Who's in the lead at the U.S. Open? Merion

ARDMORE, Pa. -- Somewhere (probably while sipping wine in the hospitality tents right off Golf House Rd., where balls are flying out of bounds) the members are smiling.

So, too, are the executives from the USGA.

And the players, they're wincing -- often from pain. It's like Clubber Lang is the greenskeeper.

"This week this rough is very, very penal -- that's the best way to put it," David Toms said. "I hope somebody doesn't get hurt -- that's how bad it is."

Some already have gotten hurt.
 
Following the suspension of Round 2 as a result of darkness Friday night, just two of the 156 players in the field of 113th U.S. Open remained below par. Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel lead the tournament at minus-1.

Horschel's 67 was one of only three rounds completed under par Friday and just the eighth in two days. All but one hole on Merion's East Course, the 120-yard par-3 13th, played over par.

This on a golf course many expected to be picked apart once rains saturated the grounds, robbing the USGA of its desired "firm and fast" Open.

In fact, one player told CSNPhilly.com during a practice round on Tuesday that "guys are going to set records out here." Maybe records for balls hit into backyards in an Open, but not anything related to low scores.

Even Mike Davis, the executive director of the USGA and the man responsible for setting up the course, was couching the potential for a birdie-fest at Merion by insisting the tournament's committee did not care about protecting par.

Tiger Woods was asked on Friday after his even-par round of 70 if he believed that statement.

"No," he responded, without further comment.

The now-growing consensus amongst the players, despite all the pre-tournament concerns about whether the course would hold up, is that Merion was always going to be a challenge, and probably a struggle.

So, what would this place have been like if it hadn't taken on 6½ inches of water in the last week?

"The conditions, soft at the moment, is a blessing for the players, I think," said John Senden after a 1-over-par 71. "I'd hate to be here [if] it hadn't rained at all."

What's now apparent, and was perhaps undersold before the start of the tournament, is that the rough was going to get these guys either way.

Unlike most courses that have one dominant strain of grass on the property, the rough at Merion Golf Club is a little closer to Carl Spackler's registered blend. It's made up of rye grass, bluegrass, tall fescue, fine fescue, bent grass, Bermuda grass and something scary-sounding called K-31.

What's all that mean if you didn't study turf management?

"If you're not 100 percent on top of your game out there, this place will eat you alive, and it did exactly that to me," said Graeme McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champ at Pebble Beach. McDowell, who was expected to contend this week, will miss the cut after posting a 76 on Thursday and a 77 on Friday to finish at 13-over par through 36 holes.

"I said this golf course was difficult and, sitting in the clubhouse, I said 8-under will win for sure. Level-par could win," he continued.

"For as long as they've set this place up, for as brutal as the rough is, for the rough they've got around the bunkers, how penal this place is, and how fast these greens are, you know, it really could be 3- to 4-over par [that wins]. It's that hard; It's that difficult; It's that long."

And it's that dangerous apparently.

At least three players thus far have admitted to dealing with injury issues because of the rough. Woods, who said Friday he's had an issue with his elbow since he won the Players Championship last month (see story), has been seen grimacing and shaking his left arm for the last two days. Ernie Els revealed Friday morning that he's re-aggravated a stinger in his left wrist. And Els' fellow countryman, Louis Oosthuizen, pulled out of the tournament Friday afternoon with an undisclosed injury.

The rest of the field should count themselves fortunate that it stopped raining long enough for superintendent Matt Shaffer and his crew to mow the rough on Tuesday night, keeping it between four and five inches tall.

After two days, Bubba Watson's comments following his round on Thursday are looking the most prophetic.

"Well, there's a couple of guys under par," he said. "But by the end of the week, Merion is going to win."

It already is.