LOS ANGELES — I was taking a tour of Los Angeles Country Club (North), site of the 123rd U.S. Open and T-13 in Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses, when three-time U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods rolled on to the first tee.
The member, who was kind enough to show me around, actually asked me, “Who is that?” and when I broke the news that it was the 15-time major winner in the flesh and blood looking fit as a fiddle, he responded, “Are you kidding? Holy … ”
Woods, who announced on Friday that he was ready to play in an actual PGA Tour event at this week’s Genesis Invitational, was there with his right-hand man Rob McNamara. I was tempted to whip out my phone and take a photo but I’m pretty sure I would have been summarily escorted off the property. But I witnessed Tiger being given a U.S. Open yardage book and some helpful tips from a club official and then he hopped in a golf cart to tour the course, which sits in Beverly Hills. Tiger didn’t have any clubs on his cart, but he stopped to watch Hero Motors CEO Dr. Pawan Munjal, who sponsors Tiger’s silly-season event in the Bahamas, tee off at the first.
Woods, who won the 2000, 2002 and 2008 U.S. Opens, skipped last year’s national championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, to concentrate on playing in the British Open at St. Andrews. It appears he’s prepping for a pursuit of a fourth U.S. Open title in June.
Here are four more things I learned about the U.S. Open in June at LACC.
Tiger wasn't the only pro at LACC
Usually Mondays are a quiet day at the private club — you can hear a pin drop, one member said — but the first tee was so busy on this occasion at LACC I asked if there was an outing about to begin. It turns out that guest play ends on March 1, so everyone has a friend that wants to squeeze in a round before the U.S. Open comes to town.
That includes Adam Scott, who teed off just ahead of Woods showing up. I’m told somewhere between six to 10 PGA Tour pros in town for this week’s tournament were expected on Monday, including defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who was scheduled to do a photo shoot with the USGA out there. Apparently, several pros also made their way over last month before and after the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. Seems like a no-brainer to get an early look at the course ahead of the third major of the year.
Special tee at No. 1
It never ceases to amaze me the lengths courses will go to add a few yards. At LACC (North), the USGA wants to add some extra yardage to the first hole. To do so, that means building a new tee special for the tournament that will be smack dab in the middle of the practice putting green. It means the first hole will play in the neighborhood of 580 yards. Like Riviera, another George C. Thomas design, the first hole is a gentle handshake and will still be reachable for many in the field.
Fairways you can actually hit
It’s a tradition at the U.S Open for the fairways to be so narrow that you have to walk single file down them. Not so at LACC. Fairways will be broad, with the first and 12th holes having the narrowest fairways at 28-29-yards wide. For that reason there won’t be an intermediary cut of rough, which has been commonplace in recent years.
Champions locker room
LACC is taking a page out of the Augusta National playbook and creating a separate section of the player’s locker room for past champions. It’s a nice touch. LIV members Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, and, should he qualify, Graeme McDowell would all be changing their shoes there.
There’s still much work to be done but LACC is getting ready to open its private gates and welcome the return of the Open to Los Angeles for the first time since Ben Hogan won at Riviera in 1948. As one member put it, “it’s this incredible wedding happening in June.”
Can. Not. Wait.
