LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA | On a soft Tuesday morning with a lingering chill and the scent from a nearby fireplace in the air, Torrey Pines South looked from a distance like one of the gentlest places on earth.
All green and blue with the sunshine sparkling off of the Pacific Ocean, which sits down the cliffs from the course, the effect was almost hypnotic.
Wait until the middle of June.
That’s when the U.S. Open returns to the South Course where it will have been transformed into a beautiful beast. As long as an Arizona summer. As demanding as boot camp. As unrelenting as a toothache.
It’s the way U.S. Opens are meant to be.
In that sense, this 121st edition will be an old-school U.S. Open.
“It’s a return to some normalcy. It was truly heartbreaking last year to cancel some championships and not have (U.S. Open) qualifying. Qualifying is our DNA.” – John Bodenhamer
John Bodenhamer John Mummert, USGA
After qualifying took a one-year pause due to th...
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