U.S. Open Preview Clippings

So much to read, so little time. I'm off to Torrey Pines, so here's just some of the stuff that caught my eye to get you ready for the week. I'll leave it up to you to find the Anthony Kim-is-the-next great-player stories.

Oh and this will likely be my last clippings post this week, as my duties for GolfDigest.com will be the focus, with plenty of posts here as well.

Anyway, here goes:

Tod Leonard covers the lore and essence of the national championship with several entertaining anecdotes.

As always, SI's anonymous pro is entertaining in breaking down the favorites.

Larry Dorman considers the impact Torrey Pines will have and offers this from Mike Davis:

“I’m really pleased with how it has turned out,” he said. “A couple years ago I was thinking, ‘Gosh are we going to be anywhere close?’ Now I’m thinking, ‘What’s out there that we could do any better?’ I’ve done a lot of talking with some of the pros that have been out there, and I have yet to hear anything from anyone that wasn’t right.”

Fred Vuich's Gigapans are back, offering the chance to study that lifeless bunker and crappy catch basin at Torrey's third hole.

Ron Whitten on six things you don't know about Torrey, and the story includes a shot of an old Torrey Pines related old racetrack program

Ron Balicki looks at the strange journey of Rickie Fowler, with a great story about how he learned he was in the field.

Brett Avery and bestapproach.com produce the best map of theirs I've ever seen, capturing the property scale and grandeur of the clips. I mean, they made Torrey Pines look dramatic! In all seriousness, I think the map does capture the feel of the place that we will see this week, with the canyons and ocean more prominent thanks to tree removal (and NBC's production work).

Whitten profiles Rees Jones and says he has the worst come-over comb-over in golf. And you think I'm tough!

Bill Center in the San Diego Union Tribune captures the essence of why Torrey Pines is a great place (and not just because of the golf).

Alan Shipnuck considers the role the Junior World has played in golf.

It shocks him to admit it, but Peter Kostis says the USGA is now the standard bearer for golf course setup and that the PGA Tour is stinking it up with dreadful consequences for the future of the game. Now if we could just get you to say that on the air...

And finally, it's not Torrey Pines related, and yet it is: Sam Weinman looks at the amazing notion that Westchester County is without a golf tournament this year, and the future looks bleak due to any number of reasons, including the emergence of places like Torrey Pines. He also offers a blog post of his own take and a sidebar piece about possible future venues in the Westchester area.