What Did You Learn From US Open?

What did you learn from watching the US Open on TV - apart from that watching golf into the small hours and going to work the next day don't mix?



I was intrigued by the pressure they all seemed to be under and admired those who could handle it and those who couldn't. Here's six things I learned:



1. Preparation



Don't just waste that valuable time on the putting green (before you tee off), by hitting long putts of 15-20 feet. Every player was practising holing those 4-6 footers until they became second nature. And how many times were they faced by those self same putts in the tournament to save par? Answer: Almost every hole.



2. Take your medicine



The rough around the greens and especially around the bunkers was penal -in the tradition of the US Open, where par is the holy grail. One or two tried to muscle the ball out with various degrees of success but most took their punishment and played back to the fairway and re-started their approach to the green.



3. Leave yourself a yardage



Players at Tour level are pretty consistent with their wedges – and so know to within a yard or two how far they hit their favourite scoring club. We heard good advice from Graeme McDowell's caddie Ken Conboy, at the final hole. "If you can't reach the green, leave yourself a good yardage. One you're comfortable with."



4. Patience



It has become a bit of a cliche on Tour but asked what the key will be to their day in pre-round interviews, most professionals refer to being and staying patient.



And it's good advice for amateurs often too anxious to make inroads into their handicap strokes early in the round rather than starting smoothly then as confidence grows becoming more aggressive.



5. Not always driver off the tee



Pebble Beach is the kind of course where the driver is used sparsely. Time after time players sacrificed distance for accuracy, to keep their Taylormade R9 Forged Irons on the really short grass to give them more control with their approach shots



Irons, fairway metals and hybrid all came into play on holes where the penalties for wayward tee shots were sometimes horrendous.



In recent weeks my driver has started misbehaving but replacing it for a few rounds with a 3-wood to resist temptation has proved worthwhile.



6. Keep hydrated



Keeping hydrated should never be under estimated. I recall distinctly how Padraig Harrington revealed that in the third round of his epic US PGA victory in 2008, his coach Bob Torrance reminded him that he looked jaded as mistakes crept in.