Greetings from Congressional. With the setup of this course, I will require 3 shots a side from Doc Noisewater. Observations from the Tuesday practice round

Interesting changes they've made to 10, 17 and 18 since the last major here. 10 is a new hole, par 3, essentially replacing 18 which was a par 3. All other holes on the back are renumbered (old 10 now 11, old 17 now 18, etc.)

18 looks like an awesome finishing hole. First, they have moved the tees back as far as they could possibly go (any more and they are in the street). That makes 18 now a 523 yd. par 4. Hitting a mid to long iron off a side hill/down hill lie to a very narrow long green surrounded by water will make for a lot of excitement. The water surrounds both sides and the back of the green and the slope around the green has been shaved. Any balls hitting a few inches left, right or over the green will be in the drink (unless they catch the traps on the right).

The rough for the most part is not as thick as you would expect from a US Open. It's thicker than most tourneys to be sure and thick in some parts where the water collects or runs off, but there will be plenty of opportunities for guys in the second cut of rough to be able to get a club on the ball and still make the green...something that isn't usually possible many US Opens. It will be kind of pot luck though...your ball might land in a spot that is very difficult or you might get lucky and get a somewhat normal kind of lie in the rough, even if you're 10-20 yards off the fairway.

The USGA has shaved the greens...in fact, a few greens have been shaved so badly they have brown patches showing, though the temps are in the high 70s. They shave them so much, they then have to water them every several minutes. On a few of the greens it looks like the mower blade was so low it shaved the grass right off. Not sure of the logic in shaving the greens so perilously close to losing them. I don't understand why they do that. Can't we have fast greens without shaving off all the grass? Hopefully, when they mowed the greens last night and this morning they raised the blade in those spots...

Lee Westwood played with Grahme McDowell yesterday and Westwood looks to be very much on his game. Westwood was the most impressive player I saw yesterday. I like him in a pick em matchup with Luke Donald. LD was playing with three no-names, was barraged by autograph seekers all day, did not hit the ball very crisply and was surrounded by reporters for a few hours after his round on the practice green. He is getting a lot of attention and this has to be a new spot for him being in the limelight. Westwood seems to be flying under the radar. He is not surrounded by media and is getting a lot of time on the range without distractions. I like Westwood this week and will be taking him in any matchup I can get at a reasonable price.

McDowell is not playing well. He was consistently shorter than Westwood and was in the rough a lot. He seemed to have this notion that his hybrid was the tool to use on long shots out of the rough, but I didn't see him get within spitting distance of a green with at least 4 different attempts. I know it's no revelation to say he won't repeat based on the way he has played this season, but based on what I saw yesterday, he won't make the cut.

Furyk seemed to be having all kinds of issues on the putting green. Rumor has it he has changed putting grips this week and his long game didn't look very good either. Stricker seemed to be playing ok. Matt Kuchar was playing with Stricker and I followed them for about four holes on the back. Kuchar is another guy who seems to be struggling..missing fairways and greens. By my count, Stricker was 3 up those 4 holes. Kuch might be another one to look to bet against.

Bets so far
Westwood - 115 vs. Donald (tourney)
Jason Day -135 v. McDowell (tourney)
David Toms -140 vs. McDowell (tourney)
Westwood plus 125 vs. Donald and Kaymer (3-way Thursday only)

Don't be a stranger, my friend. I agree with you on fading Donald. He doesn't putt well enough to contend at a US Open.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Nice review Coast, hope you enjoy your time there, and good luck on the wagering.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

280.5 is the over-under and I think that's s a very sharp number. I see how tough some of these holes are and I think par will be a great score. Then I see how comparatively easier the rough is and I think it will take a red number to win it. Guys are missing greens mostly short. But then almost every hole has jail if you're long. So missing short might be the play.

Had a fun experience with Ben Crane last night. He teed off from 1 about 6 pm and there were literally 15 fairway mowers near the green and guys cutting grass around the roughs, the traps, the green, everywhere. He pulled out his cell phone and took a photo of the army of mowers that had surrounded him. I asked him what he was going to do with the photo as it seemed like a classic. He said he was going to tweet it. Haven't seen it though. I'd post my pic of it here but having trouble posting pics here. Something has changed with image size on this site. At any rate, he seems like a really grounded guy. The mowers all turned off when he went to hit his second shot and then to putt and he said "aw go ahead and cut the grass, I don't care". So they did. And he made birdie surrounded by an army of mowers. Then as the mowers moved over to 2 tee and the noise was on and off, he hit a 3 iron stiff to a tucked pin. Seems like the kind of guy you want to root for.

I watched Phil today. He didn't seem sharp but I remember thinking that about him at a Ryder Cup practice round and then he kicked ass the next day. The thing about Phil is his short game is so good that even if he's missing greens, he can score. But there will be some deep undulating lies with mounds to deal with if you miss these greens. We will see some fun short game shots this week. His mastery of that will be challenged if he's missing greens like he was today.

How does Senor Smoke do what he does? You look at that flat swing of his, his pronounced shoulder turn, and you wonder how the ponytailed wonder scores at all. I've seen guys at clubs with much better swings who don't have a clue how to score as he does. And let me tell you, stand behind him for 10 minutes on the range and you definitely will want to smoke his brand of cigars. Damn they smelled good. So I asked. Cuban Cohiba Sixes he said.

The media and fans won't let Luke Donald breathe. If he is in the hunt this week, it will be a testimony to how focused he is because it would be damn hard to be focused and productive at any job if you were totally surrounded by people asking you for this and that every minute of your working day. He is so gracious to everyone. That may be his downfall, though. Nice guys finish __________.

Beau Hossler. He's a kid. Somebody said he was 16. He is a child with a bad case of acne and the swing of a 16 year old. Long, loopy, a lot of movement. And while his swing may look like something out of a high school match, the kid can throw darts. I saw him hit a long iron pretty tight on 2. There are thousands of guys with better swings who would stand there all day and not do that. And they aren't here. He is.

A few more bets. So I can get the world's number 3 player, Kaymer, as a dog to number 6 Kuchar, who doesn't appear sharp? Take. And I can get Phil as a dog to Donald? Of course he is.

Tourney matchups
Phil Mickelson plus 115 vs. Luke Donald
Martin Kaymer plus 120 vs. Matt Kuchar