Horse racing betting

At least the scenery was terrific, because the play in the final round certainly wasnt all that memorable. CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling performs an autopsy on the 110th U.S. Open, where punitive Pebble Beach, more than any particular player, was the real story.

Up

Scratching the 40-year itch

Forget for the moment that no European had won the U.S. Open title since Tony Jacklin in 1970. Thats significant, sure. But lets roll it back even farther in a positive fashion. Perhaps the bigger news isnt that Northern Irelands emerging star Graeme McDowell ended a 40-year skidmark, its that Europeans have now won three consecutive PGA Tour-sanctioned tournaments, a streak so long, the tour combed through its archives and determined it has never been done before. Justin Rose started the streak by winning at Memorial and English countryman Lee Westwood won in Memphis the week before the U.S. Open. All of a sudden, there are seven likely Ryder Cup members in the top 13 spots in the world rankings, while the Yanks occupy only six of the top 20 slots in the world. Even Frances Gregory Havret, a complete unknown in the States, finished second at the Open while ranked 395 in the world. In a broader sense, international players have claimed nine of the past 16 major titl and the global game is the better for it.

Keep on Tryon

A few weeks back, somebody at said that Ty Tryon “got lucky” when he earned his tour card nine years ago, which was such an absurd assumption, it made me cringe. For those of us who were on hand as he made his way through all three tiers of Q-school to gain his PGA Tour card at age 17, including shooting a 66 on the last day of the finals to make it, thats laughable and asinine. Even though he did not distinguish himself as a tour player and has fallen off the radar, you dont get lucky over 14 rounds. The kid had game. He held the overnight lead at a tour event at age 16. Tryon, now 26, resurfaced last week when he made the cut at the U.S. Open after playing his way into the field via a sectional qualifier, and it seems as though some have not forgotten him. He has accepted an exemption into the European Tours impressively loaded French Open, where the commitment list already includes Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Karlsson, Angel Cabrera and Adam Scott. While he is there, he can shake hands and trade stories with Rory McIlroy, Matteo Manassero and Danny Lee, the new young guns. Go get em, kid.

One guy who didnt fold

Long before the leaders began losing blood on Sunday, there was one guy who made an ascent up the board that mirrored his season in general. Matt Kuchar, a former prodigy who has had some serious ebb and flow to his career, matched the low round of the day at the Open and shot 68, jumping all the way to T6, ensuring him a spot in next years event. While it was surprising that four players managed to shoot 68 on Sunday, it was hardly news that Kuchar finished among the top 10. Since winning last fall at Turning Stone, Kuchar has amassed seven top-10 finishes and has jumped to sixth in the standings for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. After losing his card and bouncing back to the Nationwide in 2006, Kooch has become the steadiest player on tour this spring and has jumped to a career-best 25th in the world rankings.

The dusting of Dustin

If there is any consolation for 26-year-old rising American standout Dustin Johnson, who was poised to become the only PGA Tour player under age 30 with a major championship and four victories to his credit, its that others have been down this road before. In fact, when Johnson shot a horrid 82 in the final round, he became the third 54-hole leader at the Open who failed to break 80 on Sunday in the past six years, a shocking statistic. Retief Goosen blew up at Pinehurst in 05, followed by Aaron Baddeleys blink-of-an-eye collapse at Oakmont in 2007. Just like Johnson, it was over quickly and mercilessly, with both players completely toppling in the first couple of holes. Few made note of the fact that while Johnson indeed had won the two previous AT&T National Pro-Am events at Pebble Beach, he was handed one of the titles when the final round was washed out and he didnt have to play the final 18 under pressure. The Open again proved exactly why they play 72 holes, no?

Down

They should rename it Pebble Bitch

This isnt going to be a snide attack on the playing conditions of the final round, which really werent much different than in past Opens, when the greens are in various stages of dying, comatose or outright dead. Nope, this is an attack on the 14th and 17th holes, which should have been part of Arnold Palmers redesign a few months back. Apparently, the only way to hold a ball on the 17th is to hit the flagstick, like Jack Nicklaus did in 1972. For the week, 18.6 percent of the field found the putting surface. Becau officials cant throw all sorts of water on one or tw the design of the 17th became obvious and absurd. The 14th, well, if you saw Zach Johnsons amateurish meltdown before the weekend, you already know that the tiny spot at the top surrounded by steep slopes all around. When was the last time a par-5 hole, which supposedly offers a scoring opportunity, was the third-toughest for the week? The 14th averaged 5.44 strokes to rank third in difficulty and the 17th ranked 3.49 shots to rank first. In the final round, eight percent of the field held the 17th green. Ghastly.

Where did Tiger lose it?

Giving credit where it is due, I didnt see it coming. Never figured there was any way that Tiger Woods could tie enough baling wire around his game to finish in the top five, but he did, mostly with sheer tenacity. To me, it was clear where he lost the tournament. The first seven holes at Pebble are where the scoring opportunities presented themselves all week. Woods played the first three holes on Saturday at 2 over and followed with bogeys on three of the first five holes on Sunday. Off the course, his careening personal story continued to be a massive distraction, to the point where his agent and publicist were working the press tent denying the allegations of a porn actress who claimed that Woods had fathered her child. Despite promises to change, he was back in traditional tournament mode, dropping audible F-bombs after poor shots. The good news for Woods is that the next major, St. Andrews, represents his favorite course. His next start, however, will come outside Philly in the event that directly benefits his charity, the AT&T National. You know, the one where the title sponsor asked that Woods be removed as the tournament host because of his serial philandering and image issues. It never ends, does it?

Calling Red Bull**** on this one

Alexis Thompson is the most promising young American player since Michelle Wie. Even before she was a teenager, Thompson was good enough to play with LPGA pros. After making multiple LPGA cuts and proving to her family that she was ready, Thompson turned pro at 15 and last week arrived at an LPGA event in a stock car with the logo of a major energy drink festooned on the hood. Once again, its a matter of style before substance. I dont know which is worse, her management group or her parents signing off on this idea, because you can bet the other players are grumbling about it. How about accomplishing something, then trumpeting your “brand”? How many aspiring stars have been taken apart as flops because they were foisted into the spotlight before they had done anything meaningful? When a prodigy gets crammed down your throat, the instinct is to sometimes resist, then react when the immediate results dont remotely match the hype. Need an example? Note the name at the end of the first sentence.

No applause from this quarter

The announcement last week that the USGA had selected Wisconsins Erin Hills as a future U.S. Open site was long expected, but the organization did sneak in a surprise when it awarded Pebble Beach another national championship in 2019. The reaction, and not just in the press tent, was to cringe. There is no question that Pebble Beach represents the most beautiful course in America. It was made for blimp coverage. The seaside holes are spectacular. The logistics of staging an event in that locale, however, are a disaster. The Pebble Beach Company, which was intimately involved in last weeks event, clearly dropped the ball in several areas, including supplying enough shuttle buses for fans, who reported waiting several hours to get back to their cars. The course is difficult to walk and the ninth green is about two miles from the clubhouse. Prices in the merchandise tent were an abomination, set by the Pebble Beach owners, and a simple golf cap cost $34. Apparently, sales slumped to about half the projected totals, a fate that was richly deserved. Hotels in the quaint seaside towns surrounding the course gouged guests like there was no tomorrow. And from the media standpoint, it was the worst setup ever. To interview players after they finished the 18th hole required a 25-minute roundtrip walk down a dirt cart path from the media center, which represented an impossible delay given the fact that the USGA pushed tee times into prime time on the weekend. The players arent the only ones who left Pebble Beach on Sunday night feeling like they had been pillaged.

This one hits home, and hard

It passed almost completely without comment, but the PGA Tour took another major sponsorship hit last week, this time at its signature event staged in the and theres some discussion as to whether more issues are looming. UBS last week bailed as one of three presenting sponsors of the flagship PGA Tour event. Reports estimate the cost of a TPC presenting sponsor deal at around $8 million annually, which could have landed it naming rights at nearly any other event. During the Players event in May, multiple sources noted hearing whispers that Jeld-Wen, another of the three presenting sponsors in Jacksonville, was trying to get out of its contracts, too, and was using its sponsorship of a Champions Tour event as leverage to make the withdrawal. Stay tuned.

Complaint department

When it comes to the U.S. Open, the Grand Slam of golf is griping, grumbling, groaning and grousing. At least, that was the case for one prominent player last week, Tiger Woods, who impolitely called the greens “awful” and came across as a complete whiner. Woods didnt miss a putt inside eight feet when he won at Pebble in 2000 and didnt have a three-putt all week. He managed to accomplish both multiple times in his first round, then ripped the greens and noted that nobo which was utterly wrong. In fact, the three co-leaders all played in the same wave as Woods, after lunch. For a guy seeking to fix his battered public image, he stood out as a crybaby, prompting USGA chief David Fay to counter by characterizing Woods terse assertions about the greens as dead wrong. Earlier in the week, Woods rudely shot down a reporter who politely asked about the state of his marriage, further poisoning the well in his often-antagonistic relationship with the media. Forget rehab, Woods should be taking courses in etiquette and civility.