Daily Times

Ahead of this week’s 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, the greens were the hot topic of the day Monday, particularly for defending champion Wyndham Clark.

Clark, who won last year at Los Angeles Country Club for his first major title, was surprised how much Pinehurst No. 2 had changed since a visit about a month earlier.

“The greens are extremely fast and penal,” he told reporters after Monday’s practice round. “You hit it on the green, the hole is not done. I was just amazed how fast the greens are. “If they get any firmer and fast, they’d be borderline. They already are borderline.”

Clark said he and his playing partners had trouble keeping putts on the green and pushed uphill putts several feet past the hole. “You have to play a lot of break on these greens,” he said. “When we’re hitting lag putts and short putts, you have a 10-footer downhill, down grain. Normally, you’re not more than four or five inches outside the cup on most greens. Here, you’re maybe playing 10 to 12 inches, just so that you’re not getting below the hole and having it run away.”