US Open to take place on flag-less course

GOLF: Players will not be able to use the flags like they usually do to determine what the wind is doing around the greens in the US Open later this week - there are none at Merion.

Every pin on the Philadelphia course, which last hosted the event in 1981, is topped with a wicker basket, red on the front nine and orange on the back, rather than a traditional flag.

All 18 are taken in every night to stop them being stolen.

But whoever wins will get to keep one as a unique souvenir.

The exact origin of the idea is a mystery, while the identity of the person who makes them is kept a secret..