Monday 18 June 2018 00:52, UK
After admitting the course was "too tough" for the late starters on Saturday at the US Open, did the USGA make Shinnecock Hills too easy on Sunday? Paul McGinley gives his verdict.
In the history of the three US Opens here, only three players have ever broken par over 72 holes here and that just shows you the toughness of the golf course.
I think what makes the last day of any major exciting is fireworks and we certainly had that today with Tommy Fleetwood's 63 and lots of players making birdies and bogeys as well.
If I'm honest, the course played a little bit too easy on Sunday. It was somewhat of an overreaction, which was probably going to happen after the fierce criticism the USGA faced after the third round.
The problem on Saturday wasn't the golf course. Nobody was complaining about the design of Shinnecock Hills or the width of the fairways, what they were complaining about was four or five pins positions that were on the sides of slopes.
As the greens dried out, those slopes became quicker and quicker and were responsible for some of the farcical conditions that the players had to encounter in the last hour and a half of play.
They got some of the holes wrong and I understand the criticism from the players after Saturday. I walked some of the holes to look at those pin positions and I don't know what they were thinking with the one on the 15th.
It's a second shot golf course and the greens are much smaller in play than they look. Getting the ball under control with your iron shots and finding the right section of the greens is the tough part.
It was only the pin positions that needed to be fixed, so I felt they overreacted a little by putting so much water on the greens and putting the pins in generous flat areas.
It was a great final round and Shinnecock Hills has proven once again to be one of the toughest tests in the list US Open venues.
