A few days ago, Rory McIlroy gave his preview of the site of next week’s US Open course, Merion Golf Club! Today, we bring you the preview from 2010 US Open Champion and Rory’s fellow countryman, Graeme McDowell!
Graeme McDowell played Merion two days ago and it was in much better conditions than when Tiger played it last weekend. However, the weather may be turning for the worse! As Graeme stated on his Twitter and in the video above, he finds Merion very balanced. In his opinion, the first 6 holes are tricky, you can score from the fairway in the middle 7 holes and the last 5 holes are brutal. And despite all the criticism of Merion being too short, Graeme actually found the course plays longer than 7,000 yards. Check out the video above to see what else he said! And if you want to see what Merion will look like, check out the US Open preview here!
Enjoyed my practice at Merion this morning. First 6 holes are tricky, middle 7 you can score from the fairway, last 5 are brutal. #balanced
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) June 5, 2013
Graeme even dropped a ball by the Ben Hogan plate, where Ben Hogan hit his 1-iron 213-yards on the par-4 72nd hole of the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion! He ended up making par to force a playoff the next day and of course, Mr. Hogan went on to win! What club do you think Graeme used? The video of his shot from the Ben Hogan spot is below!
2nd shot to 18 Merion from the 'Hogan Plate'!a) my swing is not in same leagueb) I hit 4 iron not a 1 iron – Mr Hogan wouldn't be happy with the technological developments we've enjoyed over the years!
Posted by Graeme McDowell on Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Source: USGA
