Player's Journal: There Are Challenges on Both Sides of the U.S. Open Ropes

As told to Jack Milko

It’s Sunday, June 16, 2013, and Scott Langley is at Merion Golf Club outside of Philadelphia, playing in the final round of the U.S. Open. Rain and storms blanketed Southeastern Pennsylvania all week, leaving the course muddy, dreary, and soaking wet. It was unseasonably chilly too, which only added to the overall difficulty of this championship.

No wonder Justin Rose won it at 1-over par.

But Langley, who was making his third U.S. Open appearance, played alongside future Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama on this Sunday. The USGA sent them out at 11:51 a.m. ET, a few hours ahead of the contenders but roughly 10 minutes before Tiger Woods would begin his final round in the group behind.

“If you're not going to play with [Tiger], you'd rather play in front of him because at least all the fans are pretty much there waiting,” Langley recalled. “If you play behind him, everybody's bolting to the next tee as soon as he's done.”

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After a tough start to his final round, which included three straight bogeys, Langley finally got one back with a birdie on the short par-4 8th. But then disaster struck on the next hole, the 246-yard par-3 9th. Langley missed the green and his ball came to rest among Merion’s gnarly, knee-high rough that sits between the putting surface and the greenside bunker.

A larger problem then loomed: nobody could find his ball. Langley, his caddy Joe Etter, Matsuyama, and Matsuyama’s looper comprised the search party, and then a few officials from the USGA joined in too. But after a few minutes, his ball was still missing, leaving Langley feeling hopeless. He then paused to collect himself, took a deep breath, and looked back toward the tee in trepidation. He did not want to go back there and re-hit, especially since the biggest figure in the sport stood there, with his arms folded, waiting.

“Man, I am holding Tiger Woods up,” Langley thought to himself. “We gotta get going.”

After some time had passed, the group finally discovered Langley’s ball. He then took relief and escaped the 9th hole with only a bogey-four. But after Langley putted out, Etter still had to clean up the mess from the search. He had to rake a massive area in the sand, leaving Woods to wait even more.

“That felt like an eternity because Tiger was still back there,” Langley recalled. “Arms crossed. Red sweater. Intimating.”

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Langley went on to tie for 41st at Merion, which also happened to be where Rory McIlroy finished that week.

In fact, in all four of his U.S. Open appearances, Langley made the cut in each. He even won low-amateur at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, sharing the honor with Russell Henley. His T-16 on the Monterey Peninsula came weeks after he won the individual national championship at the University of Illinois.

“That was probably one of the best months of golf in my life,” Langley said. “I always joke that I peaked a little early as an amateur. But it was just one of those stretches where you just feel like you're in total control.”

Amateur Scott Langley watches his tee shot on the 14th hole during the third round of the 110th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 19, 2010 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Remarkably, Langley made it through sectional qualifying to make it to all four of his national championships. He knows the grind of the process firsthand. He also knows how difficult the U.S. Open is, which is a big reason why he loves it so much.

“The U.S. Open was always my favorite championship to play. And I think the reason for that is just as much as any other event, the U.S. Open pushed you to really show that mental toughness; to think through the golf course and to play strategically and to play with patience,” Langley said.

Scott Langley hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the final round of the 112th U.S. Open at The Olympic Club (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

“I love everything about it. It asks everything of you, both physically and emotionally. When I played at the University of Illinois for Mike Small, one of his favorite sayings was that we want to bring a blue-collar mentality to a white-collar sport. To me, that’s the U.S. Open.”

Twelve years after frantically searching for his golf ball on the 9th green at Merion, Langley will arrive at Oakmont Country Club this week as the Senior Director of Player Relations for the USGA. This year’s U.S. Open will be his third in this capacity, a role that he takes great pride in. It’s also a role in which he wears many hats.

Langley has a huge voice in the course setup. Each year, he visits the host site numerous times in the weeks leading up to the championship. He will hit shots into greens, stroke some putts, and even play from the sand, ensuring that the condition of the course is both fair and tough. As a former PGA Tour player for 10 years, and a four-time U.S. Open participant, he knows exactly what that looks like.

“Every fine detail inside the ropes is looked at,” Langley said. “How high the rough is cut, how the bunkers are prepared, teeing areas, mowing heights of fairways.”

The USGA will grow Oakmont’s rough to about five inches long and have its undulating greens run at about 15 on the stimpmeter for this year’s U.S. Open. Fifteen is lightning fast, but since Oakmont prides itself on being the most challenging course in the country year round, that speed works.

“It is just completely in your face from the moment you tee off on the first hole to the moment you finish your round. It's relentless,” Langley said of Oakmont.

USGA/Eric Thayer

“It's not an overly long golf course, but you've got to bring your complete game to play well at Oakmont. That’s it. That's what we always strive to do with the U.S. Open: identify the most complete player and I think Oakmont is positioned to do a really great job with that. It's an amazing place.”

Langley has also spent the last few weeks identifying potential hole locations and making suggestions on how the USGA can use different tee boxes during the championship.

But his role outside of the ropes is just as crucial.

Langley leads the Player Services team, which includes five full-time staff and three interns falling under his purview. Everything, from player dining, to where they pick up their courtesy cars, and to the logistics of work out facilities, are all aspects of the championship that perhaps go unnoticed, but are vital to the success of the U.S. Open.

What about a player’s support team, such as trainers, agents, and even chiropractors? Where should they be situated? How about the menus for each day? What about lodging? These are just a few of the questions Langley answers for each U.S. Open and at seven other USGA Championships throughout the year.

“It's been really eye-opening to be involved in these championships from the other side and see all these things,” Langley said.

“You show up to a golf tournament and you look around, you think everything is just there with very little thought or things are a certain way. But it's amazing. Every little thing that you see when you show up to the U.S. Open, I promise you, we've talked about that thing six or seven times, probably even more.”

Some players have publicly voiced their displeasure with the USGA over the years. Phil Mickelson’s gripe with the greens at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 comes to mind. So does Wyndham Clark in 2023, when he complained about late tee times on Saturday.

Langley, of course, is now on the receiving end of these criticisms, both public and private, should they arise.

“What I always try to rest on is: ‘Hey, can I provide a really logical and reasonable explanation as to why something is the way it is?’ Or can I explain what we're after?” Langley said.

“Of course, setting up for the U.S. Open is a great example. We have a responsibility to that trophy to put forth a test that lives up to the U.S. Open's heritage. It's always meant to be this gold standard of achievement in golf, this national championship. We really value that. And, you know, that's gonna push guys beyond their comfort zone sometimes. And that's part of the mental test of the U.S. Open. As I said before, that’s one of the things that I love most about it and that I always did.

Scott Langley (second from right) now impacts the U.S. Open by assisting the USGA team with setting up the championship for the world's best players. (USGA/Eric Thayer)

“I really focus on active listening whenever a player has a point of view on something that we are doing. And players will bring up good points. And sometimes, they'll say something and it’s, look, I've lived this life. They live it every day. Preferences evolve like things change. And there are many times where a guy will say something. And I will say, ‘Man, that's a really good point. I honestly hadn't thought of that.’ And the cool and exciting thing for me is that I'm positioned in a place at the USGA and be given the trust to actually go and do something about it in a positive way and make some element of our championship, some element of our organization better.”

Since becoming the Senior Director of Player Relations in 2023, Langley has become a crucial point person for the USGA. Maybe one could call him the point guard for U.S. Open setups. But his experience, expertise, and understanding of various perspectives makes him even more valuable than a floor general. And best of all, he loves doing it and giving back to the game and the championship he so dearly loves.

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