualified for the Open Sunday night, flew a wedge well past the cup on his first try before switching to a 3-hybrid. He confirmed to us that he would stick with that bat should his tee shot land in a similar spot.
Byrd also slammed a couple of golf balls down hard on the green, causing one passerby to wonder aloud about the demeanor of the South Carolinian. Not to worry; Byrd was just testing the firmness of the putting surface, not throwing a tantrum.
Yikes! Gotta agree with Johnny Miller on this one. The 18th has to be the toughest finishing hole on record. If the guys tee it up from the back, with the pin in the back-left position, they’ll play a 523-yard par-4 and be happy with par.
The strategy is to get the run from the right-to-left slope and hope you have something other than a downhill lie.
Because the second shot will be something like 200 yards to a green with water on three sides, sand on two, and wicked slopes that will send many a Pro V1x to watery graves. We could see a bunch of lay-up shots from guys hoping for pars.
Who needs Tiger? Turns out the U.S. Open won’t miss the injured Mr. Woods — at least on the Congressional grounds. Tickets for the tourney are completely sold out for the 25th consecutive year, according to the USGA. Tickets for juniors age 13 through 17 are still available on-site, as long as paying adults accompany the kids.
No tweeting. You read that right; the USGA prohibits tweeting from the course during Open play. My Twitter finger is itching already.
Related posts:
- U.S. Open: Dustin Johnson leads, Tiger Woods on fire heading into final round at Pebble Beach
- An Interview With Sean Greg From Antigua
- New England golfers Curran and Henry miss U.S. Open cut; women take Open stage next month
- U.S. Open golfer Curran in the hunt at Massachusetts Open
- Brad Adamonis Gets His First Shot at a Major at The 2011 U.S. Open
