Golf's traditions hard to explain

Golf is one of those games that adheres to traditions, even if it can't always remember why.

Merion's wicker baskets are a good example. No one really knows why the club began using them instead of flags. But they've been there for a century, and there they are ruining another U.S. Open for Lee Westwood.

Then there's the sport's tradition of posting under-par scores in red and those over-par in green.

That seems counterintuitive.

After all, why does red signify a good thing in golf when elsewhere the color is rife with negative connotations?

Commies are red. Angry people's faces are red. Sunburn is red. Debt is red.

Green, on the other hand, is a positive color.

Green lights allow us to proceed. Spring is green. Money is green. So are some hot dogs here.

Asked what significance the colors had, a USGA official said there was none.

"It was at the Masters in the 1930s," said the spokesman for golf's governing body. "They wanted a way to differentiate between over- and under-par. So they made one red and one green. I don't think there was anything more to it than that."

Poor Lee Westwood.

The British golfer undoubtedly would have added to his impressive total of zero (0) major victories with a win at this 2013 U.S. Open, if it weren't for those blasted wicker baskets.

On Thursday, Westwood's approach to 12 struck one and caromed off the green. He finished with a double-bogey 6. Reportedly none of the other five shots on perhaps Merion's easiest hole hit wicker.

"Peter Dawson [the R&A chief executive] has reassured me that for the Open Championship we'll be going back to flags like a normal tournament," Westwood said of next month's British Open.

And like the rain this week, the sarcasm kept dripping.

"So much tradition at Merion to talk about," he tweeted, "like those delightful wicker baskets."

When a Twitter follower responded by praising the golfer for exhibiting such patience in the face of this unspeakable atrocity, he replied:

"You obviously can't read lips! There's a reason the rest of the world has moved on to flags!"

There's also a reason Westwood, who shot 77 Friday in a basket-free round, has yet to win a major.

The dining room for Open contestants is in a home close to Merion, one still occupied.

While that's charming, it's also problematic.

On Thursday, for example, a few players were watching ESPN when a young boy who lives there grabbed the remote and switched to the Golf Channel.

Probably not a Chris Berman fan.

5 things

overheard

at Merion

1 Fan to a marshal outside a concession tent: "Is there water in that tent?"

Marshall: "I don't know, but there's water everywhere else."

2Fan looking at South African Charl Schwartzel's name: "You see this guy's name? Charl! Give me a break. Charl!"

3One fan to another: "You know how I can get across Ardmore Avenue?"

Other fan: "Yeah, walk."

4"There's only two places to get mahogany, Africa and South America."

5One female fan to another: "Adam Scott is really cute. I wonder if all Austrians are."

5 things not overheard

at Merion

1"There's nothing like June golf in October."

2"I saw Lee Westwood buying one of those miniature wicker baskets in the Merchandise Tent."

3"I hear Phil's rented a house at 58th and Kingsessing."

4"Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones played here? I hadn't heard that."

5"Are there any photographers here?"

When it comes to the toughness of Merion,

This course is one angry barbarian.