Kern: Opening round of U.S. Open is a perfect storm for golfers

OAKMONT, Pa. - The highlight of Thursday's weather-interrupted opening round of the U.S. Open?

Well, for a select few, it might have been during the first suspension of play in the late morning, when the European threesome of Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald (and their caddies) found themselves stuck in the media dining tent at Oakmont Country Club taking in the pivotal England-Wales football match from the Euro Championships in France.

What else were they going to be doing? Outside it sounded as if the world might soon be ending.

Better grab a Snickers.

They'd been on the 16th hole when the horn sounded alerting everyone to get the heck off the course just in case. Their closest shelter happened to be the adjacent media compound, which sits at the far end of the property. So that's where they ended up, killing time and rooting away. If you've never seen the folks from that continent follow their sport of choice, then you've really missed out. These guys were no different, particularly England's Donald, who found a spot right in front of a TV. Why not? England pretty much needed the win, against what figured to be an opponent that didn't like them very much. Can it get much more tabloidish in that part of the world?

It got rather loud when England scored first, after a few close calls. The groans are an even better way to gauge the level of fandom. Like when England just missed getting another goal, or Wales tied things late. Wherever he was, you could only wonder how Ian Woosnam was handling it. Then came the loudest roar, as England went ahead in the first minute of stoppage time. And there would be one last collective gasp, when a Wales header went just wide on what became the closing play.

Donald stood with his arms upraised, followed by a celebratory hug/handshake or two, just as the word came down for them to head back out. Before they did, Kaymer tried to get a bite to go. But the attendants wouldn't let him, for reasons that left him looking bewildered. Actually, they weren't letting anyone eat at that point, because of the conditions outside. Don't ask. I suggested to Kaymer - your 2014 champion and a two-time major winner - that he should try telling them who he was. He just sighed/grinned and said he didn't think it would matter.

Kaymer, from Dusseldorf, might have to work on his timing. The Germany-Poland match didn't kick off until midafternoon.

A writer from the local paper even tweeted out a picture of him being rebuffed in his food quest. You can't make that up.

So how did you spend your a.m. down time? The forecast said the heavier stuff wouldn't be coming down for a while. We're talking flash-flood warnings until early evening.

Just before 4:30, a thunderbolt shook the place. The startled media members looked as if they'd just been told the shuttle busses back to the hotel would not be running. At that point the internet wasn't, which is almost as catastrophic.

When it comes to golf and Mother Nature, golf never wins. At least not until somebody figures out how to build the world's largest retractable roof. And not even Fox Sports can do anything to change that, except replay some of what little golf did get played and let the many talking heads keep talking about it.

As a wise man once said, life is an audible.

Welcome to the 2016 national championship, which is looking much like 2013 at Merion and 2009 at Bethpage Black. Both those times, rain washed away enough of the first day that the rest of the week was mostly spent trying to catch up, which disrupts/changes everything. The 2009 Open didn't get over until Monday.

Oakmont was supposed to be one of the hardest venues, if not the hardest, that the best golfers in the universe had ever seen. Now we'll probably never know, even though the outlook for the weekend is more than OK.

ESPN analyst Andy North, who won this twice, predicted last week that the winning score would be around 288, which is 8-over par. Thursday, he took a mulligan, opting to go instead with 275. In the seven men's majors played here under stroke-play format, nobody's finished lower than 278. That was at the 1978 PGA Championship.

Half the field didn't even make it to the first tee. Only nine players finished. The second round can't begin until the first round is completed, which means the guys who come back to finish up Friday morning might not get back on the course until Saturday. And so on. Nobody said it has to proceed normally.

"I think I got in 13," said Harris English, who actually has completed 12 and is one of four at minus-1, two off the lead. "I think I'm on 4 green (he started on 10) right now."

Correct. But it can get confusing.

It also means that the 63 Johnny Miller shot in the final round to win here in 1973 might not be an impossibility, although the USGA can still do a lot of stuff to keep it somewhat unfair. Hey, it is an Open at Oakmont. But the fairways and greens will be much more receptive. Who figured? You still have to avoid the bunkers and rough, which should be harder to deal with.

Of course, Merion still managed to hold its own three years ago. And that's some 250 yards shorter. But it won't be the same. That won't matter to the one who takes home the trophy. Funny how that works.

It could have been worse. This could have been Sunday.

"Obviously, I wish I could finish," said two-time Masters champ Bubba Watson, who is minus-2 with four holes left to play on Friday morning, "so I could watch (Game 6 of the NBA Finals) all the way through tonight."

Added Westwood: "It's frustrating to have to keep coming off. The course is playing nicely. I don't know how it's going to hold up after this, as it is a bit different than what we've had (so far)."

Wonder whom he fancies in Italy-Sweden?