"I don't care if they get helicopters..."

The players are all talking about the wet conditions in Philadelphia for the U.S. Open. Ernie Els has little doubt that this is going to be a wet contest. This is what he had to say about it at this morning's press conference:

"After the rain this morning, it's going to be very sloppy now. You're not going to see a firm U.S. Open this year, I'm sorry. I don't care if they get helicopters flying over the fairways, it's not going to dry up.

            We're going to have a soft golf course this week all week. It means that if you're on your game you're going to have a lot of birdie putts. There's quite a few par‑4s where you've just got to put it in the fairway. You can put it in the fairway with an iron, from a 5‑iron for a 3‑iron, just putting it into play, and then you've got quite a short second shot.

            I can see pin placements are going to be quite tough to protect the course. You're going to see a lot more birdies than ever at U.S. Open venues. But the finish is still very strong. The par‑3s are very, very strong. And there's some par‑4s; 5 and 6, obviously 18 and 14 is a very strong hole. So there's some really strong par‑4s, but then you've got some birdie chances. I should say the par‑3s are going to be tough."