Tiger, tough tests and tall trees: 7 things we've learnt at Olympic Club...

NO SHELF LIFE ON THE FAIRWAYS

The great thing about golf is that guys closing in on their retirement can still mix it with those barely out of diapers - even on the long courses of a US Open. 48-year-old David Love III posted a final round 69, while 17-year-old college kid Beau Hossler looked more at ease on the tough track than Tiger...

THE US OPEN iS NO MASTERS

The event has always made life tough for the players but golf is a better game than the USGA make it look. Dull defensive play wins you this Major rather than sublime shot-making and aggression. Some US Opens are memorable, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods wins at Pebble Beach being two, but the majority, like this year’s, are not...

SIX OF THE WORST

To set the scene, in a painfully unsubtle way, that playing the Olympic Club was going to be as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist, the first six holes were as brutal an opening to any Major in history. The horrid holes put paid to many title challenges before they had begun and the field played them in 1,109 over par. Enough said.

NEW TIGER SHOWS HIS STRIPES

This was meant to mark Woods’ Major comeback (yep, in much the same way as the Masters was...), and for two days it looked like the Big Beast would roar. However, the Olympic Club is the graveyard of greats and he’s now over four years without a ‘top four’ title. His inconsistency, the hallmark of the ‘new’ Woods, remains.

LEE’S GOT THE WRONG SURNAME

Had Lee Westwood been called Lee Janzen the ball that he drove into the tree on the fifth hole in the final round would have dropped out - just as it did for Janzen when he won at Olympic in 1998. Westy ended with a double bogey and his challenge was effectively over. You get the feeling he’ll never win a Major, boo hiss...

BIG EASY IS STILL A FORCE

While everyone’s favourite South African didn’t manage to win his third US Open he proved he’s still got the game to win a Major. His problems with the short stick seem to be over as his putting stats held up to stringent scrutiny in San Francisco. Els still hits the ball as well as well as anyone and could well be one to watch at The Open next month.

WEST COAST OPENS ARE NO FUN FOR DESERT DWELLERS

Staying up to watch the year’s second Major when it’s in California is the sort of test you’d expect delivered from some sadistic sort of interrogator. The sleep deprivation experienced while watching Jim Furyk and Co fluff their lines is an advert for getting up early and watching recorded highlights...