Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. After watching a virtual tour of Los Angeles Country Club, I’m confident I’d shoot about a 160 there.
In today’s SI:AM:
⛳ The mysterious U.S. Open course
⚾ What’s up with Mike Trout’s slump?
If you're reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters.
Get to know LACC
The U.S. Open is usually a showcase for some of golf’s most iconic venues. In the past decade, the men’s tournament has been hosted by Torrey Pines, Winged Foot, Pebble Beach, Shinnecock Hills and Pinehurst. Players and fans alike know these courses well. The history and familiarity are part of what make them attractive choices to host the national championship. This year’s tournament is a different story. The host, Los Angeles Country Club, is a mystery to just about everybody involved.
LACC hasn’t hosted a PGA Tour event since the 1940 Los Angeles Open. The only noteworthy tournament hosted at the course in the past seven decades is the 2017 Walker Cup (an amateur event pitting players from the United States against those from Great Britain and Ireland), so many players got their first real look at the course this week during practice rounds.
One player who has played competitive golf there before is Max Homa, who won the 2013 Pac-12 Championship at LACC while he was at Cal. It’s believed that Homa actually has the record on the North course, shooting a 61 in the first round of the event. Homa finished the four-round tournament at nine under, five shots better than anyone else in the field (which had some notable names also playing in this year’s U.S. Open, including Jon Rahm, Patrick Rodgers and Michael Kim). Homa also attended the Walker Cup as a spectator and raved about the course this week.
“This venue is awesome for a U.S. Open,” he said. “It feels kind of like the same place. They added some tees, but nothing crazy. It’s just a really great golf course in my favorite city in the world.”
By all accounts, it’s a beautiful course, located right in the middle of Beverly Hills, one mile from Rodeo Drive. Various points on the course offer sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles in the distance.
The most intriguing holes on the course might be the two par-3’s on the back nine, which could not be more different from each other.
The 11th hole would have any weekend hacker quaking in their spikes. It measures a whopping 290 yards from tee to green, though an elevation drop of 40 feet means it will play shorter than that (by about 20 yards, according to the USGA). That downhill layout also provides some of the best views of the city on the course. The green is well protected by a trio of bunkers that will punish any player whose tee shot lands short or left. You don’t want to go long, either, because then your ball rolls downhill away from the green.
The 15th is radically different. Because of a large tee box and deep green, the pin can be placed anywhere from 80 to 145 yards away from the tee. That gives the USGA plenty of flexibility when deciding how the hole will play throughout the week.
The consensus from players this week is that LACC will present the sort of stiff challenge that you want from a U.S. Open course.
“It’s a very tricky golf course,” 2014 U.S. Open winner Martin Kaymer told Farrell Evans. “I don’t see 12 or 13 under winning this tournament. It’s difficult to create a lot of good birdie chances because of the length of the holes. I think anybody that’s able to shoot two under each day is going to have a good chance of winning.”
The length of the course will be the biggest story. In addition to the 290-yard 11th, the course also boasts a 284-yard par 3 (No. 7) and 542-yard par 4 (No. 16). The 17th is a 520-yard par 4 with a deep bunker protecting the front of the green. The finishing hole is another par 4 that measures a mere 492 yards, but it plays uphill and into the prevailing winds.
When length isn’t an issue, players will have to grapple with other difficult natural features. The course features many sandy, rocky ravines called barrancas that could get players in trouble in a hurry. The most notable one is on No. 6, a 330-yard par 4. Players who opt to attempt to drive the green in hopes of an eagle opportunity also run the risk of putting it in the barranca and dropping strokes.
It’s shaping up to be a really interesting tournament—hopefully interesting enough to limit the discussions about LIV Golf.
The best of Sports Illustrated
Taylor Ballantyne/Sports Illustrated
- With the Women’s World Cup a month away, the U.S. women’s national team is featured on the cover of the July issue of Sports Illustrated. The squad is seeking an unprecedented third straight title, and is doing so with a crop of new players that will lead it into the future, Stephanie Apstein writes.
- Bob Harig profiles Jon Rahm, who could be a major factor this weekend at the U.S. Open.
- No matter what the Bills’ situation with Stefon Diggs is, Conor Orr writes, the team needs to fix it.
- Orr also lists the most likely turnaround candidates in the NFL.
- With Mike Trout stuck in a bizarre slump, Tom Verducci examines the strange issue plaguing one of the greatest hitters of this generation.
- Real Madrid paid its second-biggest transfer fee to acquire 19-year-old English midfielder Jude Bellingham.
- Rookie Aliyah Boston made history this week, becoming the youngest player in WNBA history to have a 20/10/5 game on 75% from the field. Fans can catch the Fever star go up against the Sky on Thursday, with the average ticket price in Chicago posted at $100, per SI Tickets.
The top five...
… plays in baseball last night:
5. The Astros’ walk-off win after a throw hit a baserunner.
4. Eduardo Escobar’s stop at third on a ball that left Giancarlo Stanton’s bat at 118.3 mph.
3. Jesús Sánchez’s robbing a grand slam that would have tied the game.
2. Shohei Ohtani’s opposite-field upper-deck shot.
1. Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s steal of home against the Mets.
SIQ
On this day in 1976, a game at the Houston Astrodome was postponed for what unusual reason?
- Rain
- Power failure
- Unruly fans
- Fire
Yesterday’s SIQ: Which pitcher recorded the most 19-strikeout games in MLB history?
- Roger Clemens
- Randy Johnson
- Nolan Ryan
- Tom Seaver
Answer: Nolan Ryan. He had four 19-strikeout games, the first of which came June 14, 1974, when he pitched 13 innings of a 15-inning Angels win over the Red Sox. That was one of three 19-K games Ryan had that season. He also struck out 19 twice in a span of three starts ranging from Aug. 12 through Aug. 20.
Only one of Ryan’s 19-strikeout games was a nine-inning game, though (Aug. 12, 1974). Only two pitchers in MLB history have had multiple nine-inning starts with at least 19 punchouts: Randy Johnson (who had three, including one with 20 punchouts) and Roger Clemens (who had two, both 20-K games).
Ryan’s 1974 season was outrageous. After setting a modern baseball record with 383 strikeouts the year before, Ryan struck out 367 in ’74, by far the most in the majors. (The Twins’ Bert Blyleven was next with 249.) But Ryan received just one first-place vote in American League Cy Young balloting and finished third in the race behind Fergie Jenkins and winner Catfish Hunter. What cost Ryan the award was his high number of walks. He led the majors with 202. No one else in the majors had more than 158. No one else who received a Cy Young vote in either league had more than 99.
