What happens between the driving range and the first tee ... What happens from the first shot to the second shot ... What happens from the third round to the final round ... What happens from the last time you played until the next time you play ... What happens in the brief span of time between starting to take the club head back and actually striking the ball ... These are the things that are all in your head. And that is what makes golf agonizing and exhilarating to both play and watch. First, the amateurs:

*As we have for much of the last decade, we reserved the Saturday of the U.S. Open to play in a golf tournament put on by RandBall commenter/contributor Sassbottom. It should tell you something that the name of the tournament is not something we feel comfortable printing. The participants are decent guys for the other 364 days of the year. On the Saturday of the U.S. Open, we turn a pristine golf course into our own personal taste hazard. The organizer arranges for private tournament beer cart (said cart was kicked off the course by the marshal this year, a first). Sassbottom wears a ridiculous pair of pants (white with thin pin stripes this year). No words are off-limits. A good time is had by all.

Our partner in the vast majority of these two-man scrambles has been Taco. Neither of us are particularly good at golf. Together, we make a decent team. Usually, we finish with a score in the mid-to-upper-70s, somewhere near third or fourth out of 8 to 10 teams. One year we won it in Graeme McDowell-esque fashion. This was not one of those years. Something happened between the practice range and the tee box. Drives that were straight and true became unpredictable and false. Putts didn't fall. We managed to hit out of bounds twice -- ! -- when Taco also hit out of bounds. The final score of 81 wasn't ridiculously bad, but we really thought from the way we were hitting on the range that we might have a shot to win. That's golf. Something happened mentally and physically. What was had was lost. Sometimes it came back, but never in a predictable way. (Note: The winning score was even-par, which would have been tough even on our best day. One group was two-under going into the final hole before taking a snowman and finishing two back. Did that stop us from telling one of the offending parties that, while we say a "Triple Bogey" burger listed on the menu in the clubhouse restaurant [true story], we thought he could ask to see if they could make a "Quadruple Bogey" burger just for he and his playing partner to share? No, it did not stop us from that).

As bad as we played, however, we could take a little consolation Sunday. Pretty much every single golfer who had a reasonable chance to win the U.S. Open choked in a small or large way at some point. Dustin Johnson, while admittedly playing a more difficult course and being just one man, did shoot a higher score (82) than we put up combined with Taco. Johnson hit two shots that went about a combined five feet. Tiger tumbled, Phil phailed and everyone else (including Els) couldn't make a shot when it counted. McDowell was the winner by attrition or by default, depending on how you look at it. It was compelling from a human nature standpoint. It was ugly from a golf standpoint. So many little things can derail a golfer. It's a constant battle to get back to level, and you don't stay there long. If there is a sport that lends itself more to choking, we haven't seen it (or experienced it).

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Programming reminder: We're off on the Great Baseball Road Trip starting tomorrow. We'll probably have another post or two today, then a daily update from the road -- hopefully with video. Itinerary: Twins/Brewers on Tuesday and Wednesday; White Sox/Braves on Thursday; Quad Cities vs. Kane County on Friday and Saturday. There are also rumored to be golf courses and casinos in our direct path. If anyone has ever been to the Nomad in Milwaukee, we are thinking of watching US/Algeria there on Wednesday morning. Now is your chance to put us onto or off of that idea. We're also looking for a good spot to watch the NBA draft Thursday in Chicago. Your thoughts on that are also welcome in the comments.