⛳The Golf Course Twilight Zone

Good morning. This week, MrBeast hit 500 million subscribers, which is impressive because I still feel pressure when four people watch me tee off.

Shinnecock gets a full field today, and the rough already looks like it has no interest in helping anyone feel comfortable.

-Harry Carlisle

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER we’ll get into:

Bryson DeChambeau posted a video from a practice round at Shinnecock where his ball was sitting down in the rough and barely moved, landing just a few feet away after contact.

From that lie, control is a massive problem. The grass gets between the clubface and the ball. The shot loses speed. The ball can come out heavy, dead, or with very little spin.

So when coverage starts, watch the second shots after missed fairways.

Those answers will decide a lot of scores this week.

Rory McIlroy said officials plan to water the course around 2 p.m. during the first two rounds, between the morning and afternoon waves.

That sounds strange at a U.S. Open, but the reason is simple: wind and dry ground can change Shinnecock quickly.

If the morning wave gets softer greens and the afternoon wave gets baked-out greens, the draw matters too much. Watering between waves helps keep both sides of the field on a more similar course.

Rory said he first thought the idea was odd, then changed his mind once he learned Shinnecock does it during normal member play.

On Monday, we looked at No. 16 because it gives players a clear par-5 decision.

No. 11 is more interesting today.

Lee Trevino once called the 11th “the most difficult par 5 on Long Island.”

It’s a 157-yard par 3, but the green sits exposed to the wind and slopes hard from back to front. If a shot goes long, the next shot can be difficult to stop near the hole.

One player told reporters that if the wind during the tournament matches Monday’s wind, the 11th green could be close to unplayable.

What to watch: misses long.

If players start leaving shots short, that’s probably intentional. Short keeps the ball below the hole and avoids the hardest recovery. Long brings the steep slope and wind back into the shot.

If the ball is sitting down, take a higher-lofted club than the distance suggests. Move the ball slightly back in your stance. Put a little more weight on your lead foot. Grip the club firmly so the grass does not twist the face open.

Then make a steeper swing.

You are not trying to sweep the ball clean. You are trying to get the club down through the grass and move the ball back to a normal place.

The mistake is choosing the club for the distance you want instead of the lie you have.

Try this: Next time your ball is buried in rough, ask one question first: what club gets this ball back in play? If the honest answer is wedge, hit wedge.

The Meijer LPGA Classic starts today at Blythefield Country Club, where this tournament usually turns into a birdie race.

The winning score has always been double-digits under par and has gone as low as 25 under. That makes it a clean contrast to Shinnecock: one event is asking players to survive rough, the other is asking them to keep making birdies.

This week’s Golf Mini is called Masked. A few clues are hiding in plain sight.

Play the mini crossword →

The flag on the green is blowing from left to right and slightly back toward you.

What should you expect?

A) A pure helping wind
B) A pure hurting wind
C) A crosswind with some hurt
D) A crosswind with some help

C) A crosswind with some hurt

The flag is showing direction and angle.

Left to right means the ball may drift right. Slightly back toward you means the wind may also take distance off the shot.

Key takeaway: Read the flag relative to your shot line. Sideways plus toward you means crosswind and hurt. Sideways plus away from you means crosswind and help.

The youngest and oldest players are paired together: Miles Russell, the 17-year-old No. 1 junior golfer in the country, is the youngest player in the field. Padraig Harrington, the 54-year-old U.S. Senior Open champion, is the oldest. They are grouped together for the first two rounds, which gives the U.S. Open a nice little time-machine pairing.

Rory’s green strategy: Rory McIlroy said one smart way to play Shinnecock is to hit the middle of greens and putt toward the corners. A safe 25-footer usually beats a short-sided chip from thick grass.

Major streak: Adam Scott will make his 100th straight major start this week. That’s absurd

Creator golf got the Shinnecock test: Grant Horvat and the Bryan Bros played Shinnecock using the 2018 U.S. Open cut line of +8. Wesley Bryan made it at +7, while Grant finished +12 and George Bryan finished +20.