Each Tuesday Jim Harris appears on 103.7 The Buzz FM at 11 a.m. during the The Zone with Justin Acri and Pat Bradley. This week Jim and the crew discuss the 2014 US Open, professional golf’s second major of the season, This year at Pinehurst in North Carolina. Full audio is below, including a great interview with Arkansas’ Ken Duke, who will be competing in the US Open this year.
Duke is paired with Joe Ogilvie and Mark Wilson for his first rounds, which start Thursday.
Jim predicts a win for Adam Scott this weekend, but he isn’t the favorite. SBNation has a run down of the current odds for each of the players and finds Scott at 12-to-1 just behind Rory McIlroy who is 10-to-1.
For the record, Ken Duke has odds of 500-to-1.
Phil Mickelson is making his 22nd US Open appearance this weekend, still looking for his first win in this major.
Here is part of a fun Q&A on the 2014 US Open from ESPN:
How many players finish under par?
Collins: Between 15-20. Remember, the USGA can’t afford to let the course get out of control for the men because the U.S. Women’s Open immediately follows the next week. That fact will allow more aggressiveness on the weekend than we’ve seen since Rory McIlroy won at Congressional in very soft conditions.
Evans: If the course plays fast and firm all four days, three players will finish under par. If it rains and the course goes soft, there might be five to seven players in the red.
Harig: None. In the two Opens played at Pinehurst, only Payne Stewart in 1999 was under par and it took an amazing finish of 1-putt greens on the final three holes to do it. Nobody broke par when Michael Campbell won in 2005. Anyone who can shoot four straight rounds of par ought to be holding the trophy.
Maguire: Zero. In the 1999 U.S. Open, only winner Payne Stewart finished in red numbers and he was 1-under. In the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, that number was zero with champion Michael Campbell at even par. Yes, there’s no U.S. Open rough in the traditional sense, but don’t expect bunches of birdies this week in the sand hills of North Carolina.