PINEHURST, N.C. — The leaders of the men’s U.S. Open were still more than three hours away from their tee time Sunday when the first women showed up at the practice area to begin preparing for their turn on Pinehurst No. 2 this week.
Look out fellas, the women can hardly wait to play through.
For the first time, the United States Golf Association is staging consecutive U.S. Opens on the same course on consecutive weeks.
A handful of the women’s Open players were impatient to get going. As soon as the Pinehurst practice area was open to them — at noon Sunday — they were out there, firing away. Several joined the gallery to watch this final round.
“Hitting balls next to the guys, when does that ever happen?” 2010 Open champion Paula Creamer said on NBC.
You figure even if the television ratings sag with Tiger Woods out and Phil Mickelson out of contention, there was at least one dedicated group of women watching hour upon hour of the action.
“I’ve learned a lot watching,” said the world’s No. 2 player, Inbee Park. “Especially around the greens and how to play to the greens.”
The course will play about 900 yards shorter for the women than the men (taken in from 7,562 to 6,649). “Our intent is to try to test both groups of golfers in a like manner,” USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said earlier last week. “Whether we’re actually able to pull that off or not is another story that I think a lot of us — including me — are still waiting to see. Although we’re confident we can get pretty good at it.”
Questions persisted about how well the course would hold up to two weeks of championship play. Would the greens, which likely will be softened a bit for the women, remain suitably smooth? Would the women be hitting out of week-old divots until they just gave up and went home?
Yes, and not likely, the USGA insists.
Tribute to Dad. How's this for a great Father's Day gift? Your son is playing in a U.S. Open Sunday. He is walking up 18, completing what has to be a dream, no matter his score. Suddenly his caddie motions you over, fits you with his red bib and hands you the bag. Dad, you carry your son home. That happened to both Jay Berger (son's Daniel, who shot a 66 Sunday) and Jim Blair (son Zac finished 9 over for the tournament).
Barney Fife lives. Must not be much crime in the North Carolina sandhills. A state trooper made a big arrest Saturday when he busted the cart driver for NBC analyst Roger Maltbie. The trooper said the driver, Tommy Lineberry, failed to stop the cart when ordered and grazed him while passing by.
Etc. Justin Rose shot 281, 1 over last year to win the U.S. Open at Merion. He shot just two strokes worse, 283, this year at Pinehurst and finished 12 back of Martin Kaymer…Time to ditch all the high-priced swing aids. Kaymer warms up with a tennis ball hanging from his neck by a cord. He pinches the ball between his forearms as he swings. "Some players have tried it and they struggled a little bit to keep the ball (pinched)," Kaymer said. "It's not that easy to build, but my coach is a very good engineer."…Missing the cut at the Masters this year, Matthew Fitzpatrick, the 19-year-old winner of the 2013 U.S. Amateur, shot his first sub-par round in a major Sunday (69). Good timing. He makes his pro debut this week at the Irish Open. This national championship was a nice "warm-up," he said…Zach Johnson had the only hole-in-one of the Open Sunday, on the 172-yard ninth. He celebrated with a victory lap around the green, high-fiving the gallery.
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