Notes and Quotes from the U.S. Open
Mickelson: Shades of Winged Foot – U.S. Open Championship
SAN DIEGO - It was a little like Winged Foot, two years later and two rounds earlier.Phil Mickelson his only four fairways in his final round at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and with the crash at the final hole, lost the thing. This was the second round of the '08 Open at Torrey Pines, and he hit only six fairways again, and who knows - maybe he lost this was here and now.
“It was a tough day for me today,” Mickelson said. No alibis. Course fair.
“I've got to hit the ball in the fairway,” he said. “When I do, I'm able to play the course effectively. I'm able to make some birdies. When I don't, it's been very tough.”
Mickelson, with a par 71 in the first round, began the second just three shots off the lead, but he started hitting it this way and that and had to play out of the vegetation much of the way. He shot a 4-over 75 and suddenly was seven shots off going into Saturday's third round. That might be a bit too much to make up against a resurgent Tiger Woods and a bunch of sharpshooters who are growing in confidence.
Mickelson also hit only seven greens, and was saved by a slight improvement in putting, from 33 to 27.
“I'm going to come back tomorrow and try to get this thing back to even par,” he said, “and I should have a chance on the weekend.”
HARD-WAY 6 - Kevin Streelman, PGA Tour rookie out of Scottsdale, Ariz., who knew the thrill of leading his first U.S. Open (sharing with a 68 in the first round), fell off the leaderboard almost immediately in the second round, with a brutal triple bogey at No. 3. He had a tough lie off a bunkered tee shot. On getting out: “I should have hit it a foot to the left, or a yard to the left, and tried to get up-and-down from there. I executed the shot very well. It just wasn't going to stop, and it went over the green.” He went on to double bogeys at No. 6 and No. 15 and shot 77 for a 3-over 145 total. No dampened spirits here. “If Thursday morning, I would've said 3-over at a U.S. Open through two rounds,” he said, “I would've taken it.”
THE MARCH OF TIME - Vijay Singh, who shot 78, laid part of the bad showing to the hot breath of the timers. “We were on the clock for seven holes,” Singh said. “You cannot play at your normal pace. I'm normally a fast player, but if you're on the clock, you're always concerned about whether you're going to be times or not. So that kind of threw me off.” He left hoping his 149 total would make the cut.
BIG SWINGS -- Scott Sterling, 35, PGA Tour rookie playing in his first U.S. Open, on going 80-70: “I guess after you shoot 80, there's nothing to lose, so it's a little easier” … John Rollins (75-68): “I don't have a clue. The hole got in the way enough today, so if I can continue to have that happen, then hopefully we'll have some fun on the weekend” … Sergio Garcia (76-70), on what changed: “I am much more aggressive now over the shots. I wasn't hopping it was going to go there, I was making sure it was going to go there” … Padraig Harrington (78-76 - 145): “Strangely, I felt like I played better yesterday. I still made four birdies, like yesterday, but just holed the odd par putt here and there. You are just so much more accepting of the odd bad shot when you are holing the putts, and that was what I did today” … And first-round co-leader Justin Hicks (68-80).
IT'S A STRETCH - The USGA threw a real curve at the field in the course setup for the second round Friday, stretching the par-3 3rd by more than 50 yards, from the 142 yards in the first round to 198, and from an elevated tee to a nearly flat one.
Other changes at par-3s: No. 8, from 177 to 183; 11th, from 204 to 230; 16th, from 193 to 220. At par-5s, the 13th, from 614 to 599, and 18th, from 573 to 535, shortening both to tempt players into going for the green in two.
THE SHIRT ON HIS BACK -- Hollas, the Canadian golf apparel and outerwear company, is donating 1,000 authentic U.S. military licensed camouflage shirts to service members to recognize the humanitarian efforts of Rory Sabbatini, who wears Hollas.
“These shirts are replicas of those Rory will begin wearing at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines,” said company executive Don Nichols. Sabbatini, a South African, has helped raise more than $1 million for U.S. military related causes in his work with the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
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