Each year for the U.S. Open, the U.S. Golf Association comes up with themed threesomes for the first two rounds. It’s the officials’ way of having fun. Here are their 10 best groups Thursday and Friday at Congressional.
1. We are the Champions » U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell, British Open champ Louis Oosthuizen and U.S. Amateur champ Peter Uihlein in a traditional grouping.
2. Surprise Masters champions » Charl Schwartzel (2011), Trevor Immelman (2008) and Zach Johnson (2007).
3. Masters of disaster » Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. Did the USGA really do this — an all-choke threesome?
4. Now that’s Italian » Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari, Matteo Manassero.
5. Three Amigos » Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia, Alvaro Quiros. One Spaniard in his 40s, one in his 30s and another in his 20s.
6. Three Kamrats » Henrik Stenson, Johan Edfors and Fredrik Jacobson, all from Sweden.
7. Lost in translation » Ryo Ishikawa (Japan), Anthony Kim (United States), Y.E. Yang (Korea).
8. Pulling rank » Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer. After Tiger Woods abandoned No. 1, each has taken his turn at the top spot. They rank Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
9. Major players » Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera, Stewart Cink. With a combined six majors, this threesome has seriously overachieved.
10. Rhyme and reason » Thomas Levet, Brian Gay, Gregory Havret.
