PINEHURST, N.C. — They were approaching the launching pad of a U.S. Open Thursday morning, but it had just a little feel of one of Chris Haack's qualifiers at the University of Georgia course.
The air was thick with familiarity among this threesome: Brendon Todd, Atlanta by way of UGA. Todd’s former roommate at Georgia, now living nearby in Milton, Chris Kirk. And Russell Henley, Georgia Class of 2011.
“We walked together out of the vans,” said Todd, who opened on the back nine Thursday, “having a good time catching up a little bit.”
There were no friendly bets on the wind. “A U.S. Open score was plenty of pressure for us; we’ll keep the wagers to practice rounds,” Todd said.
Three of the eight former Georgia players in the Open were thrown together for Thursday and Friday’s rounds. The buddy system seemed to help. Especially Todd, one of two of the Bulldog Eight to finish the day under par (both he and Harris English shot 1-under 69). It was a particularly impressive round for a first-timer in a major and a North Carolina-raised guy who had never played Pinehurst No. 2 until this week.
Winner of the Byron Nelson Classic last month, Todd said his showing here was just further proof of the general upward tilt his game has taken in the past year. The putter certainly showed some spirit. Todd snaked in a 50-footer on his 16th hole (No. 7) to take his round under par.
The environment also didn’t hurt. His playing partners both showed respectably — Henley 70, Kirk 71. “If one of us had gone south it might have been a deterrent to the group, just a little bit,” Todd said.
“Having us all play well kind of spurred each other on — made it easy to club off each other, kept the pace of play good. It all worked out pretty good,” he added.
The occasional “Go Dawgs” from the crowd was additionally uplifting. Those seem omnipresent these days on Tour, even here in ACC country.
“Either Georgia fans have spread or people just like saying it,” Todd said.
Mickelson gets relief. Looks like they can take down Phil Mickelson's photo at the Post Office. According to a Thursday New York Times story, Mickelson's role in alleged insider trading had been "overstated" by authorities looking into the activities of billionaire investor Carl Icahn and sports gambler William Walters.
Mickelson may have been overzealously pursued by the authorities, the Times reported.
After shooting an even-par 70, Mickelson continued to strongly deny any wrong-doing. And left it pretty much at that.
“I do have a lot to say and I will say it at the right time,” he added.
Oh, and his golf game is in OK shape, even par not a terrible opening Open statement. Although one important aspect of his game was still lacking.
Putting, he said, “is the last piece.”
“I feel like I have pretty good control of my irons, driving the ball great. I’ve got to make some 15, 20-footers, the ones that can go either way, to shoot a good enough number here…I didn’t make any today, but I’m going to keep working on it.”
My caddie could buy your caddie. Stanford sophomore Maverick McNealy shot 74 Thursday, three back of first-round low amateur, England's Matthew Fitzpatrick. While lost among the vast U.S. Open field, McNealy does own one unique distinction: His caddie is a billionaire. Dad Scott McNealy is on the bag. He is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems.
Champ chunks one. Defending U.S. Open champion Justin Rose (2-over 72) pulled a you Thursday, chunking a short chip barely halfway to the green. "Yeah, that wasn't the nicest feeling," he said. "I looked at the lie and I knew that was a possibility, but I also knew that I was trying to play an aggressive pitch shot — land it up on a shelf and check it…That was a hang-your-head moment, I suppose."
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