The 2008 US Open Preview & Golf Tips
Grueling…brutal…tough…fast greens…deep rough…bordering on unfair…welcome to the 2008 US Open. The National Championship of the United States is not for the faint of heart. You need to bring all of your game, as the slightest mistake can be magnified in US Open conditions. The second of the four majors is arguably the toughest test of the year. If you watched the final round of the Master’s this year you probably heard the players saying it played more like a US Open. The United States Golf Association has set the standard for difficult course setups. It makes for long days of grinding out pars, and if you like to watch the players sweat it out, it makes for great entertainment. How tough is it? Well an average player is going to find out. Tiger Woods said of Oakmont last year that a 10 handicap would not break 100. Well Golf Digest magazine put together a contest in which a regular Joe amateur is going to tee it up from the tips the week before the tournament. NBC is going to film it, and Johnny Miller is going to do the commentating. I would highly recommend tuning it to watch this event as it will give you a true appreciation for how tough the 2008 US Open and Torrey Pines will be, and how good the PGA Tour pros really are. History The first US Open was played in 1885 and was won by Horace Rawlins. The best players would come from all over the world to play in this tournament, particularly from the UK as the first 15 years of the event was won by players who were not born in the US. Harry Vardon tops this list of early winners. Willie Anderson won 4 times, including 3 in a row. John McDermott became the first American to win in 1910. His triumph has been somewhat overshadowed by the 1913 winner, Francis Ouimet. Ouimet won at 19 years old, by beating the best the game had to offer. It is such a great story that it became a great book “The Greatest Game Ever Played”. There is a lot of truth behind the thinking that you are not a great player until you have won a major. Think how great the players are who have won multiple US Opens like: 
In the modern era multiple winners have been:
There are three key legends who did not win multiple US Opens, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Byron Nelson. 
This is a tough event and takes a player who can deal with all kinds of adversity during the round. It will be great to see who can keep their game together and join the great champions listed above. Last year Angel Cabrera pulled off an amazing victory with a winner score of +5. The 2008 US Open champ will be the one who hits the best shots down the stretch of the tournament. Cabrera certainly did that last year. Torrey Pines There is something right about the USGA picking muni-tracks in the last few years. It started with BethPage Black and now for the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines. The game is not a “country club’ game anymore. It is played by everyone, and it’s great that they are playing on a course owned by the people. We see Torrey Pines every year in the Buick Invitational, but this June it will not play the same as the course for the Buick. The greens will be quicker, fairways narrower, and the rough will be thicker and higher. It will play a whole lot tougher. It is hard to pick a couple of the tough holes to pay special attention to during the event because they are all so tough. However, the tee shot on 13 should be fun because they built a tee for the US Open that will be back 145 yards and create a 250 yard carry over a canyon to the fairway. The 15th hole is going to be a 478 yard par 4 with no fairway bunkers. You can only imagine how penal the rough will be on that hole. The 16th hole will play as a 225 yard par three with bunkers surrounding the green. It will be interesting if the wind blows that week, because that will make this course down right miserable (but in a fun way!). The 17th hole will be a 441 yard par 4 where the players will have to stay away from the canyon of doom down the left side. They also had better hit the fairway as the green has three distinct sections. With the title on the line, it may be a hard two putt if the player is not on the right section. The 18th hole is a reachable par 5. That is a little unusual for a US Open. It will be a birdie opportunity. This may create some extra excitement if a couple of players share the lead heading into that home hole. I hope you enjoy the 2008 US Open from Torrey Pines. It should be a great major championship. Please don’t forget to check back here to learn from the leaders before the 3rd round. Return to the Home Page from the 2008 US Open Return the Watch the Pros Page from the 2008 US Open Copyright 2006-2012 Free-Golf-Lessons.com
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PGA Tour Winner Quick Lesson
Congratulations to Steve Stricker on his victory at the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
I believe the commentators said he has won 9 times in his 40s. That is amazing!I also agree with Sir Nick and Johnny Miller that his swing will be copied in the future. Technology has reduced the need for hand action in the golf swing to generate power. Watch the old videos of Bobby Jones to see how much action he created compared to that of Steve Stricker.
A great objective for any player is to eliminate any unnecessary movement. Stricker does a great job of that. His hands stay very quiet on the backswing. His wrists hardly hinge at the top of his backswing. You can see from the above video that his backswing is all shoulder turn.
His downswing starts from the hips and he simply turns everything through the golf ball at the same time. His hands and wrists release naturally without any effort. This is a great way to have a consistent rhythm through the golf ball on every shot. This swing delivers enough power to win on Tour.
European Tour Winner Quick Lesson
Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen and his victory at the 2012 Africa Open.
Louis burst onto the scene with his dominating performance at the Open Championship. Many have predicted multiple wins for this player. His victory this past weekend is likely one of many to come.
In the video above pay really close attention to when the video ends. Take a look at his left foot. Notice how all his weight his on his left heel. This is a great sign that he has cleared his hips properly.
One of the key reasons for starting the downswing with your lower body is to clear your hips out of the way to create more room for your arms to swing through impact. It is a great indicator as to how well you cleared your hips, when almost all your weight is on your heel.
If your weight is leaning on you toes or even the middle of your foot then you have not rotated and cleared your hips enough through your downswing and past impact. You really want to feel the pressure of your weight on your heel like Oosthuizen.
Make sure you start your downswing with your lower body. At the top of your backswing; either pull your left knee or your left hip (right handed player) towards the target. Also make sure your hips keep rotating through impact and into your finish position with your weight on the heel.