Audubon Certified Member Merion Golf Club

Merion Golf Club en Ardmore, Pennsylvania está organizando el abierto de Estados Unidos del 13 al 16 de junio de 2013. Merion es reconocido por Audubon Internacional por sus logros en la gestión sostenible de los recursos naturales y ha sido designado un certificado Audubon cooperativa santuario.

Uno de los logros ambientales más notables de Merion ha sido la instalación de un techo verde en su nuevo territorio operaciones complejas. El edificio está en proximidad cercana al hoyo 18, y el techo plano, césped se mezcla con el paisaje circundante del curso. Además de estética mejorada, el techo ahorra el Club de Golf de Merion aproximadamente $3.000 por año en calefacción y refrigeración de los costos. Otro beneficio ha sido la motivación personal y orgullo de miembros. El techo se ha convertido en una parada regular en tours de invitado.

"Merion Golf Club ha trabajado duro para cumplir con los criterios establecidos por Audubon International para la certificación como un santuario de la cooperativa, y millones de televidentes en sintonía desde todo el mundo se llega a ver jugar en un curso que demuestra la gestión ambientalmente consciente prácticas pueden ir mano a mano con una élite jugando en superficie," dijo Joellen Lampman, Director asociado de programas ambientales de Audubon International. "Si ser reciclado agua para equipos de lavado, instalar un techo verde, protección de 20 acres de humedales o educar a los jugadores sobre la importancia de las áreas naturales, ellos están ayudando a proteger la integridad ecológica de los ecosistemas terrestres y acuáticos de la comunidad así como asegurar su futuro económico a largo plazo."

El Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary programa para campos de Golf (ACSP), que es avalado por la Asociación de Golf de Estados Unidos, es una educación ambiental y el programa de certificación que proporciona asistencia técnica y orientación para proteger el medio ambiente, cursos de preservar el patrimonio natural del golf y obtener reconocimiento por sus esfuerzos. Desde que se estableció en 1991, membresía ACSP (incluyendo instalaciones trabajando hacia la certificación) ha crecido a más de 2.300 Golf en Estados Unidos y 36 países en todo el mundo. El programa emitió su primera certificación en 1993 y ahora incluye campos de golf en América del norte, América Central, Europa, África, Australia, Nueva Zelanda y Asia Sur-Oriental.

Acerca de Merion Golf Club

Merion Golf Club, fundado en 1896, es un club privado ubicado en Ardmore, Pennsylvania, al oeste de Philadelphia. El Club cuenta con dos cursos, y este curso ha sido calificado por Golf Digest como uno de los campos de golf más grandes de Estados Unidos. Varias de las características distintivas del curso fueron inspirados por los famosos campos de golf británicos. Este año es la quinta vez que el Club ha acogido el U.S. Open, también haber acogido el prestigioso torneo en 1934, 1950, 1971 y 1981.

Acerca de Audubon International

Audubon International es una organización de educación ambiental sin ánimo de lucro 501 dedicada a proporcionar a la población con la educación y la asistencia que necesitan para la gestión responsable de la práctica de la tierra, agua, fauna y otros recursos naturales, lo que conduce a comunidades más sostenibles. Para cumplir a esta misión, la organización proporciona un conjunto de programas de educación y certificación ambiental award-winning, capacitación y servicios para individuos, organizaciones, propiedades, novedades y comunidades enteras. A través de las comunidades sostenibles y verde barrios programas, Audubon International trabaja para ayudar a los líderes de la comunidad y partes interesadas abrazan el cuidado del medio ambiente y la sostenibilidad como un elemento central de planificación, las políticas y prácticas.

Para obtener más información, comuníquese con Joellen Lampman en 120 Defreest Drive, Troy, NY 12180, (518) 767-emergencia ext. 114, joellen@auduboninternational.org, o visite el sitio web en www.auduboninternational.org (http://www.auduboninternational.org/EmailTracker/LinkTrac...).

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Marzolf discusses updates to Merion Golf Club and 2013 U.S. Open

American Society of Golf Course Architects Past-President Tom Marzolf knows people want to hear about the modifications he and Tom Fazio, ASGCA, have made to Merion Golf Club as it prepares to host the U.S. Open Championship June 13-16 in Ardmore, Pa. But they might be missing the main story.

“The story is the history of Merion and inviting a new generation back to play one of the great golf courses in America,” he said. “Merion has hosted more USGA championships than any course in the country. All we have done is helped the club meet their goal to present this property to the next generation.”

Marzolf made his comments during the recent 67th ASGCA Annual Meeting at Greensboro, Ga. The three-day meeting provided ASGCA members with continuing education through high-level presentations from fellow members and industry leaders.

Marzolf was thinking, in part, of Bob Jones clinching golf’s first-ever Grand Slam in 1930 on Merion’s 11th green.

“Bob Jones win at Merion in 1930 may have been more significant than even the 1981 U.S. Open win by David Graham, or the 1950 U.S. Open and Ben Hogan’s famous one-iron to help force the playoff,” he explained. Hogan went on to win the 18-hole playoff against Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio, Tom Fazio’s uncle.

“When we were first studying to work on bunker restoration, we saw photos from the 1930 Amateur with Jones on the course,” Marzolf said. “You feel the presence of Jones when you walk Merion. The place has a distinct link to the history of golf in America.”

Since every golf course is a living, changing evolution through time, club owners had to decide what era they wanted the Merion of today to reflect back upon. When you restore a course with this much history, which era is most significant?

“The Club believes the greatest thing to ever happen here may have been the Jones win in 1930, so that was the benchmark year to restore the course’s visual appearance and strategy,” Marzolf said. “We re-created the visual of the 1930’s. It was a lot of fun and hard work. The 1930’s look presents a character and charm that has added to the feel of history as you walk the layout.”

Marzolf has been working on the compact, cart-path free 130-acre course since 1999, along with Fazio. The course played to 6,480 yards then and will play to just under 7,000 yards for the 2013 U.S. Open.

“People used to say, ‘You cannot lengthen Merion, or eh new equipment has impacted Merion,’” Marzolf said. “We answered that by walking the course and finding additional yardage. You can lengthen any hole if there is land behind the tee.”

At Merion, such a move proved easier on the front nine than the back. For the U.S. Open, the front side will play at over 3,700 yards, the back nine at 3,250.

The 14th hole is a prime example of the challenges Marzolf faced.

“The tee is adjacent to the 18th green and in front of the clubhouse area,” he said. “We lengthened the 14th hole onto the members’ putting green. We rebuilt that area and players at the 2005 U.S. Amateur and 2009 Walker Cup played right off the putting green.

“This was well received, and we extended the green and made 14 longer, picking up 35 more yards of putting surface to use as a tee for the U.S. Open.”

Also, the 14th tee was shifted to allow for a larger grandstand on the nearby 18th green.

“From this tee location, adjacent Golf House Road is very close,” Marzolf said. “Some players may try to hit over the bending curve of the road to get further down the fairway.”

Many tees on the back nine – including 10-13 and 16 – already sit up against roadways or out of bounds, so no changes to length could be made. The 12th was lengthened by clearing land and changing the angle of how the hole is played.

“A hole I will be watching closely is 15,” Marzolf said. “It is a mid-length par 4, with Golf House Road on the left side. The road curves along the dogleg of the hole with about a yard-and-a-half from the edge of pavement to edge of the fairway.

“We also moved bunkers in on the right-hand side. So out of bounds is on the cutline on the left and there are three bunkers down the right. Players may lay up in front of the bunker off the tee and have mid-irons to the green; or hit a driver to attempt a long carry over the bunkers.”

The course has just two par 5’s, the 2nd and the 4th. Four plays over 600 yards, while the 5th is a par 4 playing over 500 yards. That’s right, there are no par 5’s on the back nine.

“Now you have an interesting combination of very long golf holes and also many short holes,” Marzolf said. “That describes Merion.

Hole length vary and historical significance describes the challenge awaiting competitors at Merion Golf Club for the U.S. Open Championship.

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Chaos breaks out on the final hole of the U.s. Open at Merion

ARDMORE, PA-Pandemonium broke out when Phil Mickelson hit his approach shot on 18 to Merion. The Green and white strings-which could have stone walls during the week were distributed once Phil approached the final green with a last chance to force a playoff with Justin Rose. The fans who had followed the final group, Mickelson/Hunter Mahan soon realized there was a good way to get back from the 15th green to 18 to see if Phil could pull off any heroics.

They were repulsed in each angle of attack to try to get a sight of Phil. Until the masses understand it, who were the masses. Literally amid shouts of "they can't stop 25,000 of us, fans rushed to Mickelson. It was a modern-day battle of Jericho, sans the trumpets. How to meet the fans must have felt to trample their striped green and white shirt kidnappers?

USGA staff members out-manned attempted to quell the onslaught of people who had been literally on the outside trying last week. It wasn't happening. The group pressed forward until the police arrived. Using force to keep the crowd at Bay, the fans eventually created a gallery full circle shaped around Mickelson to watch him hit his pitch shot.

The trees were immediately filled to the brim with viewers. One tried to shove his way through the crowd saying he was the father of Phil Mickelson despite reminding everyone that it was father's day. That does not fly.

About 40 yards away, on the back of the Green, Tere McBreen, Steve Varisano and Angelo Varisano stood in the front row of an elevated grandstand watching circus developing in front of them.

Waiting at the same point from 7:30 to 19:30 had paid.

Tere, 50 and Steve, 31, were unknown when they arrived for the Green Forum 18 at 7:30 Sunday morning. Twelve hours later, they adopted each other as members of the family. Their only link in which they live; Tere lives in nearby Malvern and Steve moved to Westchester after growing up in the neighboring Bryn Mawr. That and both were rooting for Phil to be to lift the trophy in front of them.

Varisano was here with the Royal family as well. Steve brought his father, Angelo, the course for the tour on Sunday as part of his dad. And what a gift turned out to be. Right off the back of the final green, Steve and Angel were in the front row in the place closest to the pin, which eventually decided the winner of the tournament.

"He's in love," says Steve of his father. "He is having a blast."

"Is a great place to be the father of Day," said Angel, who was going to start to see the pin placements. "I've got my son here with me, and I couldn't ask for a better place".

The place was in high demand throughout the day. The leaders had not even started their final round, but there was a long queue waiting for a chance to enter the stands where you can also see tee shots on 1 and 14 holes, players high-five after their shifts and snag a game used glove and ball. Chet Marshall, the aptly named Marshal in charge of this forum, said it had been filled to the brim by 11 Sunday morning-well before any golfer was set to play that hole.

"We all would take turns leaving," Gerald said. "That's how we got to know each other. These guys even bought my lunch. "

"We have formed an Alliance," said Steve, who saw a memorable final in his first live tournament.

When asked if he played golf or is it just a fan, Tere replied for him-as if they have known each other for years.

"He is fantastic," he said. "Tell him!"

Steve was not imminent, with his score from a round on Friday afternoon, but after urging from Tere, he says that he finished with a 78.

"Steve is not fantastic?" said Tere, who admitted to not being able to break 100 itself.

Here, all called each other by their first name. Here, all offered to bring any concessions were necessary when they made a snack run. Here, all have helped the marshals advice when bands were coming up the fairway.

"Tere, we should sing ' Happy Birthday ' to Phil when he walks," said Steve.

"Oh, we totally should!" Tere replied. "We can get all our group to do so".

Just like a family.

Maybe Philadelphia is really the city of brotherly love?

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Justin Rose WINS at Merion for first major as Phil once again falls just short

ARDMORE, PA-Justin Rose won the 113° US Open on a wild Sunday who had four players short of the lead on the final stretch difficult holes at Merion Golf Club. Rose won after pars on the final two holes. The victory was the first major championship of roses. English 32 years had won four times on the PGA Tour before this week. Her best previous finish at a major was third at last year's PGA Championship, but his performance more popular was when he finished fourth as an amateur 17-year-old at the 1998 British Open.

The day began with Mickelson at 1-holding a one-shot lead over Hunter Mahan; Rose was two strokes behind Mickelson, and Jason Day was back to three strokes. Mickelson traded places in the standings for most of the day, with Mahan and day close behind. Mahan and day dropped back with more final six holes each bogeymen. Mickelson was one shot back on hole 18, but missed a long birdie chip give Roses.

Before the tournament, many predicted that it would not be able to withstand the onslaught of today's professionals hit along the relatively short course of Merion. The open was not played to its historic course of suburban Philadelphia since 1981. However, Merion has proven to be a hard test for professionals who struggled with the rough thick and difficult to read greens on the course, and neither player finished under par Rose was 1-over for the tournament after shooting for Sunday. Mickelson shot 74.

One for players to fight in Merion was made favorite Tiger Woods, who finished at 13-over. "I struggled with the speed, especially right around the hole," said Woods. "Putts were breaking a lot more, I gave a little bit more break and then would hang. That's kind of the way it was this week. "

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Amateur Michael Kim making the most of his time at Merion

The USGA defines an amateur as someone "who plays golf for the challenge it presents, not as a profession and not for financial gain." Michael Kim, a 19-year-old rising junior at Cal, had to overcome a couple of those challenges in the two weeks leading up to the U.S. Open. Lose in the semifinals of the NCAA championships? No problem. Just go out and qualify for 113th U.S. Open the next day.

Arrive at the biggest tournament of your life without a caddie? Oh, well. Be lucky to get assigned LaRue Temple, a local who has walked Merion Golf Club thousands of times in his 16 years as a looper there. On Saturday, a day when the top two ranked players in the world -- Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy -- tumbled down the leaderboard, the 5'11", 150-pound Kim played his way into the top 10.

As he stood on the 15th green on Saturday, Kim was even par for the tournament and tied for third with Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose, only two shots out of the lead. With four birdies in his last six holes, he was the hottest player on the course. Kim, who moved to the U.S. from Korea when he was seven, gazed at the leaderboard next to the green. He smiled -- not because his name was up there, but at all the other ones.

"I just thought it was super cool to see my name on that big leaderboard next to the leaders like [Charl] Schwartzel, Mickelson, [Luke] Donald, all those guys. It was a cool feeling," said Kim, the Pac-12 golfer of the year and a first-team All-America.

But then Kim snap-hooked a three-wood off the 16th tee so far left that he joked the USGA didn't grow the rough there because they didn't think anyone would hit such an errant shot. He made bogey. He followed with a double-bogey at 17 and a bogey at 18. The four-over par finish dropped him into 10th place, five shots back of Mickelson.

"I didn't feel that nervous, but I definitely think I was looking back on it," said Kim, who shot a one-over-par 71 on a day when the course played to a stroke average of 74.36.

That Kim was even in the field was remarkable. His Golden Bears lost a heartbreaker to Illinois in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship on June 2 in Atlanta. The next day, he flew to Ohio to receive the Jack Nicklaus Award, given to the nation's top golfer. (Like Mickelson and Donald, Kim also won the Haskins Award, the top honor in college golf.) From there he flew back to Georgia for a U.S. Open sectional qualifier. With three spots up for grabs in the field of 51, he tied for medalist honors after shooting 67-66.

By Saturday at Merion, Kim had the attention of some of the world's best players. Defending Open champion Webb Simpson said it was remarkable to see an amateur perform at such a high level in the game's most grueling test. Paul Casey called Kim's run "phenomenal."

They saw what Kim's college coach, Steve Desimone, has witnessed so many times.

"He's the best putter in the country," Desimone told Golf.com. "That's one of the reasons I thought he'd be successful at Merion. From 140 yards and in, he's automatic. And he's not just hitting them inside 10 feet, sometimes it's only six inches."

Through the third round, Kim was proving his coach right. Midway through the final round, Kim was leading the field in par-4 birdies.

Desimone has been at Cal for 35 years, but this is arguably his best team yet. Michael Weaver, the 2012 U.S. Amateur runner-up, and Max Homa were also in the field at Merion. Weaver finished at 21 over after rounds of 74, 74, 78 and 75, while Homa missed the cut.

"You never know how they're going to handle a big stage like this," said Desimone, who flew to San Francisco on Saturday night to celebrate Father's Day with his 91-year-old dad. "There aren't many stages like this in sports. It's a big deal, and I think it's going to help them going forward."

Kim will try today to become the first amateur to finish in the top-5 since Jim Simons finished fifth in the '71 Open -- also held at Merion. An amateur hasn't won the tournament in 80 years. Johnny Goodman hoisted the trophy in '33, at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill.

It's all part of the challenge.

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Tiger Woods Is Lost In The Crowd At Merion

From 12 feet above the first hole, facing a downhill putt that would curl left to right in a hurry, Tiger Woods announced that this U.S. Open had, at last, started. No major really starts until Tiger's name is on the board. The sensational birdie make moved him within four shots of the lead, behind only three players. He had 35 more holes to play. 

Five hours later, an amateur named Michael Kim, 19 years old, made four birdies in six holes and found himself looking at a leader board -- not to see where he stood against par, not to see how close he was to the leaders. "I just thought it was super cool to see my name on that big leader board," he said, his name there alongside "Schwartzel, Mickelson, Donald, all those guys."

It's a recurring theme in Tiger's quest for full golfing redemption. He is stuck at 14 major championships, five short of achieving the 19 majors necessary to realize his dream of breaking Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. Woods hasn't won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open, first set back by leg and knee injuries, then by failures in his personal life, and now, it seems, by asking more of himself on major weekends than, at age 37, he can produce.

There's enough in him to win any tournament anywhere, anytime. He is fit, he is strong, he is committed to the idea of Being Tiger Again. He has rebuilt his game and may have rebuilt his personal life with a relationship with the Olympic downhill skier, Lindsey Vonn. Even this year, Woods has won four times on the PGA Tour.

Still, 19 majors have come and gone since Woods won one. In the spring of his greatness, a decade and more ago, Woods shared the rarified air with no one. He was so dominant that no one else could win a championship unless, in an odd turn of fate, Tiger lost it. Now, in the chill of fall's coming in his career, Tiger has allowed a platoon of challengers to form -- 18 different players have won the last 19 majors. The Schwartzels, Mickelsons, McIlroys, McDowells, all those guys.

Woods is a smart man. He knows what's happening. He knows that every great athlete comes to a period when desire exceeds possibility. But who could say such a thing out loud? They all have become great by proving the implausible possible. No way would Tiger Woods, of all people, admit that he no longer can do what he once did.

Instead, he speaks in euphemisms, as in a brief meeting with reporters after his six-over-par 76 in Saturday's third round ended his chances here. He is behind 30 players. He is 10 shots behind the leader, Phil Mickelson. He didn't call himself disappointed. "Frustrating," he said. He didn't say he is failing when once he succeeded, on weekends at majors. "I'm playing well enough to do it," he said, "and, unfortunately, just haven't got it done."

He said he was close at the Masters in April -- until "I hit that flag and ended up in the water." Yes, a bad break -- made worse by a brain cramp and an illegal drop costing him a two-shot penalty. In today's round, on the fifth fairway, his drive came to rest in a divot that he said cost him a bogey that "really turned my round around."

These are minor events once forgotten in the glow of brilliant play. On this day, he even hit a shot that a weekend hacker might recognize. From the fringe at the sixth green, no more than 30 feet from the hole, he thought to pop up a lob wedge and let the ball roll to the hole. We've seen him do it a hundred times. But this time, "I had to throw it up there and so I had to try and shallow it out and I did it too much." The ball didn't fly a foot, took one bounce, and rolled sideways downhill, winding up, embarrassingly, behind where it started.

Mostly, though, he putted so poorly that a reporter asked, "Do you have a feeling for why you are not putting as well as you did five, six, seven years ago?" Woods, staring at the man, unblinking: "I think I was leading the Tour the last couple weeks. I don't know what you're talking about."

A minute or two later, he admitted, yes, he hadn't putted well. "I just didn't make anything today. I just couldn't get a feel for them. Some putts were slow, some were fast, and I had a tough time getting my speed right. . . I just didn't make the putts I needed to make. . . The first two days, I had like three three-putts and I was four shots off the lead, and I missed a boatload of putts within 10 feet. So I really wasn't that far off." And after that, I imagine, he went home and began to think about a weekend in July, a weekend at the British Open, one more weekend to get it done.

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Merion: No One Said This Would Be Fun

What we don't want is boring. In the U.S. Open, give us a thrilling flood of red numbers or give us wailing, gnashing of teeth, and Job's suffering multiplied. Two days into this Open, it's now clear which we have. Par is a beautiful number.

Look, to stand on the 17th tee at Merion Golf Club is to stand and tremble. It's on a cliff's edge above a sheer rock formation that was shaped by glaciers during Sam Snead's childhood. The idea is to carry a shot to a green on the far, far side of a quarry cut deep below. It seems possible, sort of, maybe, almost. But then, on this day, you see where the flagstick is and you know God hates you.

The day's hole-location chart shows a spot three paces from the 17th's right edge and 14 paces from the front. Three paces? For a tee shot that must carry 245 yards? As for the 14 paces, what the number doesn't tell you is that maybe 12 paces go downhill at an angle that grows steeper with each scary heartbeat. From the tee on a cliff's edge, you have moved to a hole on its own cliff's edge.

Tiger Woods noticed. "Some of the pins they have out there -- " He seemed about to name all the evildoers. But said only "at 17, it's tough." The problem is that God's henchmen, in their U.S. Golf Association blazers, came to Merion on a mission that may have been at odds with itself. The USGA wanted its U.S. Open championship played again at one of history's classic courses. But it knew today's bigger, stronger players, with today's rocket-launcher clubs, threatened to embarrass the grand place. At fewer than 7,000 yards, and after a week's rain softening it up, Merion would be vulnerable to four days of scores in the 60s.

Said the course would prove itself in old-fashioned ways. Make 'em hit it straight. Make 'em think. Make 'em do it under U.S. Open pressure. Some of us are red-number addicts. What's better than a shootout that on Sunday asks the lads to stand on the 17th and tremble at the sight of a muscular par-3? But even as the USGA denied it cared about the scores, its actions have showed it cared very much. Friday afternoon, after Woods said not once, not twice but three times that the USGA tricked up its pin locations to protect par, he was asked directly: "The USGA said on Wednesday that the U.S. Open is not about the winning score -- do you buy that?"

Woods answered directly: "No." Then he laughed at the things people expect us to believe. He said the players knew where the pins would be, "but we didn't think they were going to be as severe as they are. A lot of guys are missing putts and blowing them by the holes. . . . They've really tried to, I think, protect the golf course, with it being as soft as it is. And they've given us some really, really tough pins."

Here, you might find yourself short on sympathy. These guys have their millions and their private jets and, good heavens, they have to make hard putts, too? After all, some of us derive a guilty pleasure from the suffering of the radically comfortable. For those fans of schadenfreude, the USGA has provided Merion with more than cliff's-edge putting -- it also has allowed the rough to grow ankle-deep at the very edges fairways. I say "allowed" despite the USGA's assertion that the rough is up -- maybe seven inches deep a yard off the fairway -- only because it has been too wet to take its mowers onto the course. This is disingenuous. The rough could have been cut last week in anticipation of storms moving east.

"Most years at the U.S. Open, it's like this," Adam Scott said. "But it's thick and it's right next to the fairway. I think we got a little comfortable with that graduated rough the last few years." Here's one man's trip through that rough Friday, Graeme McDowell describing his work: "Rip it down the middle of 18 and finish a yard in the rough and no lie. I was trying to miss that second shot as far left as I could and it kind of squirted right on me. And I had two very, very hard chip shots. The first one was difficult, the second one was a scruffy lie in the rough, and I walked off there with a double off a great tee shot."

Have we mentioned the wind? "We have got that northwest wind blowing," Ernie Els said. "It was really blowing a bit this morning. So probably a two-club wind. And it's dead into you on 14, 15, 17. And then 18 is downwind."

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Memorial Win Gives Kuchar a Major Boost for Merion

Though Kuchar has yet to claim one of golf's four blue riband events, he has triumphed at every other level in the game and likes his chances heading into Thursday's opening round at Merion Golf Club. "There are a few times a year you really hope to be playing excellent golf, this is one of them," the American world number four told reporters at a sun-drenched Merion on Wednesday. "It's nice to be coming off the win.

"That's a fantastic test of golf at Memorial and it tests everything there, driver through wedge. It was great to perform well, have that extra confidence coming in this week. "If you're not clicking on all cylinders, a U.S. Open golf course is going to really show that and beat you up. I'm looking forward to playing this week and hoping the good performance continues."

Kuchar clinched the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio by two shots to become the PGA Tour's second multiple winner this season after Tiger Woods. Perhaps more significantly, it continued his steady upward path of success as he bids to land his first major title. "I feel like in my golfing career I've made steps in the right direction," said the 34-year-old Kuchar, a six-times champion on the PGA Tour.

"I've won regular Tour events, won big Tour events, won the Players Championship, won a Barclays FedExCup event. I won a World Golf Championship. I feel like I've kind of stepped up in the ranks of winning against the best players in the world. Kuchar won his first World Golf Championships title, widely regarded as just one rung down from the majors, at the Accenture Match Play Championship in February. That followed on from his triumph at last year's Players Championship, the unofficial "fifth major".

BEST PLAYERS

Ever humble, he does not embrace suggestions that he can now be bracketed among the best players in the modern game still waiting for a maiden grand slam title. "There's a lot of us in that boat, and I don't know that I'm quite in that talk yet," Kuchar smiled. "I know that a lot of people have been yelling out that they have got me in their pools and they're picking me this week, but we hear a lot of that talk every week.

"However, I feel like I'm on good form. I feel like I'm playing some good golf. I'm looking to continue to play good golf. I'm looking forward to competing and trying to put my name on this trophy." Kuchar, whose tie for eighth at the Masters in April also gave him a major jolt of confidence, played a practice round at Merion on Tuesday afternoon and was surprised to see how well the course had drained after more than six inches of rain here since Friday.

"I was amazed how dry the course seemed to be," he said. "Really still got some run in the fairways. Greens were receptive, but still had nice speed on them for the amount of slope they have got. "The rough is thick and nasty. If you're playing from the rough, you have no chance of scoring here." Kuchar is scheduled to tee off in Thursday's opening round in the company of English world number five Justin Rose and sixth-ranked American Brandt Snedeker.

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Golf: The Merion mystery begins to unfold at the US Open

For this generation of stars, Merion looks more like a blind date. No other course with four U.S. opens had to wait so long - 32 years - for another chance to test the world's best players. Even with Tiger Woods at no. 1 and the victory at a ridiculous rate, so the talk to this major championship was about Merion.For years, it was considered too small to handle such a big tournament and the big hitters with their modern equipment. And with the soft green more than 6 inches of rain last week, the question is if the course will get the kind of scores rarely seen in the toughest test in golf.

Thursday, the mystery of Merion will begin to unfold."It's been how long, 32 years? '' And with any technology since then?" Steve Stricker said he was headed to the first tee Wednesday for a last round practice. "Someone asked me the other day about someone a shot 62. And what I wanted to say, 'you're crazy. But you do not know. We do not know what will happen. And somehow, this is the kind of cool." Not so cool, it was the time set for the opening round.

Merion has already taken a blow last Friday when over 3 inches of rain sent water over the edges with some bunkers and left small streams on the fairways and greens. More rain Monday caused the course to close three times. The forecast is called for increasing clouds, gusts and showers Thursday morning, with the strongest storms likely to arrive around noon."Of course we want that it closes and fast," USGA vice president Thomas O'Toole, said Wednesday. "We happen to a sport which is played outdoors. We have received a significant rain last week, and some tell us that we will have even more significant rain tomorrow. It is not a perfect world. It is not a perfect game. "But we take what we deal with."

If a golf course is large or small, green tender is typically a recipe for low scores. There again, masters is not a typical golf course. It measures 6 996 meters on the dashboard - the shortest of any major championship in nine years - and has a stretch of seven holes in the middle that are short, even by the standards of yesterday. Compare these holes with the card to score when Ben Hogan won the 1950 United States Open at Merion, and four of these holes were in fact longer by a few metres in the day of Hogan.

Players generally arrive at the wedge to chip out of the rough around the Greens at the U.S. Open. Merion, they could be hitting wedge into the green for their second shot at least six holes. This is what caused the clamor of low scores. And with the rain, it reminds to the how of the Congress was vulnerable two years ago, when Rory McIlroy smashed US Open scoring records at 16-under 268.

"I read about rating records how many will be broken," Nick Watney said. "I've been here once. And I think that's crazy. It's funny for me. People look at the yardage and think it's going to be easy. Even if it is soft, the Greens are sloped. The rough is thick. OK, let's have wedges in a part of the Greens, but this does not mean that make you birdie on those holes. There are enough holes difficult to counteract this. Despite this, the winning score has decreased in each of the four previous U.S. open at Merion, Olin Dutra au 13-over in 1934 to David Graham, winning 7 - slot in 1981, the last time this major championship is here.

"Where David Graham did shoot 7 - slot? From there?" Nick Watney asked as he pointed the end of his driver at a location some 30 yards from where he was. "Because it did not do here." Watney stood standing in the middle of the putting green. He took three steps to his right and was standing on the 14th tee. As an example of longer holes being made more difficult, a new tee on hole of 464 metres is where members practice putting.

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Golf: U.S.G.A. Is bracing for more rain at Merion

Charlie Riedel/Associated PressSpectators watched golfers the 17th green during practice Wednesday for the US Open. ARDMORE, Pennsylvania - officials of the United States Golf Association lavish praise on this great lady Merion Golf Club at a press conference on the eve of the U.S. Open, describing the route of the host as a "classical beauty", is worth celebrating. But ultimately, Mother Nature came the image, as it has done throughout the year on the PGA Tour.With thunderstorms looming in forecasting and a flood in force watch the region from Thursday morning, weather dominated the Wednesday conversation. Mike Davis, the U.S.G.A. Executive Director, says that masters could receive anywhere from a quarter inch to three inches of rain Thursday afternoon, havoc with late starters in the first round. Which includes grouping of marquee of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, which is scheduled to tee off at 1:14 pm Eastern.

Golf Channel Wednesday, analyst Frank Nobilo described the forecasts as "a bit like Armageddon". The course could be rocked by the kind of storms that hit the course AT & T National for the month of June at the Congressional Country Club and has led to a third round without spectators. "It depends on what really strikes us or how lucky or unlucky we are," said Mr Davis.

Torrential rain Monday prompted the closing of the 11th hole, which is on the lowest point on the East course. The area had been hit by more than six inches of rain over the four days, said Davis. Forecast on Thursday reinforced the concerns of participants that mud balls might be what separates the winner on the ground because the U.S.G.A. is opposed to the adoption of the lift-clean rule and place in its national championships.

"We try to go through these scenarios, the worst of cases, how do you," said Mr Davis. "Many times, just seeing what you do business with in terms of how much game you left, is it dangerous for spectators, can get us the spectators here." Therefore there are so many things that play in. »

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The player to Beat at Merion rain-softened wood

A host of other players can pretend to be real contenders for the second major of the year, which starts Thursday, but wood is generally regarded as the most likely winner based on his outstanding record and often dominant form that which he has shown this season. But Woods failed in his most recent start, languish 65th joint in a field of 73 at the Memorial Tournament 10 days ago, he has triumphed four times on the PGA Tour from 2013 and is clearly the player to beat at Merion."Tiger Woods plays an impressive golf course," fellow American Matt Kuchar, who won the title of Memorial to give a significant boost to this week, told journalists Wednesday.

"Winning four times already, it is simply incredible." It seems to be clicking again, and when it is activated, it can do things that the rest of us can't do. It's fun so it plays well. "But the great thing about the game of golf, anyone who tees it upwards has a chance to win." "All areas, we play on the PGA Tour, from the top down, there are a lot of strength." Woods has revived memories of his glory days in the late 1990s and early 2000s with a large part of his game this year and it will be eager to put an end to a major title drought dating to his win at the 2008 US Open playoff.

Although the world number one American was bitterly disappointed with his game in general at the Memorial tournament, and in particular its implementation, he filed as a blip in a season successful otherwise. "I didn't really much that I was real happy, but it was just one of these weeks," 14-times major champion, said Woods. "It happens. And go from there."I had a good week of practice the week last at home. '' We had a tropical storm roll there, I assumed that this was prepares us for it.

VIOLENT STORMS

Bad weather has already been a huge factor in Merion, with more than six inches (15cm) of rain by saturating the area since Friday and severe thunderstorms have been planned for the latter part of the Thursday opening round. "You won't see a farm US Open this year," said twice former champion US Open Ernie Els. "We will have a soft golf course all week."This means that if you are on your game, you will have a lot of birdie putts. There's a certain par-fours where you just have to put it in the fairway... then you have quite a short second shot.

"I won't tell everyone will shoot a 62 on a U.S. Open, but you have several possibilities to birdie than ever.'' Path is emblematic of Merion will host its fifth U.S. Open this week, but his first in 32 years after long being regarded as too short to accommodate a major. The par-70 layout located in the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore has been tensely 6,996 yards, since the Australian David Graham triumphed by three strokes in the edition of 1981, and Woods appreciates accurate shot making is necessary to succeed.

It's a course, after all, where Bobby Jones completed her "grand slam" by winning the American amateur from 1930, where Ben Hogan claimed the 1950 U.S. Open only 16 months after being involved in an accident of traffic almost fatal and where Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino beat in a playoff to win the US Open 1971. "If you look at the list of champions, they were all really good shot-makers," said three-time US Open champion Woods. "They have all been able to shape the golf ball."It is what it lends to. You need to be able to shape the golf ball, and you have to be so disciplined to play the course. »

As ever a U.S. Open, the ability to minimize errors and be patient on profile greens and tight fairways flanked of thick, rough degree will define strokes in the composition of the champion of this week. The list of potential winners is long and includes Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia, English Justin Rose and Luke Donald, winner 2010 Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and former Masters champion Zach Johnson, renowned for his brilliant corner.

Irish world of Northern number two Rory McIlroy, the US Open Congress champion, is another likely contender as he bids to claim his first tournament victory this season after winning five times in the world last year.

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