Maginnes: Drink in the atmosphere before play starts

The whole experience of showing up, signing in and practicing at a U.S. Open is pretty surreal for most of the players, says John Maginnes. And before things get serious on Thursday morning, some silliness can even take place.

By John Maginnes, PGATOUR.com Contributor

The U.S. Open is the timeline of American golf.

You can learn more about the history of the game in this country from this championship than from any other event. The foundation for this great game was established and lives in everything from the rotation of golf courses utilized over the last century to the list of champions and contenders.

As a member of the media, the history of the game is ever-present at the U.S. Open. The championship takes on a romantic perspective and it is easy to get caught up in the reality that the tournament is far grander than a 72-hole competition. As a player, though, there is no time for such notions. Playing in an Open is about being in the present. Playing in the U.S. Open is about an entirely different type of prospective.

Players do things a little differently at the U.S. Open than they do every other week of the year. The driving range is a little fuller early in the week. The locker room is a little less crowded. Practice rounds seem to take all day long. Because most players in the field have never played a competitive tournament on the course in question, practice rounds become something of a slacker cram session the night before exams. Adam Scott was 13 years old the last time U.S. Open was played at Oakmont. Tiger Woods was 18.

Tiger has made a couple of trips to Oakmont over the last couple of months. However, most of the players in the field haven't had that luxury. Many of them didn't even know that they were coming to Oakmont until a week ago. The 36-hole qualifiers held throughout the world take place less than two weeks before the opening round. Once you qualify, there is the matter of arranging travel and trying to find a room. The USGA does a nice job of holding rooms for those successful qualifiers but even so the whole trip is pretty last minute.

The days to drink in the atmosphere are Monday through Wednesday. From signing the official scroll as a player in the championship to receiving your player's gift, the whole experience is pretty surreal. Of course, it is a little different for the players who are in the field every year. Those hardened veterans know that the U.S. Open is the event, on its surface, that requires a complete analysis of a player's game. Below the surface there are the demons -- you only have to look back 12 months to see what they are capable of doing to the best players in the world.

So early in the week of a U.S. Open, there is some silliness that takes place. Call it the calm before the storm. On Wednesday at Bethpage Black, I was playing a practice round with Jeff Sluman and Kevin Sutherland. We started on the back nine (that was the first year the USGA went to a two-tee start on Thursday and Friday) because we were all starting there on Thursday. The crowd was unlike any that I had ever seen.

We were waiting in the fairway for the second green to clear. The uphill par 4 is surrounded on both sides by natural hills so the gallery standing there is looking down on the players.

A loud voice that sounded like a character on "The Sopranos" called down, "It's a 9-iron." I looked up and saw a bigger-than-life New Yorker smiling and holding an oversized beverage in his bear-sized paw. I called back that it was an 8-iron. He laughed and said that he played there all the time and that he was sure that it was a 9.

Sluman gave me a little nod as the green was clearing, and I gave the big man a wave to come down to the fairway. He stared in disbelief as the several hundred onlookers caught on. Then they started egging him to come down. He lumbered down the slope and I handed him a 9-iron and a ball. He was OK while he took a couple of practice swings, and then he looked up at the green. Seeing the massive grandstand behind the green, filled with hundreds of eyes all on him finally took full effect.

"Wow," he exclaimed as all the color quickly drained from his large round face.

"All right, nice and smooth now," I said, trying to get him to calm down a little and at least get it in the air. Finally, he made a swing that looked far better than any of us could have anticipated. The ball rose toward the green but came up a few steps short in the rough. He raised his arms in triumph and there were high-fives all around. He thanked me and told me that he was there to celebrate his birthday. Jeff, Kevin and I all signed the ball and presented it to him on the green.

For veterans like Jeff and Kevin, this is a story that has probably faded from memory over the last few years. But one rather large man from Long Island can say that he hit a shot the day before the U.S. Open at Bethpage.

Under ideal conditions, the U.S. Open is the toughest test of golf the players will face all year long. This week at Oakmont, on western Pennsylvania's most difficult test, the players are in for a long week. But for a couple of days, before the call to the tee on Thursday, they are just kids on a really cool playground. The smiles of Wednesday, though, will be replaced by the concentrated stares of the world's best players later in the week. There will also be frustration -- lots and lots of frustration.