Golf: Langer slams 'crazy golf' green

Bernhard Langer has slammed as ‘‘ridiculous’’ the hole or rather the green where this week’s US Open could be won or lost.

‘‘There’s going to be a lot of crazy stuff out there,’’ said the in-form German of the 18th green at Southern Hills in Tulsa.

‘‘I like courses that are fair and I don’t think that that green is fair. It’s pure luck.

‘‘In practice I’ve hit the perfect drive and then a five-wood that hit the middle of the green and came back 40 yards.

‘‘It finished in exactly the same place where I would have been if I’d driven into the rough and come out short of the green with a seven-iron.

‘‘I went to the front of the green and rolled a ball 20 yards up towards the flag. It stopped, then started to come back down and ended up off the green as well.

‘‘I don’t think that’s right. The hole is 466 yards, but the actual green is six yards deep - apart from the tiny shelf at the back the rest of it is just a slope.

‘‘It’s the same for everybody, but it’s ridiculous.’’

Even Tiger Woods, who needed only a six-iron second yesterday, was critical afterwards.

‘‘To me it’s a shame when you hit the centre of the green and you can easily end up 50 yards off it,’’ said the defending champion.

‘‘But that’s the way it is and everybody has to deal with it.’’

David Duval, runner-up to Woods at the Masters in April, described the green as ‘‘a little bit unplayable’’ when he first played it, but is waiting to see how it performs once the championship starts tomorrow.

‘‘I don’t think there’s some big conspiracy where they try to make this unplayable,’’ he said. ‘‘I think they try to make it very, very hard, but fair.’’

The comments are coming as no surprise to United States Golf Association officials.

Langer says they last cut the green four days ago because of the need to let the grass grow and therefore slow the speed down.

They have also been watering it, but with furnace-like conditions that appears to have had little effect so far.

‘‘You would think when they redid these greens they would have changed that one,’’ he added. ‘‘When they built this course around 100 years ago they were rolling seven on the stimpmeter. Now it’s at 11 or 12.

‘‘The slopes are not meant for that. They are worried like crazy because where can they put the flag except at the top?’’

It is threatening to be the most controversial hole in Major championship golf since the 1998 US Open at the Olympic club in San Francisco.

Then it was the pin placing on the 18th green that was the problem again, with players unable to get the ball to stop around the hole. John Daly called it Mickey Mouse golf.

‘‘It’s just like that,’’ went on Langer. ‘‘I was playing with Tom Lehman that day and he putted up to the hole and then the ball came right back down and went past where he was.’’

Langer comes into this week brimming with confidence after finishing third at the Players’ Championship in March, sixth in the Masters in April and then second in Memphis on Sunday.

‘‘I’m not sure this course suits me, though,’’ said the 43-year-old. ‘‘It’s very demanding, extremely tough and I’m going to be coming into the firm greens with a lot more club than the longer hitters.

‘‘But I am playing well and it’s been a very good few months.

‘‘It’s all come together I’m driving it fairly good, hitting the iron shots the way I want and my short game’s been really good.

‘‘I have always been dedicated and I knew I could get the results I’ve been getting.

‘‘I’ve always said over the last few years that I’ve been very close to playing this well. I’d just been making a few too many mistakes, but I’ve been dropping very few shots lately and not throwing any away.

‘‘I’m a bit longer than I was because of new technology, but there again the course have been getting longer too, so that’s not been a dramatic change.’’

The pity for Europe’s Ryder Cup chances is that of his three best weeks so far this year only the Masters has counted towards the Ryder Cup table.

‘‘That’s one of my goals, but I know it’s going to be very difficult.’’

Very difficult not just to get an automatic spot, but very difficult to get a wild card too with Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik also outside the top 10 at the moment and concentrating on the American circuit.

‘‘We could have the situation where we have six US Tour winners and only two can get into the team.’’

But that is potentially a problem of the European Tour’s own making.

They decided the selection system and it remains to be seen whether Sam Torrance has to leave out some obvious stars in September.

This week can play a big part in determining if that happens.