Organizers adjusting U.S. Open course for winds, 'syringing' - ESPN

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The United States Golf Association is taking extreme measures to make sure playing conditions during the 126th U.S. Open don't resemble those of the previous two at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

During a news conference Wednesday, USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer revealed that there will be slower green speeds, hole locations that will take into account unpredictable and strong winds, as well as light watering of the putting surfaces between the morning and afternoon waves during the first two rounds.

«We could brutalize this place the next few days if we wanted to,» Bodenhamer said. «That's not what we're about. We really want it to be fair, and we want it to be what Shinnecock Hills has always been. It will be tough enough. We have pulled every lever that we can to make it fair, and I think that's a message we really want to get out there.»

In the past two U.S. Opens at Shinnecock Hills in 2004 and 2018, some golfers accused the USGA of losing the course, especially on the weekend when players struggled to keep their balls on baked-out greens.

In 2004, 28 golfers couldn't break 80 on Sunday, and the average score was 78.7. In 2018, Phil Mickelson infamously swatted his moving ball out of frustration on the 13th green and was docked a two-stroke penalty.

Bodenhamer said the USGA «learned a great deal from 2018» and has attempted to ease in tough playing conditions, instead of trying to prepare the Shinnecock Hills course for «seven or eight days straight of a U.S. Open experience.»

«We see the firmness and the speeds come to us by Wednesday and Thursday, and by the weekend we would crescendo into what a U.S. Open has always been,» Bodenhamer said. «We think that because that's what the