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Anyone who plays golf for a living, needs to stop and give a quick thanks to Frank Chirkinian.

And the PGA Tour, and the golf manufacturers and even the sponsors who will pay big money to make even bigger money through exposure on golf telecasts.

Their sport is everywhere.

One can find a golf tournament on TV on any weekend across the calendar.

There is a cable channel that runs 24/7 covering nothing but the sport.

Players earn millions by simply hitting a golf ball.

And they can all thank Chirkinian, who made the game watchable.

Chirkinian died Saturday after a bout with lung cancer at age 84, but the mark he left on the game will be there forever.

Frank Chirkinian helped bring golf alive for TV. Photo Getty Images

Without Chirkinian there is no blimp cam, or mics on the teeboxes or roving reporters on the golf course.

All standard stuff now, but unheard of at a time when scores on TV were given as running totals and not in relation to par.

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In the end, it wasn’t in the hole but it didn’t matter.

Carl Spackler finally put all that practice, swinging at chrysanthemums to use.

His putter did not turn into a garden hose.

McFiddish didn’t tell him to mow the practice green.

The caddie won.

Bill Murray negotiated 72 holes at the famed Monterey Peninsula in the tournament still wistfully called the Clambake and came out a winner as he and pro partner D.A. Points captured the pro-am portion of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Bill Murray and partner D. A. Points on the 7th tee at Pebble Beach. Photo Getty Images

Carl is certain to be quick with a tip.

As long as it’s not: “Cannonball comin’.”

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The U.S. Open was won by “unheralded” Graeme McDowell, but it’s not the first time the tournament was claimed by a player outside of the recognized top tier.

Since 1965, the year the Open went to four consecutive days of 18-hole rounds, Orville Moody, Lou Graham, Andy North (twice), Scott Simpson, Steve Jones and Michael Campbell have all been crowned U.S. Open champs …

A lot is made about Phil Mickelson’s record five runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer finished second four times with three of those coming in playoffs …

Zach Johnson and Steven Ames both carded nines in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, but neither score is close to the record high for one hole in the event. Ray Ainsley took a 19 at the par-4 16th in the 1938 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills …

Jack Nicklaus played in 44 U.S. Opens, won it four times and earned a total of $372,245.95 for his efforts. McDowell cashed a check for $1.35 million for his victory Sunday …

Graeme McDowell wins 2010 U.S. Open. Photo copyright USGA/John Mummert.

With the announcement of Erin Hills and Pebble Beach as venues for the 2017 and 2019 U.S. Opens, respectively, the decade is locked up with 2018 as the lone vacancy. Speculation has centered on Torrey Pines, but that would heavy-up the event in California. Olympic Club in San Francisco will host in 2012.

Former U.S. Open sites that are not on the upcoming schedule include Winged Foot, Shinnecock Hills, Southern Hills, Oakland Hills, Inverness, Baltusrol and Cherry Hills …

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The arguments are posited every year.

Is the U.S. Open too tough? Is the golf course setup too hard? Does it cross the line to being unfair?

The fairness issue is fairly simple. It is the same golf course for everyone, so it is inherently fair.

But where players have difficulty with a course setup for the U.S. Open is when certain elements become excessive.

That is often the case with the rough that can grow to extreme heights just off the fairways.

But Mike Davis, USGA senior director of rules competitions, lessened that complaint this year by having degrees of graduated rough extending outward from the fairway cut line.

With the exception of around the bunkers, the two-foot high fescue was several yards off the fairway.

Players were taking much greater issue with the setup of certain holes, specifically the par-5 14th and the par-3 17th, during the recently concluded U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Phil Mickelson plays the 14th. Photo copyright USGA/Hunter Martin

Those two holes played, respectively, the third-toughest and toughest holes relative to par at the U.S. Open.

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — And the award for last man standing goes to …

Graeme McDowell.

The laddie from Northern Ireland let the crowd rise and fall around him while he calmly withstood the pressure that unraveled some of the best players in the game to win the 110th U.S. Open on Sunday with a four-round total of even par.

It also secured him a cool $1,350,000 for his efforts as McDowell became the first European to win the U.S. Open since Englishman Tony Jacklin won at Hazeltine in 1970.

“I’d take a major championship anywhere on the planet, I didn’t really care,” said McDowell, whose margin of victory was one stroke. “But, you know, to win the U.S. Open here at Pebble Beach is a special feeling.”

McDowell had his own share of mistakes, but they were not critical, they were well timed and he hit the shots needed to win the tournament.

Graeme McDowell wins 2010 U.S. Open. Photo copyright USGA/John Mummert

Tiger Woods can’t say the same. Phil Mickelson had opportunities, but did not capitalize. All Ernie Els had to do was shoot one-over par on the back nine and he would have won this tournament for the third time.

Els was four-over on his inward leg.

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The course that carries the name of this town is one of the most famous tracks in the world and with the staging of the U.S. Open this year, it has hosted the major championship five times.

Laird Small, who is the director of golf at the Pebble Beach Golf Academy, has been on hand for each of those tournaments and has a unique perspective on the course.

Small has written the book, Play Golf The Pebble Beach Way, as not only a guide to some local knowledge but as a model for playing your best golf anywhere.

Prior to the start of the final round, Small shared some thoughts on the golf course and issues surrounding the 110th staging of the U.S. Open here.

There has been a lot of talk about the golf course and specifically the setup, which some observers deem unfair. What is your impression of the setup by the USGA and specifically the 14th, where shots have been rolling off the back because it’s mowed to fairway length on the right side?

It is playing like a golf links course. It is playing to the style of golf course that it is and that is a links course. You have to be able to draw the ball, cut the ball and play shots in different directions.

Looking at 14 as an example, first of all you have to realize it is a par-5 and also these are poa annua greens, not unlike a course like Pinehurst. That is one of the few greens with a crown, so you have to hit it to the right spot. You have to hit it to the right spot of the green to hold the shot near the flagstick.

Some players are showing poor judgment by trying to overcontrol the ball if they’re trying to pull off a shot they can’t quite pull off or if they’re going for broke on a shot. They don’t like the consequences, but the consequences are what they are.

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Tiger Woods doesn’t lead the U.S. Open, but he’s seized control.

Reached out, grabbed it, put his interlocking grip on it and issued a challenge and a dare to the rest of the field to deny him a fourth national championship.

For the record, Dustin Johnson is the leader and Graeme McDowell is three strokes back in second place of the 110th staging of the event and fifth here.

But that 66 that Woods put on the board was emphatic, it was loud and it was the last thing those looking to bid for the title wanted to see.

“I got myself back into the tournament,” Woods said.

Simple, clear and precise.

Woods took a page right out of Mickelson’s yardage book.

Tiger Woods watches shot at No. 2. Photo copyright USGA/Mike Ehrmann

Lefty shot a 66 in Friday’s second round to seize what then appeared to be the momentum of this tournament, but consecutive bogeys to start his round set a trend that lasted into the evening after his late afternoon tee time.

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Davis Love III got the memo.

The third round is generally considered “moving day” and more so at a major and Saturday at the U.S. Open here, Love took some great strides.

With a third round 68, Love leapfrogged 49 golfers and stands tied for 10th entering Sunday’s final round.

“It wasn’t my game plan to go birdie-birdie-eagle,” Love said. “So, you just go out and play and try to birdie every hole and play the most aggressively you can. That’s what I did all day today. It worked for 14 holes and four other ones I didn’t play that great.”

Davis Love III plays the third hole. Photo copyright USGA/John Mummert

Love followed consecutive birdies with an eagle, when he drove the green on the short par-4 fourth and went out in 30. A pair of bogeys and seven pars on the back cooled his round somewhat, but it was a vast improvement from his 75-74 start in the first two rounds.

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — It’s the U.S. Open, but the assault is coming from abroad.

A pair of Yanks are tied for second with Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson at one-under for the championship, though a quick scan of the leaderboard exhibits the international flavor of the sport.

“Well, the bottom line is this is a world game,” said Tom Watson, who remained within 10 shots of the lead and made the cut.  “The types of players that we find from all over the world are ‑‑ they shine.”

Holding the lead through the first 36 holes of the 110th U.S. Open is Graeme McDowell, who fashioned a 68 on Friday to get to three-under par. He’s from Northern Ireland.

Ryo Ishikawa sinks a putt at No. 10. Photo courtesy USGA/Mike Ehrmann

In the group with Mickelson and Johnson is Ernie Els, who lives in Florida but is native to South Africa, and the 18-year-old from Japan, Ryo Ishikawa.

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The bar was set high early on for Ernie Els.

Winning a U.S. Open at the ripe age of 24 will do that, yet the South African has no one but himself to blame. He was the one hitting the greens and sinking the putts 16 years ago.

In fact, Els enjoyed the experience so much that he duplicated the feat in 1997 to add another  U.S. Open title to his resume. And, for good measure, he put a British Open trophy on his mantelpiece in 2002.

The Big Easy was always a good bet to be among the touring pro’s elite class, but the titles and the victories, heavy at the front end of his career, grew scarce as Els entered the thick of his 30s.

Part of it was the competition — Tiger Woods was nearly unbeatable. Injuries also took their toll — Els required surgery to repair a ruptured ACL in his left knee in 2005.

Ernie Els tees off at 12. Photo courtesy USGA/Steve Gibbons

But the toughest blow came when problems found his family. Els’ son Ben, who is now eight, was diagnosed with autism.

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