As is the case at almost every U.S. Open the course grabs more attention than the players and this year Winged Foot Golf Club is once again stealing the majority of headlines.
Tucked away in the leafy suburbs of Westchester county just outside of New York city, at first glance Winged Foot appears as inviting as the multi-million dollar mansions nestled against its lush fairways.
But lurking behind Winged Foot's manicured facade is a green monster, the longest course in U.S. Open history made meaner by tight fairways, jungle-like rough, rock hard undulating greens and gusting winds.
The 1974 U.S. Open staged here is still referred to as 'the massacre of Winged Foot' when Hale Irwin won with a seven-over par total and a duffer-like score could be the winning total again this year.
The course added a few more big name scalps to its trophy case on Friday, when world number one Tiger Woods and defending champion Michael Campbell failed to make the cut with two-round totals of 12-over.
The two men had plenty of company at the exit, world number eight Sergio Garcia also making an early exit with a 16-over while world number 10 David Toms threw in the towel after an opening round 79.
MARGINAL SHOTS
"The golf course is very difficult," said Woods, after failing to make the cut at a major for the first time in his professional career. "Marginal shots are just going to get killed here -- it's just the nature of this golf course.
"Any U.S. Open, but more so on this golf course, but any U.S. Open venue that we play, any marginal shot here just gets penalised more so than any other Open."
While Winged Foot has brought the world's best players to their knees it has also brought smiles from the thousands of weekend duffers in the galleries who know all too well the pained expressions displayed by Woods and others.
Golf fans are drawn to the U.S. Open in much the same way the curious are drawn towards train wrecks, which is how many golfers this week have described their rounds.
"Oh no, you mean I have to play this thing again," complained Canada's Stephen Ames after carding a two-day total of 10-over and thinking he still might make the weekend before the cut was set at nine-over. " I'm serious, I really don't particularly want to play here again."
While some golfers want to run and hide others like Australia's Geoff Ogilvy have embraced Wing Foot as golf's ultimate challenge, testing their ability and patience.
Although Ogilvy has not broken par, his rounds of 71 and 70 have left him just two shots back of leader Steve Stricker.
"This is why we play," said Ogilvy. "These are the four majors, it's the pinnacle, it's the four best tournaments we've got in the world, so it's nice to play well in them.
"I mean, you practice your whole life to be able to hang on and grind around, and you look forward to being here.
"So you've got to try to enjoy it while you're here.
"I'm trying to enjoy it. It's not the most fun in the world to be grinding away for pars and missing greens with semi easy shots and having a hard time hitting fairways, but the challenge of getting it up and down and grinding it out, that's a fun challenge when I'm able to get it done."
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