A 2017 U.S. Open Preview: Can Rickie Fowler Get His First?

ERIN, Wis. — We made it. After an 18-hour drive with Mrs. Pistols and three Baby Pistols, I was greeted at the 117th U.S. Open by one of the tougher walks I’ve ever taken on a golf course. Erin Hills, 30 miles west of Milwaukee, is a baby itself, having just opened a decade ago. Its early history included discovery and development from someone who is currently in prison (where Steven Avery used to reside, no less) for murdering his wife (which is insane), but it’s a righteous piece of land.

I walked the back nine on Wednesday morning and chased Jon Rahm, Wesley Bryan and former Pokes Jordan Niebrugge and Talor Gooch around the longest course in major championship history. The 18-hole track is a Scottish-American hybrid that will be stunning to watch on TV.

Despite the USGA whacking some of the fescue down on Tuesday, there is still plenty to go around which means if you’re wide off the tee, you’re completely dead. The greens and collection areas are more lush than they normally are at our national championship and will require outrageous precision (but are still score-able).

I honestly think this is going to be a really exciting tournament that sees more birdies and eagles than most Opens.

Guess the USGA decided to be nice this week and cut down some of the rough ? pic.twitter.com/RPHunJyKx1

— Peter Uihlein (@PeterUihlein) June 13, 2017

Jordan Spieth agrees.

“I don’t see par winning the tournament,” said Spieth. “I see closer to 5- to 10-under. Someone who has very good control of the ball off the tee will have plenty of opportunities to make birdies, given the conditions that we’re expecting. And I think the USGA is very much okay with that.”

So which Pokes have a shot?

Despite not being the top-ranked Poke in the field (how many OSU fans would lose that trivia question?), No. 9 Rickie Fowler without question has the best chance of the six Cowboys in the field to win his first major this week. There is pause for concern — two straight missed U.S. Open cuts and a MC last week in Memphis — but Fowler has a lot going for him.

My pal Andy Johnson of The Fried Egg thinks the eventual winner could be somebody who hits a lot of fairways but isn’t necessarily that long. His reasoning? At normal U.S. Opens, everybody misses fairways, it’s just a matter of how much you miss by. So short, straight hitters don’t really gain an advantage. However, this week’s fairways are super wide which means straight hitters could hit them all while long, crooked hitters will still probably miss.

Fowler is No. 25 on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy and hit 80 percent and 71 percent at the Memorial and Players Championship respectively (two of his last three starts). If he does that this week, he’ll be in it on Saturday and Sunday. Also, I think he’s the easiest guy in the field this week to root for.

As for the others, the No. 8 player in the world, Alex Noren, might be the most unknown commodity in golf. He’s coming off a monster win a few weeks ago at the BMW PGA Championship, but he doesn’t have a single top 50 at past U.S. Opens and only has one top 10 at any major.

Peter Uihlein is in the field, and he made it to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur in 2011 at this course before eventually falling to Jordan Russell. He’s been playing quite well in Europe and qualified via sectionals back in May.

The three other Pokes — Kevin Dougherty, Gooch and Niebrugge — all qualified via sectionals and will play together in the first two rounds. Niebrugge was my sleeper pick for the week at 250-1 after he finished in the top 10 at The Open back in 2015 at St. Andrews.

On the eve of @usopengolf, #okstate‘s Kevin Dougherty discussed being one of six Pokes in the field. #golfschool pic.twitter.com/5EAr5kQZXD

— Oklahoma State Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 14, 2017

Whatever happens, it should be a sweet week. The last three U.S. Opens have all been classics with tremendous winners (Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson). I expect much of the same this year just with more scoring. Here are a few other things to know about the tournament, and here are the tee times and pairings for all six on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday

• 6:45 a.m. — Kevin Dougherty, Talor Gooch, Jordan Niebrugge
• 7:40 a.m. — Alex Noren, Brandt Snedeker, Tyrrell Hatton
• 7:51 a.m. — Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama
• 2:09 p.m. — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Peter Uihlein, Ben An

Friday

• 8:24 a.m. — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Peter Uihlein, Ben An
• 12:30 p.m. — Kevin Dougherty, Talor Gooch, Jordan Niebrugge
• 1:25 p.m. — Alex Noren, Brandt Snedeker, Tyrrell Hatton
• 1:36 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama