No. 2 second to none
Posted: Wednesday June 23, 1999 04:55 PM
It will be a major upset if Pinehurst's No. 2 course doesn't host another United
States Open within the next 10 years. It was a terrific site for an Open. The
U.S. Golf Association did just about everything right (bet you never thought
you'd read that during your lifetime) except for some overly severe pin
positions -- particularly during Friday's second round -- that bordered on
miniature golf.
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| THE SHORT
GAME |
| Carnoustie returns to the British Open rotation after a
24-year absence next month but Fred Couples isn't planning on going.
Neither is Paul Azinger , whose major championship exemption for winning
the 1993 PGA has expired. Azinger said he isn't going because he isn't exempt
and would have to qualify and besides, "The tarpon fishing at home is just
too good." ... The Open was long-hitting Hank Kuehne 's last
tournament as an amateur. All he has to do now is find someplace to play as a
pro. He hopes to get some sponsor's exemptions at PGA Tour or Nike Tour stops.
Or, if you need a fourth this weekend, give him a call. "I've played
amateur golf for a long time and I'm ready to move on, measure my game against
the next level and try to make some checks," said Kuehne, who made the cut
at Pinehurst but shot 159 on the weekend and finished 65th. ... Paul
Goydos , asked if Pinehurst's setup was unfair, said, "It's more unfair
that they let Tiger Woods hit it 390 yards and let me hit it 250." ...
Tom McNight , the reinstated amateur who lost to Kuehne in last year's
U.S. Amateur final, was amazed by some of the Open's pin positions." My son
(who caddied for him) asked me the first day, 'Where are they gonna put 'em on
Sunday? What's left?'" McNight said. Oh, they found some spots, all
right. | | | The USGA should use Pinehurst as its Open setup model. It may not, only because
the players liked it so much. "This is is by far the best U.S. Open I've
played in by tenfold," gushed Greg Norman -- before he missed the
cut. For starters, not only was the driver back in the game (ridiculously deep
rough and itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny fairways usually convince players to hit long
irons or fairway woods off the tees) but with three par 4s of over 480 yards, it
was mandatory to hit the driver and vital to hit it fairly long. Tiger
Woods used his length to birdie the 16th hole in the final round, a par 4
green that few other players successfully even reached Sunday. It's great to see
tour pros have to hit long irons and fairway woods to reach par 4s (just like
us) and even better if the poor babies complain about it later.
Second, the recovery shot made a comeback. It's a shot that takes skill to pull
off. Previous deep-rough Opens required sand wedge slashes back to the fairway,
which not only equalizes ability but is boring. Third, chipping was back as a
part of the Open. At No. 2, it may have been the most important part. It was no
coincidence that Payne Stewart , Phil Mickelson and Woods rank
among the tour's best from just off the green and were all in contention.
Chipping had been a lost art at most Opens, which favored the five-inch rough
around the greens, again requiring the no-skill sand wedge slash. "Past
Opens have not really tested you off the tee with the driver," Mickelson
said before the tournament began. "It required you to hit 2-, 3- and
4-irons but this week the fairway is as wide at 240 as it is at 320. Every
player has an opportunity to hit any club he wants. Around the greens, we've
seen the short game be obsolete but this year there was a lot of emphasis on
it. I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to play well in the U.S.
Open."
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| SAY, AREN'T YOU ...? |
| Maybe he just got up too early. Japan's Jumbo
Ozaki , who went off in the Open's the first group Thursday morning with
Brandel Chamblee and David Toms , handed the scorecard he'd been
keeping to Chamblee after the round. The only problem was, he handed Toms' card
to Chamblee, who quickly pointed out the error to a stunned Ozaki. "He
said, 'You not David Toms?'" Chamblee said. "I played 18 holes with a
guy on tour who did not know who I was. He'd been writing down my scores for
David all
day."
Ozaki had to get Toms' hole-by-hole scores from the group's scorekeeper.
"He said, 'So sorry,' and made what was obviously some self-deprecating
remark in Japanese," Chamblee said. "I guess all us gaijins
look
alike." | | | He was correct. Why U.S. Opens had taken away these parts of the game when the
idea is to test a player completely, makes no sense. Pinehurst No. 2 proves that
medium-length rough (three inches of bermuda) is enough to prevent low scoring
when greens are firm. The Pinehurst setup would be perfect for next year's site,
Pebble
Beach.
Remember, its full name is the Pebble Beach Golf Links. In 1992, the USGA ruined
the design of the course by growing ferocious rough and starving the greens.
Let's hope USGA officials learned something last week, evolve to a higher plane
and don't worry so much about the winning score and prepare Pebble Beach in the
mold of Pinehurst. Let's hope, too, that Pinehurst lands another Open soon.
No. 2 deserves a second
visit.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle is a regular contributor
to the magazine's Golf Plus edition. Click here
to send him a question or comment.
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