Oakmont superintendent shares crazy fact about U.S. Open rough

The reason the rough felt unplayable even after it was mowed is because the mowers are designed specifically to present more challenges.

During an appearance on the "Fried Egg Golf" podcast last week, Oakmont superintendent Mike McCormick explained how the course had custom mowers built so they could cut the grass to a certain (very tall) height and have it stand up straight.

"We made some adjustments to our mowers. We had some parts custom made so we can actually cut grass up to the height that we want for the championship for that exact reason," McCormick said. "If you just grow it up to, whatever, three inches and let it grow from there, it's gonna start growing over itself. It's gonna lay over and then the ball sits on top. There's a lot of thought and science that goes into producing rough like we have right now."

With diabolical rough, lightning-fast greens and rain in the forecast, there is legitimate potential for the winner of the U.S. Open to come in with a score over par. Justin Thomas has already said some of the rumors about Oakmont are true, which is not good news for the players in the field.

Best of luck, guys.