Several spectators were injured by a runaway golf cart during the second round of the US Open at Pebble Beach.

This is a big week for the United States Golf Association, who can ill afford another embarrassment during the US Open.

The skies above Pebble Beach Golf Links for most of Thursday’s first round were gray, but the leaderboard featured a different hue, one players aren’t typically accustomed to seeing at the U.S. Open: Red.

But the world number one has a fresh chip on his shoulder at Pebble Beach after a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in a television advert.

Phil Mickelson believes winning the US Open to complete the career grand slam is the only thing which can redefine his career, but whether it would restore his reputation remains up for debate.

The tournament has been beset by problems in recent years and tournament organisers, the USGA admitted they went “too far” with the set up of Shinnecock Hills last year after only three players broke par in the third round.

When Graeme McDowell arrived at Bethpage Black this week for the 101st PGA Championship, he wasn’t sure what to expect.

So many golfers have tried to take on Bethpage Black and been overwhelmed that in the early 1980s the park placed a famous sign behind the first tee that reads: “Warning: The Black Course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers.”

Phil Mickelson can count himself lucky he wasn’t playing in an ILGU event when he had his 13th green meltdown at Shinnecock Hills.

Phil Mickelson is “embarrassed and disappointed” by his actions after deliberately hitting a moving ball at last week’s US Open to prevent it rolling off the green.

One was about power. The other was about patience.

Disqualification. In a word, that’s what should have happened to Phil Mickelson on Saturday, following one of the most bizarre moments in the history of professional golf. Lefty will be remembered for his five Majors, his six runner-up spots in the US Open, and his incredible short game, but his antics on Saturday at Shinnecock have tarnished his legacy.

The headlines should be all about how Brooks Koepka’s fairytale return from a wrist injury that threatened his career and how he forced his way back into contention and eventually retain his US Open title.

The US Golf Association had one job — ONE JOB! — this week: Don’t mess up another US Open at Shinnecock Hills like it did in 2004.

In recent years, the USGA has suffered from an identity complex. It tries to protect par and live up to its reputation as golf’s toughest test.

When we watch the very best sportstars in action we are consumed by their ability to produce brilliant moments of magic when it matters most. The higher the stage, the more memorable the feat.

Shane Lowry is saddened there will be no repeat fairytale for an amateur in next month’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

It’s only small — 1.68 inches in diameter — but it has always been a big issue in golf. Almost from the day that the first Scottish shepherd picked up a stick and whacked a wee stone across a field, there have been disputes about golf balls.

Jim Furyk still remembers his US Open threesome for the first two rounds many moons ago with Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood.

Rickie Fowler made light of the longest course in major championship history to produce a record-equalling start to the US Open on Thursday.

If the media drives sport and most of the money generated comes from TV broadcasting rights then it’s hardly surprising that professional sport worldwide has always been a star-driven enterprise dominated by the world’s greatest athletes.

Graeme McDowell might have slipped from fourth to 89th in the world over the past six years, but he insists he still has the grit, the tactical talent and the patience to contend for his second US Open crown at Erin Hills.

It must be US Open week because the pros took one look at Erin Hills, site of the 117th US Open, and you heard more bellyaching than a hospital emergency room.

Compared to Sergio Garcia’s 73-major wait for his maiden win, Rory McIlroy’s nine-major dry streak is but the blink of an eye. 

Tall fescue grass on the fourth, 12th, 14th and 18th holes was being cut as McIlroy gave his pre-tournament press conference, which caught the 2011 champion by surprise.

Ahead of the US Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin this week, the United States Golf Association (USGA) is rightfully nervous. 

Eighteen years and 71 majors later, more tears for Sergio Garcia.

John McHenry says the proposed rule amendments to the golfing scene will be a set of very welcome changes.

So we have arrived at that point in the professional golf schedule that generated so much consternation months ago, even going back to 2015.

Open Championship organisers are confident they can avoid the rules farce that threatened to overshadow last month’s US Open when play gets underway at Royal Troon today.

Dustin Johnson has the slow walk, the bristled jaw and the gunslinger’s eyes of a Sergio Leone bounty hunter.

“I was probably a bit hard on myself right then, coming in as well. I think if I had just relaxed a little bit more, I could have done something a bit better."

Three late three-putts cost Shane Lowry the US Open as Dustin Johnson made a rules controversy irrelevant by storming to a massively impressive three-stroke maiden major triumph at Oakmont.

It was said many years ago but the hellish pronouncement of the founder and designer Henry Clay Fownes should be posted on a large sign at the entrance to Oakmont Country Club.