:: June 08
2 June, The Memorial
Finally, some good news to report! And it was close to being great news. My tied 2nd finish at this week's Memorial tournament was the little bit of reward I have been waiting for during these last couple of months of hard work. Muirfield Village is one of my favourite courses on Tour and this year, it was in the best condition I have ever seen it and the greens were probably the purest I have ever putted on. Thursday's first round I was playing early and it's the most I have enjoyed a round of golf for a long time. The playing condidions were perfect with very little wind, which seems to have been a rarity this year. It was great to capitalise on these conditions, shooting 68 and getting myself into the tournament from the word go. The high and low of the round both came with my sand wedge - the low being me hitting it in the water and making double bogey on my fifth hole of the day (14th) and the high being holing a sand wedge from 110 yards for an eagle on my 12th hole of the day (3rd). I guess these two cancel each other out!
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all really tough playing conditions and the course really showed its teeth. One of my goals at the beginning of the week was to have four rounds at par or better and the weather made this a great challenge. It was just my second round of +1 that prevented me from doing this. I was pleased this week that I was back to my old, consistent self, in terms of scoring and improving my position on the weekend.
On Sunday, I really felt that I could have and should have won the tournament, and really enjoyed competing for a title again. It seemed on Sunday that I just couldn't match up the line with the speed on my putts. The greens are so quick that you have a lot of 6 to 10 foot putts with a foot of break. I also bogeyed 12 and 13 which were untimely bogeys. On 13 I tweaked a nine iron just left of the pin and it hit a sprinkler head and bounced 30 yards over the green - bit of a tough break. My nine iron cost me this week, as I seemed to hit too many shots left with it, which makes me question whether the lie angle is more upright to the rest of my set. Something I will be checking this week. This week was the perfect little spark of confidence needed going into the US Open and the way the course played and the mental endurance I showed this week will stand me in good stead for the test of the US Open at Torrey Pines. Speak to you from there, Justin
19 June, US Open
After I had such a good run in the majors last year, it was really disappointing to miss the cut at Torrey Pines yesterday. I've done pretty well in the US Open before and was really looking forward to playing here because I was confident I would do well. My second round of 72 was a huge improvement on the first day, when I came in with a 79. But on nine over par for my two rounds, I was dependent on the lead being no better than one under par. In that way, I would have been within ten shots of the leader and would have made the cut. Sadly, it was not to be.
I must say, it was disappointing how many shots I threw away. I hit 13 out of 14 fairways, which is the hard part done in many senses. I drove the ball long and straight and hit some nice iron shots, too, but I had an incredibly hard time on the greens. It shows, when you consider that my two birdies came from a two putt on the 18th and one I hit to about six inches on the 7th hole. I didn't do a lot wrong, but I just couldn't put it together on the putting surface. I took 34 putts on the first day and 31 yesterday, which is too many. My pace was good in the practice rounds, so I thought I had the greens worked out. I have to say, I think the greens were incredibly poor for a major championship, especially in the first round. With the conditions a bit more overcast yesterday, they probably didn't dry up as much in the afternoon, which made them slightly easier to putt on.
I'm playing in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and then I'll turn my attention to Birkdale and the Open Championship. I'll be back home for the European Open in two weeks and will then take some time off before heading to Birkdale. Basically I've got five weeks in England which will be great. For me, this US Open is history now. I've got to put it behind me and get ready for the next big challenge. Justin
