US OPEN: Open season on the ultimate thinking man’s golf course

It has been a long time since I have so eagerly anticipated the start of a major championship — especially the US Open.

If the previous US Opens at Merion and Pinehurst had tradition on their side, Chambers Bay on the north-west coast had nothing. Built just eight years ago, it looked stunning — but that counts for nothing. And much to the disgust, no doubt, of its designer Robert Trent Jones III, the lesser lights competing this week grabbed the early headlines with their unflattering reviews.

It’s easy to be heard this week, especially if you want to criticise the course’s designer or the USGA but how foolish many of those players must feel just a few short hours into the tournament proper.