Thursday
Sep152011
An English Rose blooms on Dubsdread
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 12:38PM
Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Consider Justin Rose one guy who likes Dubsdread with all its bumps and rolls and humps and hollows.
Funny how positive one’s opinion can be after an 8-under-par 63, isn’t it?
Rose slapped that number on the Cog Hill scoreboard during Thursday’s opening round of the 108th Western Open, a.k.a. the BMW Championship. He did so by making 10 threes, six of them on Dubsdread’s front nine, hitting every fairway and 16 of 18 greens in regulation in the process.
“There’s no faking it out there,” Rose said. “You’ve got to go out and play good golf. You can’t really get away with too much on this golf course.”
Phil Mickelson, course renovator Rees Jones’ arch enemy, discovered that. He was 4-over after five holes thanks to a double-bogey on the par-3 second and bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes, but rallied to finish at 1-over 72. His adventure included a bogey at the last that commenced with a tee shot into the maintenance center, and would have been worse but for an approach that finished three feet from the cup.
Luke Donald and Steve Stricker, elite players with local ties who weren’t complimentary of Jones’ renovation, also didn’t fare well. Donald, the world’s top-ranked player, stumbled out of the gate, with bogeys on three of his first five holes en route to a 4-over 75, while Stricker, the Western’s winner in 1996, faded in the stretch and settled for 5-over 76.
Meanwhile, Rose played the course the way Dick Wilson, Joe Lee and Jones intended, and reaped the benefits. Likewise, Webb Simpson, the PGA Tour’s standings leader and winner twice in the last three tournaments, and another guy who swoons over Dubsdread, is second, two strokes behind Rose with Mark Wilson after a bogey-free 6-under-65. Wilson, a transplanted Wisconsinite who lives in Elmhurst and practices at Cog Hill, sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole, his last of the day, to join Simpson.
“A third of the courses (on the PGA Tour) are like this,” Simpson said before the first shot was struck in anger. “If you play well and hit proper shots you’re going to get rewarded. If you don’t play well it’ll eat you up because it is long, it is tough and we’ll get cooler weather and maybe some wind.”
Simpson is Skillingesque in that regard. It was cool on Thursday, 59 degrees, and the wind was out of the north, an unaccustomed direction for the pros, at 14 mph when it wasn’t gusting to 21 mph. There hadn’t been a north wind in the Western in 10 years, but Simpson played Dubsdread as if it was designed for a north wind.
“You’ve got to think your way around the golf course, and think your way into the greens,” Simpson said after concluding play. “These greens are so undulating, balls can feed to the pin, but if you short-side yourself, hole, this is one of the most penalizing courses we play.”
Wilson had heard the complaints that the fairway bunkering was too severe, and didn’t argue that point, but noted this: “If guys are having a hard time with the bunkering, they’re supposed to be a hazard and they’re supposed to be difficult to get up and down. I think that’s what Rees was trying to do with the bunkering, and he accomplished that.”
Englishman Rose’s round, which he called his best of the year, was a stroke after the championship and course record, and was marred only by a bogey on the par-4 13th. It came at a perfect time, for Rose, 34th in the point standings, is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to next week’s Tour Championship.
“I’ve the mindset I’ve got nothing to lose this week,” Rose said. “I’ve got everything to gain this week. Guys who are 26th to 29th who have played well all year, they might be pretty tense this week. They feel they deserve to be in Atlanta. For me, I still feel I can make it a great year.”
K.J. Choi stands alone in fourth at 4-under 67, followed by this three-man gaggle at 68: John Senden and a pair of Western Open winners, Jim Furyk (2005) and Camilo Villegas (2008). In all, 24 players broke par and another dozen matched it, though the day’s average, 71.771, was almost a stroke above par.
Still, it’s just one day, both for the leaders – Dustin Johnson was four in arrears of Matt Kuchar after one round last year, and came on to win – and the trailers. That includes Johnson after a 5-over 76 that featured an eagle on the par-5 15th, and nine 5s on his card. Friday, expected to dawn cold and windy again, could be completely different. Or not. This is golf, after all.
– Tim Cronin
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Consider Justin Rose one guy who likes Dubsdread with all its bumps and rolls and humps and hollows.
Funny how positive one’s opinion can be after an 8-under-par 63, isn’t it?
Rose slapped that number on the Cog Hill scoreboard during Thursday’s opening round of the 108th Western Open, a.k.a. the BMW Championship. He did so by making 10 threes, six of them on Dubsdread’s front nine, hitting every fairway and 16 of 18 greens in regulation in the process.
“There’s no faking it out there,” Rose said. “You’ve got to go out and play good golf. You can’t really get away with too much on this golf course.”
Phil Mickelson, course renovator Rees Jones’ arch enemy, discovered that. He was 4-over after five holes thanks to a double-bogey on the par-3 second and bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes, but rallied to finish at 1-over 72. His adventure included a bogey at the last that commenced with a tee shot into the maintenance center, and would have been worse but for an approach that finished three feet from the cup.
Luke Donald and Steve Stricker, elite players with local ties who weren’t complimentary of Jones’ renovation, also didn’t fare well. Donald, the world’s top-ranked player, stumbled out of the gate, with bogeys on three of his first five holes en route to a 4-over 75, while Stricker, the Western’s winner in 1996, faded in the stretch and settled for 5-over 76.
Meanwhile, Rose played the course the way Dick Wilson, Joe Lee and Jones intended, and reaped the benefits. Likewise, Webb Simpson, the PGA Tour’s standings leader and winner twice in the last three tournaments, and another guy who swoons over Dubsdread, is second, two strokes behind Rose with Mark Wilson after a bogey-free 6-under-65. Wilson, a transplanted Wisconsinite who lives in Elmhurst and practices at Cog Hill, sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole, his last of the day, to join Simpson.
“A third of the courses (on the PGA Tour) are like this,” Simpson said before the first shot was struck in anger. “If you play well and hit proper shots you’re going to get rewarded. If you don’t play well it’ll eat you up because it is long, it is tough and we’ll get cooler weather and maybe some wind.”
Simpson is Skillingesque in that regard. It was cool on Thursday, 59 degrees, and the wind was out of the north, an unaccustomed direction for the pros, at 14 mph when it wasn’t gusting to 21 mph. There hadn’t been a north wind in the Western in 10 years, but Simpson played Dubsdread as if it was designed for a north wind.
“You’ve got to think your way around the golf course, and think your way into the greens,” Simpson said after concluding play. “These greens are so undulating, balls can feed to the pin, but if you short-side yourself, hole, this is one of the most penalizing courses we play.”
Wilson had heard the complaints that the fairway bunkering was too severe, and didn’t argue that point, but noted this: “If guys are having a hard time with the bunkering, they’re supposed to be a hazard and they’re supposed to be difficult to get up and down. I think that’s what Rees was trying to do with the bunkering, and he accomplished that.”
Englishman Rose’s round, which he called his best of the year, was a stroke after the championship and course record, and was marred only by a bogey on the par-4 13th. It came at a perfect time, for Rose, 34th in the point standings, is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to next week’s Tour Championship.
“I’ve the mindset I’ve got nothing to lose this week,” Rose said. “I’ve got everything to gain this week. Guys who are 26th to 29th who have played well all year, they might be pretty tense this week. They feel they deserve to be in Atlanta. For me, I still feel I can make it a great year.”
K.J. Choi stands alone in fourth at 4-under 67, followed by this three-man gaggle at 68: John Senden and a pair of Western Open winners, Jim Furyk (2005) and Camilo Villegas (2008). In all, 24 players broke par and another dozen matched it, though the day’s average, 71.771, was almost a stroke above par.
Still, it’s just one day, both for the leaders – Dustin Johnson was four in arrears of Matt Kuchar after one round last year, and came on to win – and the trailers. That includes Johnson after a 5-over 76 that featured an eagle on the par-5 15th, and nine 5s on his card. Friday, expected to dawn cold and windy again, could be completely different. Or not. This is golf, after all.
– Tim Cronin
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