[Yoda]

It would be interesting to see what John Riegger has got to say about this as he is one of the more qualified to answer.

I had lunch today with John in Atlanta -- he stayed over after his great closing 66 yesterday and solo 9th place finish at Jennings Mill -- and talked with him tonight by phone in Richmond. I told him about the thread, and he told me he played the course in its Open set-up last fall. He remarked how Johnny Miller's 63 in 1973 was one of the great rounds of all time and predicted that, if things stay the way they are now, the winning score in this year's U.S. Open would be +5.

He said that the USGA purpose behind the 288-yard par 3 (he said it can play to 305!) was that they wanted a "true fairway wood" test. And they also wanted a true 3-shot par 5...which they apparently have achieved by lengthening the 12th -- already the toughest par 5 on the course -- to 700+ yards.