'Man up and get on with it' - Colin Montgomerie's message to US Open moaners

When Angel Cabrera, the Argentinean, won at Oakmont in 2007 with a five-over-par total, only eight sub-par rounds were recorded over the four days while, in the most recent edition there in 2016 won by Dustin Johnson, just four players finished under par.

Ahead of its tenth staging, Oakmont has been called the “world’s hardest golf course” by this week’s defending champion, Bryson DeChambeau, who also said that “this venue doesn’t challenge your game - it challenges your sanity”. And, even though the USGA made a call to thin out some of the thick rough, it has still been described as “unplayable” by one of his fellow players, Jhonattan Vegas.

Speaking at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, where he will be hosting the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship for the second year running later in the summer, Montgomerie offered his view on the venue where he came agonisingly close to landing what proved to be an elusive major win.

“I think we’ve gone back to the 90s,” he said of the test on this occasion, with the original William Fownes-designed course having been re-worked by Gil Hanse. “When I did okay there in ‘94, christ, it was the US Open of old. I think the width of the fairways was average at 25 or 27 yards. Now they are 35, but you can’t miss them.

“I think that’s great. I hate seeing people hitting it long but sideways and getting away with it. I hate it when someone who just misses the fairway has a worse lie than someone who misses it by 40 yards.

“I think they’ve found that they can’t lengthen these courses any more, so what they’ve got is a par 70 playing at 7,300 yards, which isn’t long. But, equally, if you don’t hit the fairway, you won’t be in the right spot, so it is going back to when we played the US Open in the 90s.

“And that’s why I had some success in the US Open - because I hit the fairway That’s part of the game. It’s not a putting competition any more. It is actually a full game from tee to green and I think they have set it up well.

“It is very difficult nowadays for the USGA, The R&A or the PGA of America to set up a course for these guys now. You saw Muirfield Village (venue for the Memorial Tournament) recently and they were hitting over these bunkers that weren’t designed for that happening.

“But I think you will find this week that it is back to US Open scoring. I don’t know if anyone will get to ten under - the magic figure we used to have. Under par was always good in the US Open as you knew you had played some good golf and done well.”

Embrace the challenge

In 1994, Els, Montgomerie and American Loren Roberts tied on five under while Johnson triumphed nine years ago with a four-under total. But Montgomerie said: “Even with the technology with clubs and the ball that we’ve seen in the last 30 years - bloody hell - I think that if you are level par, you could be making the winner’s speech, which is good for the game.”

He was asked if players should be adopting an attitude of embracing the challenge and just getting on with it. “Absolutely,” he replied, “and I was disappointed in the USGA having to cut the rough a wee bit because it was too severe. Hang on. Compare the technology now as opposed to 30 years ago when the ball we were playing moved all over the place and was softer and went 20 yards shorter. Also, the development that has happened, so get on with it.

“For christ’s sake, you have technology there that was beyond what you ever dreamed of. So use it and play golf, definitely. At this level you shouldn’t be missing fairways unless it’s blowing a gale. Technically because of what’s happened, the research and development, man up and get on with it.”

Can Rory recapture his form?

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler heads into the season’s third major as the shortest-favourite in one of the game’s marquee events since Tiger Woods was in his prime, while Rory McIlroy is aiming to recapture his form after going off the boil a bit since winning The Masters in April and becoming just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam.

“A lot of people thought the floodgates would just open and he’d relax and win as many majors as he wanted to because he has the talent to do so,” said Montgomerie of the Northern Irishman who is closing in on his record of eight European No 1 titles.

“But the Masters took a lot out of him. You saw that on the 18th green and he hasn’t quite got back into the tournament set up yet. But he has got to soon and he has talked about his driving having to be much improved and let’s hope he can contend again because majors are better with him contending.

“I could see that happening. It took a hell of a lot out of him. It’s been 14 years of struggles and finishing second and hiccups along the way. It was more relief than excitement when he won and I wish him well, but it’s not easy.”

Bob MacIntyre is the sole Scot in the field and will have two fellow left-handers - American duo Akshay Bhatia and Matt McCarty - for company in the opening two rounds at a venue where Tommy Armour, the man dubbed the ‘Silver Scot’, won this event in 1927.