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 On The Course: Major Distractions
Posted: Friday June 18, 1999 07:06 PM
By Rick Lipsey, Sports Illustrated PINEHURST, N.C. -- Watching Tiger Woods play his second round this morning really made me appreciate how much he has to overcome to win a golf tournament, no less a major championship. Just before and immediately after every swing, fans are yelling, cameras are clicking and officials are scurrying around. Clearly, though, Woods has learned how to cope with the mass distractions. Just before attempting a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 17 in the second round, a bunch of camera shutters went off. Woods backed off his putt, and calmly told the photographers, "Watch your cameras, guys, c'mon." Not so long ago, Woods would have angrily reacted, and probably three-putted. But this time he calmly regrouped and two-putted for par. Bear Bullish About WeekendJack Nicklaus had that gleam in his eye. This was Friday afternoon, beside Pinehurst's sprawling clubhouse, and Nicklaus was surrounded by a sea of reporters. He was speculating about the delicious possibilities for the final two rounds of this 99th U.S. Open, what with a phalanx of superstars, including the top four players in the world-David Duval, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III and Vijay Singh-all at or near the top of the leaderboard. Never mind that the Golden Bear won't be part of the festivities. Nicklaus, 59, playing in his record 43rd consecutive Open, had shot 153 and missed the cut by a country mile. But with No. 2 getting more impossible by the minute, even Nicklaus was looking forward to watching the drama unfold. "It will be a wonderfully exciting weekend," he said. "You've got so many guys out there playing so well, and they are all the top players in the game. "You have Duval, Mickelson, Payne Stewart. There's Hal Sutton, too. I played with Hal today, and he is hitting the ball just wonderfully. There's also Vijay, Davis, Tiger. It'll sure be fun."
No Sweet 16Watch for the Open's denouement late Sunday afternoon to hinge on what happens at Pinehurst No. 2's monstrous 489-yard, par-4 16th hole. That's because there's not much chance for big swings at the benign 17th and 18th -- a relatively easy par 3 and par 4, respectively -- but anything from 3 to 8 is easily possible at 16, where everybody except bombers like Woods and John Daly are banging three-wood approach shots to the lightning-quick green. As if 16's distance isn't punishing enough, Pinehurst's prevailing breeze blows into players' faces and there are severe undulations in the rough just off the fairway. I watched the early groups come through 16 Friday morning, and none of the first 20 players hit the green in regulation. Then the 21st, Woods, hit a high, cutting four-iron that stopped six feet past the hole. He missed the putt and settled for par.
Open Season Has ArrivedPlayers were using words like "friendly" and "fair" to describe No 2 on Wednesday and Thursday, when rain fell and the course was as tame as it could be. But the vernacular has a decidedly less amiable flavor now that bright sun and a steady breeze are baking out the course and making the balatas roll around like pinballs on greens that look like upside-down woks. Friday morning, descriptions like "nasty" and "no comment" were likely to be heard rolling off players' tongues as they limped off what Ernie Els called "the hardest course I've ever played."
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