The U.S. Open’s incredibly tough Sunday setup may only create a boring finish

The USGA & Oakmont Country Club were dealt a tough hand with Thursday’s unrelenting rain, but it’s not out of line to say this year’s edition of the U.S. Open has been a rather boring, out-of-rhythm mess.

After Shane Lowry finished up his third round early Saturday morning with two birdies, the jolly Irishman stretched out his lead entering the final to four shots at 7-under-par -- with Dustin Johnson and World No. 624 Andrew Landry trailing him at 3-under. Unless Lowry stumbles, the course setup for Sunday’s final round might ensure more boredom than movement on Father’s Day.

Combined with greens that have been triple-cut and rolled heading into the final round and should bring back some of that famous Oakmont speed, the USGA’s pin placements for Sunday afternoon should almost completely eliminate the chances of someone further back in the field from getting under par and running down Lowry.

Of the 18 hole locations, an almost-absurd eight pins are less than five paces from the edge of the green. It’s a clear attempt from the USGA and Oakmont’s membership to try to drive the winning score back down to something closer to level par.

What does that mean for the field?

Birdie opportunities are going to be limited -- and trying to make them could lead to bogeys en masse. The green speeds will make lag putting difficult, and thus players that need to make something happen to run down Lowry are going to need to fire at pins to give themselves opportunities to roll in putts. But with pins tucked so close to Oakmont’s disastrous greenside rough, the margin between birdie opportunity and double-bogey disaster is razor thin. With such margins, it’s a setup that dictates that Sunday’s winner play relatively boring golf and par the place to death. That’s easier said than done, but it minimizes the field that has a realistic shot of winning the championship -- unless Lowry goes in the tank early.

There’s nothing wrong with a stiff and difficult test of golf, but this is where the USGA and other sanctioning bodies try to overcompensate for weather conditions unnecessarily. There’s nothing dumber in golf than “protecting scoring” for the sake of the egos of the club’s membership and the USGA’s executive board, and failing to give players any real opportunity to make up shots or attack pins is an artificial attempt to do so that doesn’t serve players or fans. Sometimes weather conditions create a golf course that’s easier than organizers desire. That’s okay.

That doesn’t mean Sunday’s final round isn’t worth watching -- or that it will be impossible for someone to take it well under par. There are some short par fours that provide players with good risk/reward scenarios, and storylines are still ample with Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau still lingering within striking distance. If Shane Lowry responds to major championship final pairing pressure as most first-timers do, drama can be there on the back nine.

Just don’t expect it to be because someone’s pouring in birdies in bunches.