Source: Vietnam News

The USGA drools uncontrollably when encountering this kind of green because they know the screams of agony and blank stares of disbelief will be commonplace throughout the tournament.

However, what was unexpected was that Retief Goosen, a man whose coolness was only surpassed by the old David Duval "terminator" routine, would suffer a meltdown in the final round to lose the Open.

Here is a man who has been in pressure situations before, completely collapsing in the final round. This is not to say that Michael Campbell backed into the Open, he didn’t. Campbell played extremely well when it was needed and earned his place in the history books.

In actuality, my criticism of the USGA and of Goosen is completely unfair.

A lot of people like to joke that the USGA sets up a course to humiliate people, and while this may seem true, it really isn’t. The USGA sets up a course to identify the best players in the world and if you don’t bring your "A game" with you for the event, you will not win. The US Open is an event which must be won through skill, not luck.

In my opinion, once Goosen lost the lead, he put too much pressure on himself and started forcing shots. The key to winning the US Open is patience and Goosen probably tried too hard to regain those dropped shots which is unwise when a slight error can have disastrous consequences.

The greens in a US Open, especially at Pinehurst roll at speeds which would terrify a weekend player. Keeping a shot on the green is difficult enough, but sticking one next to the flag to set up possible birdie putts under pressure is next to impossible. You need to remain cool and patient.

If you look at past US Opens, you’ll see that the winner wasn’t always the one with the longest drive, or the most flashy style, but rather the winner was a grinder. A player who had the discipline to keep focused on the task at hand, remained patient and kept hitting the shots required. It also helps if the "Golf Gods" smile upon you that day.

The good news is that Michael Campbell stepped up and did the job. This makes me happy because I like seeing new faces win majors.

If you remember, when Campbell first came on the scene, he was touted as the heir to Tiger Woods and a big thing was made of it. Even Campbell played along with the hype and, if memory serves, made some comment about "not being afraid of Tiger".

He kind of disappeared after that.

However, now that he’s more experienced and more mature, Michael Campbell might actually live up to the earlier hype which would be a good thing as viewers get tired of seeing the same faces at every event.

The last time the US Open was held at Pinehurst, Payne Stewart defeated Phil Mickelson on the final hole. A great finish made even better by Stewart’s attitude at the end. Instead of gloating and running around like a fool, Stewart walked over to Mickelson and said "You’re gonna be a father!" (Mickelson’s wife was in labour at the time). His first thoughts were not about his win, but rather boosting Mickelson’s spirit after losing and reminding him of what he will gain very shortly.

Payne Stewart understood which event in life was more important.

Unfortunately, a scant four months later, Payne Stewart was killed in a very bizarre plane crash when the oxygen system in his private plane malfunctioned.

This year’s US Open marks the first at Pinehurst since his passing, but I believe he was watching the show and chuckling when balls refused to stay on the greens. I also believe he was satisfied with the outcome…

Which is the way it should be.