TOP PRIZE: The U.S. Open trophy will be up for grabs starting June 13 at the historic Merion Golf Club just outside Philadelphia. (Getty Images)
ARDMORE, Pa. — Tiger Woods might end his five-year major championship drought when the 113th U.S. Open comes to historic Merion Golf Club outside of Philadelphia next month.
Or Phil Mickelson might finally celebrate his birthday by winning the major championship he always has coveted most.
Rory McIlroy might win his second U.S. Open in three years and reestablish his stardom.
Or Webb Simpson might defend the title he captured last year at Olympic Club to become the first player to successfully defend his U.S. Open title since Curtis Strange won back-to-back in 1988-89.
But regardless of who’s hoisting the chalice at the end of U.S. Open week, June 13-16, the venerable golf course, which was born in 1896, will be every bit the star of the show as the winner will be.
“Acre for acre, [Merion] may be the best test of golf in the world,” Jack Nicklaus once said.
I concur with Nicklaus after slogging my way around Merion yesterday, tantalized by some of the short par-4s that seem so there for the taking, yet managing to shoot only 90, a score well above what my 10 handicap suggests I should post.
Merion, which stretched the max for the U.S. Open will not reach 7,000 yards, feels like the shortest long course in the world. It is a diabolical temptress that is sure to lure the pros into a false sense they can overpower her with length only to be left shaking their heads in disbelief at the bogeys, doubles and “others’’ they’ll post on holes that look like birdie opportunities.
“There are going to be more birdies made at this U.S. Open than any we have seen in recent history,’’ USGA executive director Mike Davis said yesterday. “You’ve got this balance of some of the easiest holes for U.S. Opens that you’ll see in the modern era, yet at the same time they have got some of the toughest holes.’’
No course in the country has played host to more national championships than the 17 Merion’s East Course has hosted, yet the last U.S. Open was in 1981, when Australian David Graham won.
As the U.S. Open has gotten bigger and more popular, the space and infrastructure at Merion, which stands on fewer than 120 acres, seemed too small for the modern era. Davis said he’ll “never forget’’ the meeting with the USGA championship committee seven years ago when the board approved Merion as the 2013 U.S. Open host, calling it “one of the best days I’ve had in my 23 years at the USGA.’’
“This place is just magical,’’ he said. “It’s an architectural treasure.’’
Bobby Jones won the 1930 U.S. Amateur to complete the “Grand Slam’’ — a feat that has never been equaled.
Ben Hogan, just 16 ”‘months removed from his near”‘fatal car crash and struggling to walk, won the 1950 U.S. Open — a moment captured by the iconic photograph of him hitting that famous 1-iron to the 72nd green en route to clinching victory.
After his dramatic 18-hole playoff victory over Nicklaus in the 1971 U.S. Open, Lee Trevino said, “I love Merion … and I don’t even know her last name.”
Once every player is finished playing next month’s U.S. Open, he’ll know Merion’s first, middle and last names.
“It is my favorite golf course in the world,’’ Simpson, who played Merion in the 2005 U.S. Amateur, said yesterday. “What it demands out of the players is so different than most golf courses. I can’t wait to get there.’’