It’s a first taste of Major Championship golf for four European Tour Members this week with Chris Doak, John Parry, Eddie Pepperell and Jaco Van Zyl preparing to strike their first blows at the US Open.
All four earned their place in the field at Merion through the US Open Qualifier at Walton Heath two weeks ago and as the clock ticks to their first tee times tomorrow it’s clear all are relishing the new experience.
Pepperell, at 22, is the youngest of the quartet to be making his Major bow and after his joint sixth place finish in the BMW PGA Championship – won by a man two years his junior, Matteo Manassero – he is feeling confident as he looks ahead to his first US Open.
“It is just great,” he said. “The American hospitality and people, they love it. You can see the crowds here and they are mad for it. It is a new thing for me to see that kind of hype and I am loving it. But at the end of the day it is another tournament and once you step out there on the first tee you have to start playing and nothing will be that different other than the amount of people hooting and hollering.”
Pepperell tees off at 1.58pm from the first in his opening round, right in front of the Merion terrace in what is sure to be one of the most intimidating shots in golf.
“No question that will be a nerve-wracking shot so I have to step up and commit to that,” he said. “That will be one of the hardest shots of the week. I am looking forward to it.”
While the course, softened by heavy rain over the weekend and more predicted on Thursday, is not the “hard and firey” US Open layout he was hoping for, Merion’s East Course will still test every part of the game.
“It’s a great course in the sense that the middle of the course is set up shorter – they are not nothing holes but when you stand on the tee and you are hitting four iron, wedge, it can feel like that and then it is very easy to lose concentration,” enthused Pepperell. “So to have a run or six really tough holes to start and then go into a run of five or six holes far less demanding it can play tricks on your mind. It is a funky course in that respect and will demand a lot psychologically this week.”
Merion is a course steeped in history with the iconic image of Ben Hogan striking his famous one iron en route to winning the 1950 US Open just 16 months after a near fatal car crash never far from view. And the sense of history is not lost on Doak, coached by Bob Torrance and a player who like Hogan is easily distinguishable with his white flat cap.
“Bob was a huge fan of Hogan so there is a lot of excitement,” said Doak, who is making the most of technology by having his coach on the IPad and undertaking FaceTime coaching on the range. “Every guy dreams of it as a young kid and it’s always good to get your fist Major.”
