What not to do when ticked off

Jun 7, 2025, 7:19 PM•golfdigest

Golf Digest

The most penal hazard in U.S. Open golf is not rough. It’s anger ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The most penal hazard in U.S. Open golf is not rough. It’s anger

There are no official stats for this sort of thing, but it’s safe to assume the U.S. Open exceeds other major championships in its number of angry participants. Other tournaments dole out ample disappointment and heartbreak, both of which present opportunities for a player to look in the mirror. When a golfer is angry, that’s not usually where they turn.

According to the psychologist and author Marc Brackett, anger reflects “perceived injustice.” Brackett’s definition wasn’t specifically referring to hack-out rough or putts rolling off of greens, but perceived injustice is indeed what many golfers grapple with playing in a U.S. Open. They’re not just disappointed in themselves. They’re angry at a golf course believed to be manipulated at their expense.

“When you have a championship that comes down to either luck, or a fortuitous bounce, or sheer luck, that's not right and we are there already,” Zach Johnson said at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

"I feel like instead of difficulty, they just go for trickiness,” Ryan Moore said of the USGA in 2010. “I think they go for a spectacle; they want some hole to draw attention and make everybody look stupid.”

If it’s a given that the USGA’s brutal setup expected at Oakmont is going to trigger a segment of golfers, a better question to ask is if that anger ever helps. History suggests otherwise. Consider some of the more notable moments of U.S. Open outbursts in recent years—Jon Rahm dropping F-bombs and slamming his clubs at Erin Hills, Phil Mickelson hitting a putt while it was still moving at Shinnecock. They’re usually by golfers headed out the door. Perhaps they were angry because they didn’t play well. It’s just as likely they didn’t play well because they were angry.

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