SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- When Matt Fitzpatrick saw the grounds crew at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club watering some of the greens Monday, he was a bit disappointed.
"For me personally, I want it to get as dry and firm as possible, as U.S. Opens do, and just see where that takes us," Fitzpatrick said.
After yielding tournaments with an over-par winner in 2018 and a controversial setup in 2004 that caused Zach Johnson to declare the USGA had "lost" the golf course, it's no surprise then that Shinnecock has once again been the talk of the interview room through two days of practice rounds.
"I think if everything is going the way everyone wants it in terms of weather, setup, I think it's the best championship test in the country," Rory McIlroy said Tuesday. "I think it tests all aspects of the game: driving, iron play, you need to have your wits about you on the greens. It's a lot of strategy, thoughtfulness."
Despite it being widely praised, nowhere is the concept of "losing" the golf course more prevalent than it is at Shinnecock. The golf course is hard in and of itself but the way the land is exposed to the relentless wind makes it one of the trickiest venues for the USGA to manage.
"I don't know whether it was a concern with the winning score or par was the goal [in the past] but to achieve that at some courses, if that was the goal, you're on a knife's edge," Adam Scott said. "So if the weather turns, which is very hard to predict, it becomes unplayable in certain spots. I think we've seen the setups get away from that more recently. I'm really not concerned."
Yet even though there is no imminent worry that the USGA will manage the golf course incorrectly, it doesn't mean that Shinnecock will play any easier. The wind is already doing its part by blowing steadily and at Shinnecock, knowing exactly how much the wind is blowing and precisely in what direction as well as how it is affected by the temperature is crucial.
"When it's hot, the ball doesn't get as affected by the wind. Here the wind is a bit heavier. I wouldn't say it's as heavy as Pebble Beach, but it is a pretty heavy wind," Scottie Scheffler said. "Some of the rumors I heard about this place is that [the wind] could even switch a decent amount throughout the day."
"These greens with wind, it's going to be a real challenge, and I think whoever is patient," Wyndham Clark said. "You're just going to have to handle the punches that Shinnecock is going to give you and stay really patient out here."
"It's a course where people aren't going to run away with it," defending champion JJ Spaun said. "You can't win it the first day, but you definitely can lose it."
What awaits come Thursday and Friday is the potential for carnage with high winds and gusts up above 40 miles per hour and it's likely why the greens have so far been softer and slower than expected in practice rounds.
"The golf course is definitely a lot softer. Greens are definitely slower than I remember. I'm not saying they're slow, but it's a lot different than what I remember as far as firmness," Brooks Koepka, who won the last time this event was held here with a score of 1-over par, said. "They can do what they want with the golf course. They can make it firm pretty easily if they like."
Even if firmness is the goal, the wind will inevitably determine just how firm the greens can really get. Players have noted that the greens are rolling around 11 on the Stimpmeter and with the forecasted wind, they can't get much faster or else balls will not be able to stay still on the surface like they did in 2004. And that is on top of the fact that Shinnecock's greens and its runoffs are already built to play as extremely small targets.
"If you miss the greens in the right spots and do your homework, you have opportunities to get up-and-down still. I feel like that is a patience thing," Fitzpatrick said. "For me -- this golf course, I think when it is really tough like that, I enjoy that challenge because you have to do your homework, and you have to hit good shots, and that's what I think any good golf tournament should require."
While Fitzpatrick may want the powers that be to let the greens burn under the Long Island sun, the reality is that Shinnecock needs water to stay on the proper side of the knife's edge. The wind can be so severe here that any moisture will be swept away with ease over the course of the day.
"The members at Shinnecock will tell you they do that every single day. Every single day at this course the members play, they put water on the course at 2:00 p.m.," McIlroy said. "So it's a unique golf course, and it seems like it's just something they have to do."
Scott, one of the few players in the field who played this event the last two times it was held at Shinnecock, has never made the cut here, but it hasn't colored his opinion on the golf course.
"I think the beauty of this course is obviously around the greens and the options and the situations you'll find yourself in that you really don't plan to be in and how you manage that and compose yourself to get it around the course and get it in the house," Scott said. "Hopefully we can get the greens to firm up over the weekend, and we'll see some of the greatness of Shinnecock where the shots in are so important to hit these small areas, and then you'll get a great champion."