Notes and quotes from U.S. Open
The rain stayed most of the pain – U.S. Open Championship
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – It was the rain that did it. No sooner than it was chiseled into stone that short-hitters couldn’t play Bethpage Black, along came Mike Weir, the Canadian lefty and one of the PGA Tour’s softer shots, and he beats the shaggy old course for a 6-under -- par 64 and a two-shot lead in the first round of the U.S.Open. He was within reach of tying the record for majors, and more to the point, setting the record of 62 or less. Till his 15th hole …
The course became so wet and heavy that U.S. Golf Association officials did not set up the Black anywhere near its imposing 7,426 yards. With many tees moved forward, it played closer to 7,100 yards, a manageable distance even for the shorter hitters because the wet greens were holding the slightest excuse of a shot, and even the long irons and possibly woods that the short-hitters had to resort to.
(It was an awkward Friday. Only 78 of the 156 in the field had Thursday started in the first round during a steady rain, and play had to be suspended at 10:16 a.m., leaving the first round to be completed Friday under agreeable skies. The first round resumed on Friday at 7:26 a.m. and ended at 5:23 p.m. Then the second round started late Friday afternoon.)
Weir, who surprised everyone by conquering a new and longer Augusta National in 2003, started on the Black’s back nine in the first round and was a flawless 6 under for his first 14 holes, and just one shot away from playing for a 63, two from a 62. But he ran afoul of the par-4 No. 6, his 15th hole, and double-bogeyed. He bounced back with birdies at his last two for the 64 and a two-shot lead on Sweden’s Peter Hanson, playing in his third U.S. Open. Hanson missed the cut in 2005, and tied for 30th in 2007.
The second round was suspended at 8:24 p.m. Friday, as dusk was falling, with Lucas Glover leading at 6-under through his 12th, with Ricky Barnes second at 5 under through his eighth, and Weir tied for third at 4 under through his ninth. Tiger Woods, who shot 74 in the first round, would start his second on Saturday morning.
RESURRECTION OPEN – If David Duval keeps it up, this will be called the Resurrection Open. Duval, former top gun but invisible for years, has missed eight cuts and withdrew once in 13 PGA Tour events this year. His best finish was a distant tie for 55th. But he shot a 3-under 67 and was tied for third through the first round in the Open. The 67 was just his sixth sub-70 round in 47 attempts at the U.S. Open, and ties his career-low in the championship.
TOUGH FOURTH – Tiger Woods, the defending champ, is seeking his fourth U.S. Open, but he didn’t make it any easier when he opened with a 4-over 74 which included double bogeys at the 5th and 15th. The last time he made two doubles in a round was the first round of the 2008 U.S. Open (which, of course, he won on the celebrated bad left leg and in the celebrated playoff against Rocco Mediate).
THE LONGEST STRETCH – Tiger Woods, in that 4-over 74 for the first round, burned up all four shots over the last four holes, 15 through 18. This matched his second-worst four-hole stretch at the end of a round in his 230 pro starts on the PGA Tour. He finished his first round Friday double bogey-bogey-par-bogey.
His other 4-over finishes: 1999 Byron Nelson, third round, bogey- birdie-quadruple bogey-par; 1999 WGC-American Express, fourth round, par-bogey-triple bogey-par. He finished 6-over in the final round of the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational: par-bogey-double bogey-triple bogey.
ROUND OF THE DAY – Kevin Sutherland opened with a 1-over 71, an innocent looking day. On closer inspection, the man was riding a Brahma bull. He started on No. 10 and trashed his way to six bogeys – five straight from the 12th – for a 41, then came home in a flawless five-birdie 30.
FROM THE PAST – Famed golf writer Dan Jenkins’ tweet on Twitter: “I haven’t seen players throw darts at the greens like this since Johnny Miller and Lanny Wadkins on the final day at Oakmont in 1973.”
(Note: Miller shot that record and historic 63 and won, and Wadkins shot 65.)
Here’s a quarter …
Some random things to think on during a slow day at the U.S. Open:
* Ryan Leaf, former Messiah quarterback whose NFL record shows 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions in four years, now an assistant coach at West Texas State, probably will get only probation out of his burglary and drug charges, says his lawyer, Bill Kelly.
* Cleveland Browns receiver Donte Stallworth received the ultimate compliment from his attorney. Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail for a DUI in which, driving his Bentley after an all-night party, he ran over and killed a construction worker who was on his way home after working all night. Stallworth, who had received a $4.5 million signing bonus the day before, was driving above the speed limit with a blood alcohol load nearly twice the legal limit in Florida. He stopped and waited for police. For this, said his lawyer, “He acted like a man.”
* Stallworth was then suspended indefinitely by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, whose last indefinite suspension -- of Pacman Jones -- was for six weeks. If Stallworth’s is just as indefinite, it would end about the time NFL summer camps open.
* Formula One is going to sue the eight teams who said they would pull out and form a rival series for next season. This is the most severe crisis to face the auto racers since the championship began in 1950.
* Chad Ochocinco, sometime star receiver, assured Cincinnati Bengal fans, “I got back to having fun, and I’m going to have fun this year.”
* An internet columnist named Lynn Sweet wrote that she has received documents from the lawyer for Carrie Prejean, defrocked Miss California USA, stating, in essence, that Prejean has been wronged and that her “good name has been tarnished.”
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