Even during a week when the USGA didn't have a championship, it still came under scrutiny by way of comparisons.
With a forecast of gusts topping 30 mph for the third round Saturday, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club finished its morning preparation of Royal Troon and decided not to cut or roll the putting surfaces in case the wind got out of hand. The greens were slower, although links putting surfaces typically are not fast.
The result was low scoring and quick pace of play. Henrik Stenson, who has a track record of being put on the clock, and Phil Mickelson finished the final round in just under four hours. The threesomes during the opening two rounds were finishing in well under five hours.
Mickelson, the runner-up a record six times in the U.S. Open, was asked to explain the difference between how the USGA and R&A sets up the golf course.
"I think that R&A sets the golf course up to be as fair as possible and to try to kind of identify who the best player is regardless of what the score is given the conditions and so forth," Mickelson said. "Sometimes it's 20 under. Sometimes people don't want that many under par. But the fact is if somebody plays some incredible golf, that's what it should do. You shouldn't have to mess with the course too much to try to control the score."
John Daly won at St. Andrews in a playoff at 282 in windy conditions. Tiger Woods won at St. Andrews in dry and relatively calm conditions at 269.
The message was the same on the large scoreboard over the 18th green: Well done, see you next year.
Stenson set a major championship record at 264, three shots better than Mickelson. Take away those incredible performances and the winning score would have been 278 by J.B. Holmes.
"The USGA has it in their mind that the score needs to be par, so no matter what lines they have to cross to get there, that's got to be the standard, and it kind of disregards and doesn't take into account the difference in talent level and abilities that the players of today now have," Mickelson said.
He believes the British Open is more fair. He also conceded he was biased.
"I've won this one, and I haven't won the other one," Mickelson said. "So I've got that working against me."
Medicine chips
Chicago Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel had to leave his last start before the All-Star break because of cramps in his right hand. The Cubs team doctor told Hammel to deal with that problem by eating potato chips.
"For my cramps, if it's a chronic thing, he said 'potato chips' because they have a lot of potassium and the sea salt helps retain water," Hammel said. "So I focused on that over the break and ate a lot of potato chips, and I think it turned out pretty well. Potato chip prescription ... that's what I'm going to try to go with."
Lou on immigration
Former Arkansas, Notre Dame and South Carolina football coach and ESPN analyst Lou Holtz created a stir Monday with some pretty strong comments about immigrants during a luncheon that honored Phyllis Schlafly, the founder of the conservative interest group Eagle Forum.
Holtz, 79, whose own grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, said immigrants have a responsibility to adapt to United State customs.
"I don't want to become you," Holtz said, via The Daily Beast. "I don't want to speak your language. I don't want to celebrate your holidays. I sure as hell don't want to cheer for your soccer team."
Sports on 07/20/2016