“I beat everybody here, not only Tiger Woods. But I wasn’t able to beat the golf course. The golf course beat me.” Ominous words, right? This was what Angel Cabrera had to say after his hard-fought victory at the Oakmont Country Club eighteen years ago at the 2007 US Open. And most of the golfing world sure does agree. Oakmont is one mean and mighty mistress. So, when Golfbet released a promotional video on X, asking golfers, “Would you want to take even par at Oakmont and stay at the clubhouse, or would you want to play for the week?” It deserves attention! The question has some history to it. A rich and treacherous history.

The Oakmont Country Club is known to be a notoriously difficult course for golfers to maneuver around. The biggest example of this would be the 2007 US Open, where Cabrera won by one stroke against the likes of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. The Argentine carded two rounds under par across the four days, the only golfer to do so.

The others, in total, only managed six rounds below par, for a total of eight rounds under 70 at the Pennsylvania Course. In fact, of the top 12 finishers, 7 golfers failed to card a single round below par, including Jim Furyk, who finished one stroke behind Cabrera at T2. American golfer David Toms, who finished T5, did not even make par during a single round at the 2007 event. While most of the golfers who were asked this question answered honestly that they would take par, one person professed otherwise.

Collin Morikawa said he would try to break par by going out on the field. The two-time major champion was unfazed by the course’s challenge and seemed eager to tackle it head-on. “Take my chances,” Morikawa stated without dropping a beat.

Unfortunately, for the six-time PGA Tour winner, none of the fans seemed to think in a similar sense. The post on X was flooded with funny reactions to Collin’s answer that stood out compared to the other golfers.

Fans show no love for Collin Morikawa’s choice

Fans were quick to dismiss Collin Morikawa’s confidence, with one fan stating, “Collin LOL,” while another fan indicated all this bravado is just a front until he eventually ends up missing the cut line. “And… Morikawa misses the cut.” The fan stated.

Morikawa himself does not have a good record at the US Open. In six attempts at the major, Morikawa has made a score of par or less only three times. And he did not exceed 2 under par while doing so. This will not be a good omen for him, considering that five of his six victories on the PGA Tour have come when he has scored below 10 or less. His two major victories, the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship, came with scores of 13 under par and 15 under par, respectively. So, a high-scoring affair does not favor Morikawa particularly well.

While the difficulty of 2007 did not translate nine years later, the course refused to budge. Amongst the field, only four players managed to card a below-par score across the four rounds. Dustin Johnson scored 4 under par, while Jim Furyk (unfortunate again!), Shane Lowry, and Scott Piercy carded 1 under par. All other players were at even or worse. Johnson was the only other golfer who managed some level of consistent play with scores of 67-69-71-69 across the four days.

It is with this in mind that one fan quipped, “Let’s revisit this when Morikawa goes +7.” Another fan also posted a GIF of Hasbullah preparing for a boxing fight with the note, “Collin preparing to take on Oakmont.” Golfing fans surely know how to elicit some laughs. “Collin has NO shot. Lol,” wrote another person. But not everyone was against the 2020 PGA Championship winner.

A few fans were disappointed in the other golfers who gave up the fight at Oakmont and chose to sit in the clubhouse with an even par score. One such fan exclaimed that it showed a “loser mentality!” It seems like there is no right answer here!

What do you think of Collin Morikawa’s bold statement? Do you think it’s warranted? Or is it false bravado?