Top coach blasts US Open setup

Strap yourselves in, the 124th US Open might be a long one.

The Donald Ross-designed Pinehurst No.2 has been the talk of the tournament, with players piling in on its unique difficulty.

And it could lead to rounds of over six hours, if top coach Claude Harmon III is right.

Harmon – who works with US Open winners Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson – thinks it’s because the golf course is simply ‘too difficult’.

“I think the rounds are going to take forever,” he explained on the Son of a Butch podcast. “I don’t think we’re going to finish; I certainly don’t think people are going to finish Thursday.

“The field’s too big and the golf course is just too difficult.”

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Thursday’s final tee time is scheduled for 7.42pm (BST) and fans are expected to be up all night to watch the action unfold in North Carolina.

“I think we’re looking at rounds in excess of five hours, I think we could get into six hour rounds this week because the test is just so difficult,” Harmon added.

“That’s what the USGA wants, they want this to be the toughest test possible.”

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods expressed the same feeling during his press conference on Tuesday, insisting that the green complexes will make for long rounds.

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“Everyone is going to be tested,” Woods said.

“It’s going to make for long rounds with the falloffs and run-offs on the greens. The rounds time-wise are going to be a little bit longer.

“Then when you’re out in the heat for that length and period of time, that’s going to take a little bit of wear and tear on you.”

Viktor Hovland and Wyndham Clark are among the other big names to take aim at the greens this week.

The reigning champion, Clark, labelled them already “borderline” when addressing the media at the beginning of the week.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.