ERIN, Wis. _ The players might like their steaks thick and juicy. But not their fescue.
Several U.S. Open competitors took to social media to register complaints about rough at Erin Hills that's so dense, the joke goes, you could lose a caddie in it.
Gripes about the USGA and its course setups are an annual U.S. Open tradition. What's novel this year is that officials had four prominent areas mowed Tuesday _ on the fourth, 12th, 14th and 18th holes.
"I'm surprised," Fox analyst Paul Azinger said. "But I have to be honest: I thought the fescue was a little out of hand in spots. My concern was lost balls.
"I went out there and hung with the marshals. You could see (the drive) leave the club but you can't see it coming. When the fescue is that high, it's not bouncing up. And then if you have lost balls, do you have carts in play to take guys back (to the tee)?"
PGA Tour players Wesley Bryan and Kevin Na posted videos showing how easy it was to lose a ball in fescue just a few yards from the fairway.
A USGA official said the decision was not made in response to player complaints and that the goal is to reduce lost balls.
Being that it's a U.S. Open, the decision to cut the fescue to rough level was criticized as well.
"These are the widest fairways we've ever played in a U.S. Open," Rory McIlroy said. "And the first and second cut is another 10 yards on top of that. So if you've got 50 or 60 yards to hit into and you're complaining about the fescue that's wider than that, I don't think that's an issue."
