The greens are going to be very quick and extremely difficult to hit, which will put an emphasis on elite approach play and creativity from the closely-mown Bermuda surrounds. And it won’t just be wedges players will be using to get the ball up and down, it will be pretty much every club in the bag bar the driver.

We’ve been listening to what some of the best players in the world have been saying in the build-up, and correlating what they say with the Clippd data insights. 

‍The Complete Test

Tiger Woods: “The beauty of playing Donald Ross golf courses [is] he tests you. And since the renovation here, I think they've done an amazing job of doing that… When Donald did this golf course and made the greens this severe, I don't think he intended it to be running at 13 on the Stimpmeter. They were the speed of fairways. That's one of the differences when we go to most golf courses, is they're very severe, and we're playing under faster conditions. It's more of a test. It's going to be a great test and a great war of attrition this week.”

“When Donald [Ross] did this golf course and made the greens this severe, I don't think he intended it to be running at 13 on the Stimpmeter” — Tiger Woods

‍Approach

Bryson DeChambeau: “If I get my irons in a place where I'm hitting it in the middle of the greens and just playing boring golf, that's the goal for me this week is try to play as boring a golf as possible.” Last three US Opens: T20, T56, T26

Viktor Hovland: “You have to hit such a small target. I think having a shorter club in is very important, but then into the greens you've got to play very, very conservatively. I think just hitting the greens itself is of high value.” Last three US Opens: 19, MC, WD

Wyndham Clark: “The biggest thing is where you leave yourself on the greens. Today I went with my caddie and we just were really charting to certain pins, like we'd rather be here than there. Sometimes that almost could mean, not that you're trying to miss a green, but you're erring towards the easier up and down.” Last three US Opens: 1, MC, MC

Around The Green

Tiger Woods: “Nothing can simulate what we have here this particular week, the amount of little shots and the knobs and run-offs, and either using wedges or long irons or woods around the greens or even putter. There's so many different shots that you really can't simulate unless you get on the property. That's one of the reasons I came up here last Tuesday, to be able to try and do that.”

“It's grainy Bermuda, so if you get a good lie, you can be a little more creative” — Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler: “It's grainy Bermuda, so if you get a good lie, you can be a little more creative with what you want to do. If you have an iffy into-the-grain lie, you're a bit limited in what you can do around the green. It really depends on the lie and then it depends how big of a slope there is that you're trying to get it back up onto the green. A lot of that is going to be missing in the right spots.” Last three US Opens: 3, T2, T7

Scottie Scheffler: “What I appreciate about this kind of course is a lot of the areas around the greens are all fairway, and so it may be extremely difficult shots, but there's always opportunity…I appreciate more having the playability of the run-off areas more than heavy rough surrounding every green. It definitely provides a little bit more variety, a little bit more excitement and a little bit more creativity around the greens.”

Putting

Wyndham Clark: “The greens are extremely fast and penal. You hit it on the green, the hole is not done. I was just amazed how fast the greens are… They are extremely fast. If they get any firmer and faster, the greens, I mean, they'd be borderline. They already are borderline… When it looks really shiny and it's down-grain, let's say the grains are a 13, I think down-grain they're 15 or 16. They're, like, significantly faster.”

“I've never swung so hard on my putter for nine holes than I did today” — Xander Schauffele

‍Viktor Hovland: “I think if you take an average of 20 shots, the putter is going to be way better than the chip is. I think in a lot of spots, I'm going to putt it, but there are some spots where, okay, I think the chip is better… Maybe it'll be somewhere close to 60/40 with putter maybe.”

Xander Schauffele: “I was joking with my caddie, we should probably get our putter checked. I've never swung so hard on my putter for nine holes than I did today, just trying to get up and down mounds. There's certain spots where you feel like you have to hit it really hard, and you hit it too hard you putt it off the other side of the green.” Last three US Opens: T10, T14, T17