The 2023 US Open golf tournament concluded Sunday evening in Los Angeles, California with Wyndham Clarke winning the event with a score of ten under par. The event was held at Los Angeles Country Club and many players in the field were not huge fans of the atmosphere or the golf course at LACC. 

Brooks Koepka a now 5-time major championship winner didn’t mince words when it came to what he thought of Los Angeles Country Club, “I’m not a big fan of this place, said Koepka. ‘Not my cup of tea’: Players share mixed reviews of LACC. Koepka has been on a tear to start 2023 finishing 2nd at The Masters tournament in Augusta Georgia and winning the PGA Championship in Rochester, New York. Koepka finished tied for 17th at the US Open but for him to come out publicly and say he did not enjoy the US Open venue in LA was somewhat shocking. Most players after tournaments will say courses were difficult or pin locations were a bit unfair but very rarely do we see players say they hate the course. Matt Fitzpatrick the winner of last year’s US Open had similar thoughts when it came to LACC, “I just think the golf course is interesting, to be polite,” he said. “There’s just too many holes for me where you’ve got blind tee shots and then you’ve got fairways that don’t hold the ball. There’s too much slope.” Some interesting perspectives from the world’s best golfers that are usually very soft-spoken about course conditions. 

To start the US Open on Thursday, two golfers Rickie Fowler and Xander Schaffuele got off to incredibly hot starts. Both Fowler and Schaffuele shot 63s on day one, or -8 (8 strokes under par 72) which had the whole golf world talking. The rest of the week however proved more difficult for Fowler and Schaffuele as Fowler finished tied for fifth and Schaffuele tied for tenth place. Fowler was tied with eventual champion Wyndham Clark heading into Sunday’s final round but had some mishaps that he could not overcome. Fowler at 34 years of age has yet to win a major championship but believes change is coming. “I definitely think we’re heading in the right direction, said Rickie Fowler following Sunday’s round at LACC. Rickie Fowler falls off pace atop U.S. Open leaderboard, ties for fifth | Golf Channel

 

The next major golf championship is The Open in Hoylake, England starting July 20th. This event will be played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club and conditions will be difficult yet will likely not get the same media attention as Los Angeles Country Club did. 

 

Ediotor: Joan Andrew Ramadan