SOUTHAMPTON, New York — Mike Davis always wants the U.S. Open course to be fair. He said it multiple times this week, both in a closed-door setting with golf journalists and his press conference that followed later. On Saturday, when the course setup was criticized throughout the day, he admitted the setup became “too tough this afternoon.”
Davis (as well as his colleague John Bodenhamer) joined Joe Buck and Paul Azinger in the FOX booth following play and was asked about some player reactions, particularly Zach Johnson saying the USGA had “lost the golf course.”
“There were some aspects of this setup that went too far where well executed shots weren’t awarded, but were penalized,” Davis said, admitting it was a tale of two golf courses. “Frankly, we just missed it with the wind. it blew harder than we thought.”
The 5 a.m. weather forecast called for a much more blustery afternoon than the morning, which various players took advantage of. Daniel Berger and Tony Finau, who each teed off before 11 a.m., both shot four under and will make up the final pairing Sunday. It’s a good chance they’ll see a different golf course again at that time.
Davis also joined Golf Channel Saturday evening, adding, “We are very confident we can slow the course down.” If they had the chance, would they do things differently? Davis admitted they probably would if they’d known the wind would blow as hard as it did.
“We put water on this course last night,” Davis said. “We put water on it this morning. What is clear is, we simply just didn’t get enough.”
