Why Shinnecock may not offer the US Open test it has in the past

Why Shinnecock may not offer the US Open test it has in the pastImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The USGA took the unusual step of asking for the seventh green to be watered mid-round during the 2004 US Open at Shinnecock HillsByIain CarterGolf correspondentPublished11 minutes ago1 CommentsLessons have been learned, insist organisers of the US Open after the past two visits to Shinnecock Hills descended into controversy over brutal and ultimately substandard set ups of the Long Island layout.US Opens are invariably about the golf course and the way it is laid out to test the world's best players, but whenever America's national championship is staged at Shinnecock there seems an extra dimension to the extremity of the examination.It is a unique venue. This is probably the closest the event comes to being played on a links course.It is not quite on the shoreline, but is treeless, windswept and exposed, and the links-like turf runs fast and firm.Sometimes too fast and firm.In 2004, when Retief Goosen produced one of the all-time great putting displays to secure his second US Open title, the seventh green needed to be hand watered mid-round because the 189-yard par-three hole had become unplayable.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, After controversially hitting his moving ball during round three of the 2018 US Open, Mickelson said: "I know it's a two-shot penalty. I've had multiple times where I've wanted to do that, I just finally did."The next time the tournament came to Southampton, New York, gusty winds pushed the first round scoring average to more than six over par. Rory McIlroy was among those who failed to break 80 and English qualifier Scott Gregory shot 92.The following day proved nearly three shots easier, but for those who made the cut the Saturday became gruesome. "I've never seen a golf course change that quickly," said Justin Rose. "We came off pretty much shell-shocked."It broke P...