My Favorite Pin Position on No. 15 at LACC North

Yesterday at the U.S. Open, the pin was in one of my favorite spots on the 15th green at Los Angeles Country Club: just in front of the central hummock. This location rewards distance control in a uniquely stark way.

THIS IS NOT THE PIN POSITION I'M TALKING ABOUT! But this drone photo from behind the 15th green at LACC does a good job of showing the middle bump.

For instance, Matthew Fitzpatrick made an ace on the 115-yard hole by using the mound as a backboard. Later, with the greens drying out and the wind picking up, Jon Rahm attempted the same maneuver, but he overshot his target slightly and ended up behind the hump.

From the back section of the 15th green, the lag putts to yesterday’s pin were fascinating and difficult. Some players aimed directly over the knob and had to judge their speed so that the ball nearly came to a stop at the summit before trickling down the other side. Others putted around the hummock, using gathering contours at the edge of the green to bring the ball back toward the hole. Rahm used the left route and got within six feet; his playing partner Xander Schauffele went right but missed his mark, and he ended up 18 feet away.

Jon Rahm feeding his lag putt around the knob and toward the hole on Friday at the U.S. Open (Cameron Hurdus)

The scoring average from behind the mound was two-thirds of a stroke over par—10 pars and 22 bogeys. In contrast, players who hit the green and stayed in from of the hump averaged well under par. Overall, the 15th hole was, by a substantial margin, the “easiest” par 3 on U.S. Open Friday. Yet it also produced 25 bogeys, four doubles, and untold amounts of frustration.

Tee shots and results on the 15th hole at LACC in round two of the U.S. Open—birdies are red, pars blue, bogeys and doubles black (ShotLink)

Bryson DeChambeau three-putted from the back portion of the green, and as he walked toward the 16th tee, he unleashed a torrent of profanities. At one point, he shouted, “Jiminy FREAKING Christmas!” (Fans aren’t allowed near the exit point of the 15th green, so the audience for this outburst was limited to Bryson’s caddie, the standard bearer, and me.)

According to the macho philosophy of U.S. Open setup, the 15th hole was a failure on Friday. The scoring average was 2.865! Fifty-two birdies and a hole-in-one! Come on, make these guys suffer!

But when we obsess over scoring averages and birdie rates, we forget about the golf shots themselves. And the shots that players hit into that clever pin on No. 15 required precision, judgment, and nerve. It was a true U.S. Open test.