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Notebook Bowman has front-row seat to history
Posted: Sunday June 18, 2000 10:20 PM
By Ryan Hunt, CNNSI.com PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Scotty Bowman thinks Tiger Woods would make a "heckuva" hockey player. The Red Wings coach had a front-row view for Woods' historic round Sunday at the U.S. Open as an unofficial scorer for the Woods-Ernie Els pairing. Bowman said a friend invited to help with scoring for the Open. After helping score for Hal Sutton's group on Saturday, Bowman was tagged along with Woods and Els on Sunday at Pebble Beach. "It was a great thrill," said Bowman, who still is undecided whether he will return behind the bench in Detroit. "Too bad he wasn't a hockey player. He's so big and strong and he sure knows how to play with the lead." Bowman's main duty was to help log statistics and scores for the Tour's unofficial up-to-the-minute stats provider, meaning Bowman had his fill of recording greens-in-regulation and sand saves. "It's easy scoring for those guys," Bowman said. "Most of the time they're in the fairway. They don't go any many bunkers. A lot of times, if you wanted to, you could put the score down before. On the straight and narrowColin Montgomerie had a disappointing showing at the Open, shooting a final-round 73 to finish 15-over for the tournament and in tie for 46th place. Still, Montgomerie managed to lead the tournament in fairways hit at 82 percent. "That's great," Montgomerie said with hint of sarcasm. "Maybe they should start putting the hole in the fairway." Back to workHis dream week behind him, Jeff Wilson will be back at work Monday morning at 9 a.m. The 37-year-old Toyota salesman from Suisan, Calif., made the Cut for the first time in three trips to the Open. Wilson finished the tournament in 59th place at 20-over par after a 76 on Sunday, but received a medal for being the Open's low amateur. "I had a great week," said Wilson, who was the only one of the seven amateurs to make it to the weekend. "There were so many memories -- playing a practice round with Tiger and having my 6-year-son meet him. Making the cut. It's something I'll never forget." Bad boys, bad boysThe Monterey County Sheriff's Department had its hands full keeping the peace on 18. At one point, a pair of officers had to chase down a kayaker who decided to try to sneak a view from the rocks along the left side of the fairway. After a quick word, the kayaker rowed back out to sea. The incident, however, did delay Padraig Harrington and Miguel Angel Jimenez at the tee. Later, as Woods was preparing to finish off his round at 18, a man was screaming in protest from outside the grandstands about his inability to see the historic final putt. The man then tried to bolt through the blocked-off section for a glimpse of Woods before he was apprehended. Looking aheadNext year's U.S. Open will be at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Southern Hills hasn't hosted the Open since 1977, when Hubert Green earned the title. It's probably never too early to think about Woods' chances to repeat. Woods can become the first back-to-back Open winner since Curtis Strange in 1988 and '89. Ben Hogan is the only other golfer to repeat at the Open since World War II.
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