GOLF This U.S. Open seems familiar (to foreigners)

The links-style course reminds players of the British Open.
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) -- Brad Faxon found his shot nestled deep in green grass along the first fairway, typical of tee shots at the U.S. Open that miss by the smallest margins.
What happened next reminded him of another Open.
His wedge hit the front of the green and hopped high, rolled toward the back of the green and, just when it looked as if it might stop, curved to the right and gained speed until it dropped out of sight, into a deep bunker.
Faxon smiled as if he had seen this before.
"British Open," he said.
The calendar says June. The links-style course says July.
Everything about Shinnecock Hills and the 104th U.S. Open has the feel of a British Open, from the stately clubhouse to the waves of waist-high grass framing the fairway to the strong sea breezes that blow south from the Atlantic or north from Great Peconic Bay.
About the only things missing are fish and chips and bacon rolls sold at the concession stand.
Kevin Sutherland arrived Monday morning to overcast skies, flapping flags and weather cool enough for a sweater.
"When I got out of the car, the temperature, the grass, the white tent ... I thought I was at the British Open," he said. "And that was even before I saw the course. The only difference between this and Lytham is they have ice here."
Tough course
Tiger Woods stood on the 398-yard eighth hole Tuesday morning with a driver in his hand, surveying a fairway he could barely see and a landscape that made him wonder if he was really in New York.
"This looks like the back nine at Carnoustie. Only that would be the size of the fairway," he said, pointing to a winding dirt walkway through the weeds.
The fairways at Shinnecock are no bargain at 26 yards wide on average. And they are so firm that Faxon threw a ball onto the ground and caught it level with his waist.
"I don't think there's another U.S. Open like this one," Woods said. "This is very much like a British Open. You can actually putt from 30, 40 yards off the green if you so choose. That's certainly not the case at any other Open venue we play."
It wasn't even the case the last time the U.S. Open came to Shinnecock Hills in 1995.
Back then, most of the greens were surrounded by thick rough so typical of the U.S. Open. Now, the slopes around the greens are shaved, allowing the ball to run some 10 yards off the green, similar to Pinehurst No. 2.
Nice change
No one notices it quite like Masters champion Phil Mickelson. He still remembers how he got buried in the thick grass to the right of the par-5 16th green at Shinnecock in the 1995 U.S. Open. Lefty played that hole in 6 over par for the week and finished four shots behind.
"I don't know if it was the USGA being nice to me or if it was the USGA laughing at me, but they shaved the entire area right of 16 where I had been hacking it out of rough," Mickelson said. "It's fine now. I like the fact that it is now fairway. Thank you."
The wind can hold its own with anything on the British Isles. Even as the sun was trying to break through early morning fog, the flags -- Stars & amp; Stripes, not Union Jack -- were whipping. Woods hitting a driver on the 398-yard eighth hole spoke volumes. He followed that with a 5-iron onto the green.
As for the land itself?
"It's got that color that we get back in the old country," Ernie Els said. "And it plays very firm. It's got all the makings of a British Open right there."