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 Good times ahead
Posted: Saturday June 19, 1999 07:21 AM By Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated PINEHURST, N.C. -- The best part about having the National Open in a small town is that you bump into everybody. Thursday night a rogue gang of SI riff-raff was walking into a local trattatoria when Nick Faldo was walking out. From the waitress they pried some choice dish about how surly Faldo had been. She even did a credible job of imitating his cockney accent. Friday night at the Outback Steakhouse I had the pleasure of dining with two of my esteemed colleagues, Michael Bamberger and Jaime Diaz, and it turned out that everybody who was anybody was also there nibbling on the Blooming Onion and making the scene. Two booths over was Hank Kuehne, and when we dropped by for a casual chat he said, Oh, by the way, I'm turning pro on Monday. This had been long rumored but never confirmed. So, he won't defend his U.S. Amateur this summer but will cash in on a bunch of PGA Tour sponsor's exemptions in hopes of making enough money to earn his card for next year. Corey Pavin and Colin Montgomerie were also in the house, and for a while we debated whether or not we should pick up their meals. In the end we only had the check sent over from the sprawling party of Greg Gregory, a charming young qualifier out of Fort Worth, Texas, whom Jaime has been tracking for a possible story. The entire restaurant, it seemed, was discussing the Open, and the whole of Pinehurst is abuzz about the young bucks atop the leaderboard. I walked with David Duval and Phil Mickelson Friday, at least until I got bored. It took them over two hours to play the first five holes, lowlighted by three occasions when they reached the tee only to find the group in front of them was also waiting. This was a particularly painful development, because that threesome included Jack Nicklaus, making his return to the Open following his hip surgery. It's too bad Nicklaus didn't get a replacement for his degenerative swing, because he hit some of the worst shots I've ever seen in a professional tournament, let alone by a titan of the game. The only good thing to come out of all the waiting was that my fellow ink-stained wretches and I got to thoroughly analyze the Jose Maria Olazabal debacle. Doubtless you have heard by now, but the Masters champ broke his hand punching a wall in his hotel room Thursday night following his desultory 75, and is probably out until after the British Open. Cliff Brown, the New York Times's jolly beat writer, put the whole embarrassing episode in perspective for me. He argued compellingly that Obbybobble should have said that he merely tripped on the stairs and hurt his finger breaking his fall, rather than having copped to pulling a Mike Tyson on the local Motel 6. "We all trip once in a while, youknowwhatI'msaying," Cliff said. "What's worse, being thought of as slightly clumsy or as a total bonehead?" This is what passes for intellectual discussions among golf writers. But I digress. It has been interesting to watch Tiger Woods, Duval and Mickelson. They're all playing the same game -- inconsistent-though-occasionally-spectacular ball-striking, streaky putting, and periodic lapses in judgment. None of them has put together two days of flawless golf, but what has gotten them to this point is the tremendous focus and palpable desire each has shown. I have the inkling that this weekend is going to be epochal. Now that it's dry the course is beginning to play brutally hard, and the USGA traditionally makes the Saturday setup the most diabolical of the week in order to separate the field. I think Duval, Woods and Mickelson are all going to come strong in Round 3, setting up one of the great Sunday shootouts in the history of the national championship. Then again, I picked Olazabal to win our office pool, so you never know. Alan Shipnuck is a Sports Illustrated staff writer. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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