‘Chambers Bay may be a week for the Europeans’

I cannot wait to see how golf’s finest cope with the demands of Chambers Bay at this week’s US Open.

This is completely different to the stereotype we normally have for the year’s second Major.

Instead of tight fairways, thick rough and slick greens, this will be like an old-fashioned links with a mix of high and low shots and lots of long putting.

The weather will also be a factor. Forecasts are suggesting winds of 10mph, which are ideal for seaside golf. Luck of the draw on the opening two days could also play a part.

The players who have been up there already have not been too kind. But I’m certain that’s because this course is so far out of their comfort zones, especially for the American players.

Chambers Bay will be a happy diversion from the diet of the PGA Tour’s manicured fairways and fast greens we are fed on a weekly basis.

The USGA deserve great credit for taking the event to a new venue. The course is in a beautiful part of the world, an hour’s drive from Seattle in an area that has been starved of top-level professional golf.

What’s also important is that, like Torrey Pines and Bethpage Black, Chambers Bay is a public course.

That makes the event seem more accessible as it breaks away from the stuffy country club image which exists in America.

Ordinary golfers can tee up on the same course and face the same problems as Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

It’s worth remembering that our Open is played on public venues at Carnoustie and

St Andrews, and we mustn’t lose sight of the importance of broadening golf’s appeal. It’s just a pity we don’t have the same number of public courses as they do in the States.

As for the tournament, I think it could be a week when the Europeans do very well.

We are used to such varied conditions on the European Tour and it could be a week for rolling your sleeves up and getting on with it.

Everything will not be Augusta-perfect. Patience and shot-making skills will come to the fore.

When the US Open was last played by the sea in 2010, Graeme McDowell was victorious at Pebble Beach, with Frenchman Gregory Havret runner-up.

Graeme toughed it out and holed some clutch putts. That’s a recipe the Champion this time around must copy.