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Closing the book on the Open
Random musings on an outrageous U.S. Open ... Why was everyone so surprised about the carnage on Southern Hills' 18th hole? The place had an ominous history long before its greens were vandalized two years ago. The final four holes of Hubert Green's 1977 victory were played under a death threat, and four years later a member was rubbed out in the club parking lot in a gangland slaying. So what's a few more bodies added to the pile? ... Anyway, thank goodness Retief Goosen missed that two-footer Sunday evening. If he had made that putt for the victory, it would have been one of the most boring majors in recent memory. ...
What was funny was that all of Goosen's family members asked me to pass on messages of good luck and other mushy sentiments. They had no way of reaching him in Tulsa. Sunday afternoon I bumped into Goosen in the locker room before his round. He had this dazed sort of game face on and looked to be in a hurry, so I blurted out, "François, Henri, your mom and your aunt all say good luck." He looked at me like I was a martian, then turned and walked away. I knew then he would win this tournament. What concentration! ... One of the saddest things I've seen in all my years of covering golf: Sunday evening Stewart Cink bravely faced an inquisition by the press, clinging to his wife and two kids for support. A reporter asked Cink about -- what else? -- the putt on 18, and Cink explained that his kids didn't really understand what had gone on out there. Then Connor, age 7, piped up and said, "I knew you didn't make that putt." "Could you have made it?" Stewart asked. "Yes," said Connor, definitively. ... More Cink: Despite the equanimity he displayed Sunday evening, don't think his self-immolation won't leave scars. Cink is one of the few guys on tour who really cares about the history of the game and yearns to be a part of it. This is due in large part to his having joined East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, the same course where Bobby Jones fell in love with the game as a kid. (Cink lives off the 14th fairway at the TPC of Sugarloaf, site of the BellSouth Classic, but plays East Lake a couple of times a month.) Last year Cink outdueled Tom Lehman, Ernie Els, Davis Love III and Vijay Singh to win in Hilton Head, but The Atlanta Journal-Constitution didn't have a writer on hand. The day after the victory one of the AJC reporters called up Cink, whose first words were, "I saw you guys ran the same wire story as everybody else." You think this guy doesn't care? ... Last week in Tulsa I was struck by déjà vu. Last week in Tulsa I was struck by déjà vu: This tournament was what every U.S. Open used to be, pre- Tiger -- a war of attrition, with a motley cast of hopefuls laying up off the tee and prudently playing for par. Woods may reel off a couple more blowouts in the majors, but they will almost certainly come at the Masters or the British Open, where under the right conditions the course can be vulnerable. No one ever runs away with the U.S. Open, which makes Tiger's 15-stroke victory last year all the more mind-blowing. I think that 20 years from now it will still go down as the single greatest performance, and achievement, of his career. ... How mercurial is Mark Brooks? In the 40 minutes between the completion of his rain-delayed first round and the start of his second, he actually changed drivers. Of course, the hunch paid off as he went out and shot 64 to get back into the tournament. A noted club fiddler, I saw Brooks leaving the clubhouse Saturday night with a half dozen drivers under his arm. ... There's no cheering in the press box, but when Goosen finally holed out the 18th on Monday, a smattering of applause rippled through the media center. A renegade band of South African journos, gloating about the victory? Hardly. We were all just dying to get the hell out of Oklahoma. Sports Illustrated senior writer Alan Shipnuck periodically waxes about life On Tour for CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or a nice, friendly comment.
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