US Open 2018: USGA committed to venues like Shinnecock Hills despite traffic issue

Concerns have been raised that players might miss their tee times due to the severity of local traffic

USGA chief executive Mike Davis admitted the traffic "is a borderline disaster" (Getty)

The USGA will not abandon venues such as Shinnecock Hills despite the traffic problems which have raised fears of players missing their tee times in the 118th US Open.

Some journeys from official hotels west of the course have been taking up to two-and-a-half hours and Tiger Woods said on Tuesday: "There's a good chance someone might miss their time. You get a little traffic or a fender bender and it's conceivable."

USGA chief executive Mike Davis admitted the traffic "is a borderline disaster" but added in a pre-tournament press conference: "There's a lot of focus on trying to improve on what's happening traffic-wise.

"But listen, just because of what's happened the last couple days, the last thing we're going to do is give up on one of our truly treasured sites. We love this place."

A player arriving up to five minutes late for their tee time will be penalised two shots. Any later arrival will result in disqualification.

USGA managing director of rules and Open Championships Jeff Hall said: "There's certainly an exception to the rule if there's some exceptional circumstance that were to occur. However, traffic in and of itself is not exceptional.

"We've communicated with the players proactively.... alerting them to the environment that they're going to be in for the week. They've certainly been experiencing it for the last three days.

"And I think we should not lose sight (that) they do this every week. They go to different locations every week, and there are unusual circumstances that they encounter, and I'm pretty confident they will adjust their schedule accordingly to take the proper precautions."

The last time Shinnecock Hills hosted the US Open in 2004, play had to be suspended during the final round - in which 28 of the 66 players amazingly failed to break 80 - to water the seventh green, with only the winner Retief Goosen and runner-up Phil Mickelson finishing under par.

Davis admits the USGA are happy to have the chance to make amends for mishandling the conditions 14 years ago, adding: "There's a lot more science to this.

"Even though golf course set up is still an art, we look at moisture levels, meteorology is better, we have firmness levels, we have speed levels. So I think that we want this to be a true test of golf, where every aspect of your game is tested."