2018 U. S. Open

First off, all hail Brooks Koepka, the winner of the 2018 U.S. Open. To boot, he's a back-to-back champ. The first time that's been done since Curtis Strange pulled it off way back in 1989-90. Yessirree, that muscle-bound, handsome rascal from Florida came out on top again. It would appear Koepka is a bit like Sara Lee, she of the tasty desserts. Nobody doesn't like Brooks either. And a couple million bucks for four days work isn't too shabby.

But there were certainly some very weird happenings along the way as well. Consider the list of world class golfers that didn't even make the cut at Shinnecock Hills. Familiar names abound.

Jordan Spieth
Jason Day
Rory McIlroy
Bubba Watson
Adam Scott
Sergio Garcia
Jon Rahm
Martin Kaymer
Ernie Els
Matt Kuchar

And Rickey Fowler. Though nobody's much mentioned it, Saturday seems to have become Ricky's doomsday in a lot of tournaments. He'll typically play well on Thursday and Friday. Sometimes lights out on Sunday. But he has this nasty habit of blowing up on Saturdays. This year at the Open? Try an 84, a whopping 14 over par.

Phil Mickelson did something even stranger. Lefty has long been considered a paragon of virtue. The ultimate professional. Class supreme and all that. True, he gets the yips once in a while when it comes to makeable putts, but he's kinda like Sara Lee as well. How can one NOT like this guy?

Yet there he was, in full buffoon mode, whacking at a still moving ball on a putting green. Evidently, he'd lost it. Not cool, nor even remotely professional. Trying to explain it away later, saying he knew about the 2 stroke penalty, but was willing to take it anyway, only made him look worse.

However, perhaps there's a logical explanation for him "snapping". His playing partner at the time. One Andrew Johnson.

This is one ugly dude. How ugly? That smile of his could....

Make the dimples on a golf ball disappear.
Stop bird poop in mid-air.
Cure Trump (and every other politician) of ever telling another lie.
Make Anderson, Ellen, and Rachel go straight.

Now THAT'S some serious ugly going on.

Looking at that all day while playing golf would be just about enough to drive anybody bat-$hit bonkers.

The most amazing story came from one Tommy Fleetwood. In the final round of the Open, on a still ridiculously tough course, TF fired an unbelievable 63, tying the lowest final round ever in the event. Move over Johnny Miller. For that, he wound up in sole possession of second place, and a cool million and change. Did I mention Sara Lee?

All in all, a very entertaining golf tournament, though the USGA and Shinnecock folks have deservedly caught some major flak over how the course was set up. Sure, an Open is supposed to be difficult. But not ridiculous, with balls hit 10-15 feet from the flag rolling 20-30 yards OFF the green or into a sand trap. It's a wonder a few more guys didn't snap like Phil.

But at the end of the day, Brooks Koepka had managed to dispatch all others, for a repeat as U.S. Open champion.

Hail, hail indeed for a job well done.