U.S. Women's Open: A New Sheriff of Chaos Has Entered the Chat

Saturday at Erin Hills is shaping out to be the test that we were all hoping for—and it's all thanks to a rather sadistic course set up. (As a U.S. Open should be.) In the most teasingly diabolical move, the USGA announced a little moving day surprise.

Players are doing their best to take their medicine, but the course has other ideas—golf can come at you fast, and the highs and lows of a major championship can happen at the blink of an eye.

All week long, the par-3 ninth hole has been the talk of the town, but a new sheriff of chaos has entered the chat. We saw it in 2017 for the men's U.S. Open, and the USGA said let's run it back! By making the 15th hole a drivable par 4, they have masterfully created some impeccable drama.

It's been playing around 330-350 over the last two rounds, but for the third round the tees were moved up for the hole to be playing around 248 yards (more like 260 for a back pin...but good luck getting it there and keeping the ball on the green.)

We've seen this move before at the U.S. Open—drivable par 4s are the perfect high-risk, high-reward scenario. The internal battle of going for it, especially when a leaderboard is so crammed, almost always baits players.

Esther Henseleit was baited, and she learned the hard way.

The 26-year-old German drove the green and was starring down an eagle putt. But she was too aggressive and absolutely muscled her first putt, resulting in her ball rolling completely off the green and into the thick stuff.

She walked away with a double bogey. From a potential double circle to the dreaded double square on the card...you hate to see it.

If it's any consolation, Henseleit isn't alone. The 15th is claiming victims left and right. It's been making a mess for players, with a scoring average of 4.64 strokes and a handful of "others" (meaning other scores greater than a double bogey).

But it's also been a disaster for pace of play. Groups have been lined up waiting patiently to take a shot at hitting the green which is backing things up rather significantly. At one point three groups were all gathered on the 15th.

Drivable greens or not, the pace this weekend will be slow. Erin Hills is a beast to walk. Not to mention, $12 million on the line for these 60 golfers...buckle up, folks.