It isn't often in life that you look forward to something seven years in the future with great anticipation. Perhaps for me, the last time I wanted to fast forward seven years was when I was nine years old and couldn't wait until I was sixteen so I could grow a mustache and drive a red ferrari like Thomas Magnum [and now at almost 33, neither have yet to take place]. But that is just the way I felt, brimming with anticipation that is, when I read Joe Logan's space in the Inquirer:
While nobody will say so officially, it's official: Merion Golf Club is getting the 2013 U.S. Open.
Just a few years ago, the idea of a U.S. Open being held at Ardmore's Merion was out of the question. The conventional wisdom was that club and ball technology had rendered the club obsolete to today's long hitters and there was the question of logistics -- too little space to accomodate the spectators and general hoopla that comes with a U.S. Open.
But that was before last summer's U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion. Though the logistics of an Amateur are much smaller in scale than an Open, things went smoothly enough for the powers that be in blue blazers at USGA headquarters to reconsider. More importantly, the course stood up quite well to the assault of the best amateurs.
Merion has held more USGA championships than any other venue, and some of golf's greatest moments have taken place there. Bobby Jones completed the Grand Slam on the eleventh green in 1930 (the Open was match play in those days) and we've all seen the photograph of Ben Hogan lacing a one-iron to the eighteenth green to sew up a par and a berth in a playoff, which he would win the next day. What made Hogan's win so special was that he was coming back from a near-fatal automobile accident.
One has to wonder what we will witness in 2013? Perhaps a moment such as Hogan's or Jones', or, something like Tom Watson's chip-in on his way to defeating Jack Nicklaus at Pebble Beach in '82... Maybe something like the wonderful duel between Payne Stewart and Phil Mickelson at Pinehurst in '99.
Of course, there will be much less dramatic moments to look forward to as well, but special in their own way. Like running into Adam Scott at Peace A Pizza or realizing that's the normally reserved Justin Leonard cursing the red lights on City Avenue in the car next to yours.
Tiger, I'm looking forward to it. A key's under the mat and, we'll leave a light on for you.
