Phil Mickelson is in no doubt about the challenge facing the players at Oakmont.
The six-time major champion has added to the lengthy list of viral videos on social media demonstrating just how punishing the rough is at the US Open.
GettyPhil Mickelson had several chipping problems during practice at Oakmont[/caption]Mickelson had already taken to social media to deliver a trademark brutal response to another video posted on X featuring a small army of Oakmont course staff.
All were armed with lawnmowers and trimming the infamous rough in formation.
The veteran left-hander, a six-time runner-up in the only major missing from his collection, appeared to suggest that the mowing was being staged.
He joked: “They’re not working. They’re not cutting s***!”
A few hours later, during his final practice round ahead of what could be his final appearance in the US Open, Mickelson was videoed attempting – and whiffing – a number of chips onto a green from short distance.
The six-time major champion, who celebrates his 55th birthday on Monday, dropped a handful of balls about a yard off the green into the lush rough, playfully labelled the “devil’s lettuce” by Golf Digest.
Mickelson – who was among the early starters – failed to make contact with his first attempt, shanked the second barely a foot, and although he managed to stab the next two onto the putting surface with minimal control, he again whiffed the next chip.
Long known for his short-game wizardry, Mickelson’s trials and tribulations were reassuring for the onlooking fans, one of them heard to say: “S***! I don’t feel bad any more!”
The brutal set-up, often regarded as the toughest major test in golf, has been highlighted by Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who made the first of his three US Open appearances at Oakmont in 2016
The popular Englishman did well to make the cut on a layout he remembers as “so draining”, eventually finishing just outside the top 50.
The US Open is the only major that Mickelson has not wonGetty Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston played in the US Open at Oakmont in 2016“It’s by far the hardest golf course I’ve ever played,” Johnston told talkSPORT. “As you’ve seen with the rough, it’s so severe.
“You’ve only got two par-fives, which are both 600 yards. You’ve got a 300 yard par three, which is ridiculous. It’s so, so tough. It’s so draining that golf course.
“There’s a lot of pressure to hit fairways on that golf course, because if you don’t, it doesn’t matter if you hit it 340 or 300 yards or whatever. If you’re not on the fairway, you’re not getting to the green unless you get really lucky with a good break in that rough.
“And then you’ve got the greens to contend with as well, which are some of the most severe greens I’ve ever played on.
“I putted one off the green in 2016. I watched someone play backwards on one hole. I saw another two people put it off the green.
“So it’s not only just the rough, then you’ve got to get on the greens and try and get the ball in the hole. It’s brutal.”
Oakmont’s members have reportedly been pushing for the finest players on the planet to see the course at it’s most brutal.
There have been no shortage of videos from the players during their practise rounds on balls disappearing in the rough just a couple of feet from the fairways.
The putting surfaces have offered no respite either with balls running well past the hole of the merest nudge towards the cup.
Conditions early on during Thursday’s first round were about as good as they are likely to be over the four days, with Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Aberg finding the going early.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler, chasing a second major title of the year and fourth of his career, is among the later starters in Pennsylvania.
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