Why Were The Last Two US Opens At Shinnecock Hills So Controversial?

The US Open returns to Shinnecock Hills this year, and if it's anything like the last two to be held at the course it'll be well worth watching.

As both the 2004 and 2018 US Opens to take place at Shinnecock Hills were filled with controversy over the condition of the greens.

On both occasions the USGA was accused of "losing the greens" when fast and firm conditions turned into wickedly treacherous.

Some over the top pin placements combined with windy conditions led to the USGA having to water the greens in 2004 during Sunday's final round.

And despite that warning, when the US Open returned to the Long Island venue 14 years later there was a similar outcry about the putting surfaces.

Putting surfaces that wound Phil Mickelson up so much he infamously produced his moment of madness that resulted in a two-shot penalty.

2004 US Open - Watering during play

Retief Goosen was the last man standing to claim his second US Open title in 2004, but not before the USGA had some big questions to answer about the greens at Shinnecock Hills.

After two rounds, six under par was leading and 11 players were under par in total - that's not exactly what the USGA wanted for the toughest test in golf.

So the USGA double cut and rolled the greens and also stopped watering them, leading to some testing conditions on Saturday, and then borderline unplayable ones on Sunday.

The 7th in particular played more like crazy golf, and when officials realized the error there came the hugely rare sight of the hoses coming out to water the burnt, dried out green in between Sunday pairings!

The average score on Sunday was 79 and nobody shot under par in the final round. It wasn't so much the toughness but the way the course difficulty was manufactured that drew criticism.

"This is our national championship and Shinnecock Hills is a great golf course, but they lost control of it," said Tiger Woods.

"This is not supposed to be how golf is played."

2018 US Open - Drama on the greens, again!

The US Open returned to Shinnecock Hills in 2018 but incredibly the lessons of 14 years earlier were not learned as the same thing happened again.

The carnage came in Saturday's third round when some devilish pin placements perched on some severe slopes, in windy conditions, again made things pretty much unplayable.

That's still no excuse for Phil Mickelson running after a missed putt on the 13th and hitting it back towards the hole while it was still in motion!

He got a two-shot penatly and scored a 10 on that hole but was lucky not to get disqualified altogether.

Mickelson later apologized, saying: "I'm embarrassed and disappointed by my actions."

His frustration was shared by most of the field though, with Zach Johnson this time saying "they've lost the golf course" just as Tiger had done 14 years earlier.

So as the US Open returns again to the famed Long Island course don't expect the USGA to get too tricky with the flags or watering on the greens.

It couldn't happen for a third time, could it?