In the absence of superstar Tiger Woods, all eyes are likely to be on “golf rebels” Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, who have been suspended from the PGA Tour due to their participation in the controversial new Saudi series LIV, but will play in the third major of the… year are eligible. With Sepp Straka, an Austrian also tees off.
The rival series LIV Golf, financed by Saudi Arabia, stirred up a lot of dust with its opening tournament last week in London. A good quarter of the field of 48 golfers there is also eligible to play at the US Open, since the US Golf Association USGA, unlike the PGA Tour, did not issue a ban. The six-time major winner Mickelson, his US compatriot Johnson, but also the Spaniard Sergio Garcia and the South African Louis Oosthuizen must expect a cool reception from the fans.
PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas was annoyed that the dispute over the multi-million dollar Saudi Arabian competition overshadowed the traditional major event in Brookline. “It’s sad. This is the US Open, this is an incredible place with so much history, an incredible field, so many stories, and yet (LIV Golf, note) seems to be what all the questions are about “, criticized the American.
New cash cow
Ultimately, it is the call for money that divides the golfing elite. Jon Rahm received $2.25 million for his US Open win last year, and LIV London winner Charl Schwartzel received a check for $4 million on Saturday. The 48th place in London (Andy Ogletree) received $ 120,000 almost four times as much as the 48th at the US Open. Then there are the nine-figure sums that stars like Johnson collect for their move.
“If people at home say that Dustin Johnson is a bad person now, that’s not fair,” Thomas said. “Do I wish he hadn’t and am I a little sad about it? Yes, but it is what it is,” said the 29-year-old, who honestly explained his conflict in the cause. “The best players in the world have to be here, but at the same time I don’t necessarily want them to be able to play on both tours.”
However, the USGA has done its best to ensure that the US Open LIV participants do not tee off in the same flight with their critics such as Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy on the first two days. So Mickelson starts on the difficult par 70 course alongside Oosthuizen, among others.
Second US Open for Straka
The failure of Tiger Woods also weighs heavily for the tournament. The 46-year-old announced last week that he would not start because he needed more time to get fit again after his serious car accident in February 2021. The 15-time major winner returned to the golf tour at the Masters in April and also competed in the PGA Championship in May, but dropped out due to severe pain in his right leg.
The usual suspects are considered favourites: The Masters winner and world number one Scottie Scheffler from the USA, the Spanish defending champion Rahm, Thomas and McIlroy, who is traveling to Brookline, a suburb of Boston, with a win at the Canadian Open in his luggage. Sepp Straka does not yet belong to this elite circle, but the 29-year-old is aiming for his best result in a major in his second US Open participation. He did this in 2019 with 28th place on his US Open debut.
Straka and the rest of the field will face a redesigned course at Brookline’s long-established Country Club, where the US Open was last held 34 years ago. Born in Vienna, he will get to know the pitfalls of hole eleven – a par 3 hole that is only 120 meters long, but which is defended by four bunkers and a stream and was last played at the US Open in 1913.
Source: Nachrichten
