US Open will not be Open this year (NO POLITICS OR COVID-19 POSTS)

[cristphoto]

Have a nice day.

[bscinstnct]

 

Tiger won’t win another US Open so the * won’t bother him.

Be unfortunate if people make too big a deal out of it for the winner.

Whoever wins, given the crazy year it’s been, I think they will be a major celebration for them.

And as long as the trophy is the same and the check clears, it’s going to be a great tournament and most welcome.

[smashdn]

What if the field was exactly the same folks as it was last year? All that qualified or were exempt or otherwise? Does that change how those who are saying it may need to come with an asterisk feel?

[Shilgy]

Struggling to make a living. And yet they are very competent players. I was agreeing with your point that the gap between professional golfers and club pros and to amateurs has never been larger. And it is getting larger and by a deeper level of talent.

[tiderider]

they'll do some statistics and widen the circle or narrow it for each group (top 100, struggling pros, ams) as they see fit ... it will be a US Open, and should absolutely not have an asterisk ...

[smashdn]

Is it then fair to say that nothing has really changed regarding the ability to make a living playing professional golf? You had to be top tier back in the day to continue to be a touring pro and not just a guy who played a few pro tournaments when they were close enough in between teaching lessons at a club. Now maybe the scale of money has changed but you can't be a full-time professional touring golfer by placing in the top ten on the Hooters Tour (or whatever mini-tour you like) alone.

It is tough to be a full-time golfer and I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing.

[Shilgy]

I feel like we are going around and around for nothing. I agreed with your post #58. You said the gap between tour pros and club pros and top ams and such has never been larger. You then said guy to your head you felt it was because of sponsorships. I asked how then to explain the vast number of very qualified players that cannot get over the hump and make it but by their score they are certainly closer to tour level.

In fact I would now add that the mini tour players of today are now an additional tier of player that did not exist in the past in between the tour pro and club pros etc.

 

we agree- let’s leave it at that?

[smashdn]

I didn't know we were debating or arguing, I was just commenting.

 

Maybe I inferred that someone, not necessarily you, felt that there were guys out there being somewhat jilted by the fact that they were outstanding golfers but not making a real go of it monetarily. I could have read way too much into it.

So yes, I was agreeing that it has always been hard to make a full-time living at golf. Maybe there is a misconception that being a scratch player is good enough? I know there is a misconception by the general golfing populous of how good a truly good player is. Meaning I have had people tell me I am really good at golf. I'm like a 13 when I play regularly. I'm closer to being an astronaut than I am a good golfer.

[Smada962]

I agree with that. I usually play to a 1 or 2 and I constantly have people in leagues, or family members, tell me I should pursue turning pro. They have no idea just how big of a gap there is between someone like me and them.

[YoungBorra]

I don't understand why anyone is talking about money here -

The US OPEN is the only truly major AMERICAN professional golf tournament. Anyone who has a low enough handicap can locally qualify and if they make it, regionally qualify for the actual tournament.

Taking away this ability from so many golfers makes the actual tournament an INVITATIONAL, not an OPEN.

These are indisputable facts.

The tournament name should be changed or played with an * this year.

[YoungBorra]

This would make too much sense for them to actually do it. The ONLY issue is that many courses refuse to host players who aren't members right now : my course in Long Island has a no guest policy at the moment because they don't want non trusted people entering the facilities (mind you, only the golf course is open. The pro shop, putting/chipping/practice range, locker rooms, grill are all closed).

[bscinstnct]

 

Im starting to see this point of view as correct. It will definitely have and *. I guess there really is a question of if it should even be considered the same tournament and be valued as a major championship.

 

 

[Smada962]

Why does it need to be an "open" tournament to be considered a major? That makes no sense to me. So is the Masters not a major since the field is smaller and more exclusive? It won't be a traditional US Open obviously, but the strength of field and course setup will almost certainly be major-worthy.

[YoungBorra]

whoever said it shouldn't be a major? Of course it's a major. It just shouldn't be an OPEN.

[Smada962]

Gotcha, sorry about that. I probably should have quoted one of the other guys saying it shouldn't be considered a major.

 

[YoungBorra]

no need to apologize!

[Darth Putter]

It is called an "Open" because it is open to amateurs and pros. Having qualifiers has absolutely nothing to do with it. As mentioned above, this will be the first US Open without qualifiers since 1924.

 

I suspect the reason the US Open is going forward at this time is because it is the money earned for the entire year for the USGA. They cut out the qualifiers because having to try to run tournaments in 50 states and involving 9000 entrants plus officials and volunteers was way too much. Could you even find enough testing for such an undertaking? It's a massive cost cutting measure if nothing else and organizations and businesses are looking for that. They could have this tournament be the top 130 from the OWGR, the Senior Open winner from 2019, the six amateurs currently qualified and whoever qualifies from this year's US Amateur and the tournament really wouldn't lose a thing.

It might make the event a little less whimsical, but this is the best lemonade the USGA could make out of the lemons handed to them.

I reject ANY call to cancel this tournament, call it a USGA "Special Event," put an asterisk by the champion's name or to deem it not a major completely out of hand.

 

[farmer]

I have always thought the Hale America thing was stupid. Putting an * on this Open would be stupid. If there's going to be an asterisk, cancel and explain why in the official USGA record books. On an historic note, LT qualified in '66, finished 54th. '67 qualified, finished 5th, 8 shots behind Jack's record. Made $6000.00 which exempted him for the rest of the year. Times have certainly changed, my Dad bought the top end Pontiac at about the same time for something like $4500.00. To topic, have it and it's completely recognized, or cancel and pick up again next year. BTW, John Deere has cancelled.

[bscinstnct]

 

Not every major needs to be an open.

 

But it’s been a major as an Open for 130 years.

 

Its called the US Open and half the field is open to qualifying.

 

If it’s not open, then it’s not the same tournament. It’s not the US Open.

 

So, if it’s not the US Open, then it may not be a major.

 

It’s a tournament with a super deep field like The Players

 

But it’s not The US Open.

[Darth Putter]

 

I'm going to say it again...

 

It is called an "Open" because it is open to both pros and amateurs.

Qualfying HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!

 

 

 

[smashdn]

If it was the exact same field as last year would that change anyone's opinion on it?

 

(I realize I posted that twice.)

[bscinstnct]

 

Right. And they didn’t need qualifying when it began because there were enough spots for anyone who wanted to play to enter.

 

But I hope we can agree that for 100 years since qualifying was required, it’s the fact that half the field is reserved and comprised of both pros and ams who qualify that defines it as the US Open.

 

So, I disagree that, qualifying has “nothing to do” with the US Open being the US Open since, after 100 years of qualifying defining the tournament, it’s the qualifying of half the field that make the qualifying de facto the criteria for it to be considered the US Open.

[cdnglf]

 

Who cares?

I mean, this is just a piddly upstart. Not like it is THE OPEN...

 

 

[Darth Putter]

 

Qualifying differentiates the US Open from the US PGA and The Masters, but it's status as a major is because it is the championship of the USGA.

I think of qualifying as important, but not mission critical.

Under the circumstances, I think we can skip it for one year.

 

I'm fine with the US Open having no qualifying this year.

I'm fine with the Belmont Stakes going first in the Triple Crown Series and being a mile and an eighth this year.

I'm fine with the NBA and NHL ending their regular seasons and going straight to the playoffs this year.

I'm fine if the baseball regular season is only 82 games before we go to the playoffs.

I'm fine if the Ryder Cup is played with no fans.

 

Every champion this year will be just as legitimate as the ones before.

 

 

 

 

 

[bscinstnct]

 

cdn! How you doin up there?

 

And, yes, THE Open is by far the superior event. Proper golf played on proper golf courses. Properly ; )

 

But, as they say,

 

In the world of no Opens, the Open with no qualifying is king ?

[Shilgy]

Which is close to what I posted earlier. A few weeks ago I read an article quoting an USGA spokesman saying they were considering a historical mix of players. The exact logistics TBD but if they average a dozen amateurs then they would have that many this year. Same with number of mini tour guys, seniors, club pros what have you. It will be as close as possible to a “normal” US Open.

[YoungBorra]

what makes the US Open special is the fact that ANY GOLFER with a 1.2 handicap or lower can attempt to qualify for it. The same cannot be said for other tournaments and thus why it is the most DEMOCRATIC championship and thus why CANCELING qualifying makes it UN-AMERICAN this year.

And if you need a reminder:https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/8f32de04-9480-4c91-9eaf-535d257d19f5

[jggerard9]

When I heard the news I was really sad because I love playing in those qualifiers. I am really excited though to watch this years US Open and glad it wasn’t cancelled completely.

[grm24]

 

https://media.giphy.com/media/cOQSc9wAHifk1LlQBM/giphy.gif

[James the Hogan Fan]

 

No, it doesn't. The asterisk denotes a change in procedure from the normal, that something different happened. It may or may not delegitimize the event in the eyes of the beholder, it only tells you there is something that made this tournament different. The people playing last year did not qualify for the 2020 US Open, they qualified for the 2019 US Open.

This year there will be a large format change, effectively an invitational similar to the masters. With the masters we don't mind because it has always been invitational. But the US open has decided to adopt a new format for 1 year because of exceptional circumstances. Hence asterisk.