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Tee it up all week with SI.com's Seth Davis in the U.S. Open Blog, a daily journal of golf commentary, on-site reporting and reader-driven discussions.
6/18/2006 09:34:00 PM

Top storylines from '06 Open

Just sat in on Geoff Ogilvy's sparsely-attended winner's press conference. In fact, if you removed the Australian writers from the room, you would have probably had as many people in attendance if Tadd Fujikawa, the 15-year-old amateur from Hawaii, was the one holding forth.

I certainly don't say that to disparage Ogilvy. Not at all. He is the champion of the United States Open, and his name will be engraved on that trophy alongside the greatest who ever played the game. He is also no fluke. Ogilvy is ranked 17th in the world, he has won twice on the PGA Tour (including the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this year) and he was 5th on the PGA Tour's money list coming into the Open. He sealed this win with two great wedge shots -– a chip-in on 17 and a long flop shot on 18, which was followed by a gutsy 6-foot save. My hat is off to him, and yours should be too.

If Ogilvy goes on to achieve further golfing greatness, the 2006 U.S. Open will be remembered as the springboard that vaulted him there. But for the time being, if we look back at the balance of this memorable U.S. Open week, we have to put the 29-year-old Aussie in his proper perspective. So as I sign off from the blogosphere for the week (and thanks to all of you who slacked off at work and blew off their families to click in and read my submissions), allow me to rank the top five storylines of the '06 Open:

1. Mickelson implodes on 72nd hole.

Mickelson had played 71 holes on a brutal golf course without making a double bogey. He had a two-stroke lead with three holes to play, yet he threw it away with one very bad decision from the rough on No. 18. No matter how many more majors Lefty wins -– and it says here he will win more majors -– this disappointment will be a lasting piece of his legacy.

2. Colin Montgomerie near-misses again.

At least Mickelson has shed his best-player-never-to-have-won a major. Monty remains arguably the best player EVER who didn't win a major. He said after today's round that this was his most disappointing loss because he also double bogeyed the last hole when a bogey would have gotten him into a playoff. It's nice that Monty has finally become a crowd favorite in his dotage, but I'm sure he would have absorbed a little more vitriol in exchange for the big trophy.

3. The legend of the Winged Foot massacre lives on.

The winning score here was 5-over par, a full nine strokes higher than Retief Goosen's winning score at Shinnecock two years ago. Yet, you heard not a single complaint from the players that the course was unfair. Quite the contrary, in fact. A.J. Tillinghast's classic has once again showed it can withstand the test of time. The Open sites have been determined through 2013, and as of yet, Winged Foot does not have a return date on the board. But clearly, it will only be a matter of time before we're treated to another massacre. Lucky us.

4. Tiger misses the cut.

I was tempted to rank this third considering it was the first time Tiger missed a cut at a major as a professional. But we all know the circumstances surrounding his return -– nine-week layoff plus a difficult course plus the emotions of his first tournament since his father's death -– made it understandable. In hindsight, it was silly for us to expect that Woods could contend for this championship, but you can't blame us for expecting superhuman exploits from him.

5. Ogilvy wins his first major.

As I said, this could become a bigger story if Ogilvy continues his ascendance. Or, he could end up being another Andy North who flashed in the U.S. Open pan and then flamed out. I'm guessing it will be somewhere in between.
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6/18/2006 08:28:00 PM

This one will be tough for Lefty

So they held a U.S. Open here at Winged Foot today and a funeral broke out.

That was undeniably the feeling a few minutes ago behind the Winged Foot clubhouse. As I type this, Geoff Ogilvy is holding his winner's press conference at the outside "flash area" (he'll be in the media tent in a few minutes for a lengthier sit-in), but most of the writers are back here in the media center writing their Phil-blew-it stories. We all believed at the start of this final round that Mickelson would be the story, and in that sense, Lefty did not disappoint.

You will not be the least bit surprised to know that Mickelson handled his shocking loss with class. Though he finished in a three-way tie for second place with Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie, Lefty was the only one to make it back to the 18th green to accept the runner-up's traditional silver medal from the USGA. (The announcer made sure to mention that Mickelson was the only one of the three who had "the grace to be here as a runner-up.") When Phil took the microphone, he congratulated Ogilvy, thanked the USGA and Winged Foot members and then said, "For all of you who supported me this week, all I can say is, I'm sorry. I just cannot believe that I did that."

Mickelson repeated that sentiment about a half-dozen times during his postround interview in the flash area. "I just can't believe that I did that. I am such an idiot," he said in his opening statement. "I just couldn't hit a fairway all day."

A quick poll of a couple of my colleagues supported the idea that this was the biggest major choke job since Greg Norman's inplostion at the 1986 Masters. (Retief Goosen's missed 2-footer on the 72nd hole of the 2001 U.S. Open also comes to mind, but at least Goosen won the title in an 18-hole playoff the next day.) Naturally, most of the questions directed at Mickelson revolved around his second shot at No. 18, when he tried to blast a difficult fade up toward the green and chunked his ball into a tree. "I had a good lie," he said. "I had to hit a big carving slice around the tree and I over-cut it, just like I over-cut the tee shot and some of the other shots. Obviously, in hindsight, if I hit it in the gallery and it doesn't cut, I am fine. I can still make bogey, even par. I ended up hitting the tree."

It was hard to see a good guy in such agony, but it's a massive understatement to say there will be a lot of second-guessing about Mickelson's strategy in that situation -– especially considering his long history of imprudent over -- aggrressiveness on the course. The worst indictment will be over his decision to try to make par, when what he really should have been thinking was to make sure he took a double bogey out of play. Asked if he was thinking par or bogey at that point, Lefty replied, "Well, I was playing for a par. If I would make par, I'd win the touranament. I just thought, 'I can slice this.' I had 185 [to the] front, 201, I think, to the hole. I thought I'd just put the 3-iron on the green, or if not on it, around it, and get up-and-down."

Phil also said he would spend the next few days in bed, as he always does afer majors, but it's clear he won't soon bounce back from this devastation. "The biggest reason why this is so disappointing is that this is a tournament that I dreamt of winning as a kid," he said. "I spent countless hours practicing, dreaming of winning this tournament, came out here weeks and months in advance to get ready and had it right there in my hand. It was right there and I let it go. I just cannot believe I did that."

With that, Mickelson stepped off the podium and stuck his hand out to his wife, Amy, and said, "Shall we?" Then they walked arm-in-arm into the locker room, knowing all too well that a lifetime of what-ifs awaited.
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6/18/2006 06:45:00 PM

Playoff in the future?

Just when I thought we were out, they pull us back in!

I'm sitting in the main room of the media center, and when a large roar erupted from the dining area, Art Spander of the Oakland Tribune asked, "What was that?"

"World Cup," I replied

Actually, it was a group of writers who watched Colin Montgomerie's monster birdie putt on 17 roll in about 20 seconds before it popped up on the main screen. Coupled with Phil Mickelson's bogey at 16 and we once again have a tie for the lead, thereby bringing the prospect of a playoff back into plausibility.

Monty's putt also ruined Alan Shipnuck's day, considering he was just polishing off the bulk of his Phil-wins-it story. "I was just about to hit send!" Alan shrieked.

Remember, folks, it's all about us writers.
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6/18/2006 05:36:00 PM

Lefty win is bad news for SI writers

I did surmise a few hours ago that 4-over-par would win this thing. I'm going to hold steady on that one, even though Phil Mickelson just drained a 12-foot putt on No. 11 for birdie. You still have to like Lefty to win this thing, but the guy in the best position might well be Jim Furyk, partly because he's two holes ahead.

As stories go, however, Furyk might be the worst one on the board. His win wouldn't mean much in the world of golf, and he's not particularly interesting. Even a Geoff Ogivly victory would make better copy. Meanwhile, if Mickelson does win, it could put a permanent strain on the relationship between SI's Alan Shipnuck and Rick Reilly. They just spent 10 minutes bartering over parts of Mickelson's story, but every time Rick came up with something, Alan said he had already written it into his story.

"Man, you're like a Hoover! You're sucking everything up!" Reilly complained. To which Alan replied, "Remember when you wrote the lead? It's all about the Hoover."

We also can't rule out the dreaded playoff scenario. I asked one of the USGA officials what time the playoff would start, and he chastised me for even uttering the 'P' word. I'm told that a playoff, which definitely will not happen, tees off at noon.

And don't look now, but Ryuji Imada is about to be your leader in the clubhouse.
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6/18/2006 04:12:00 PM

What was Lefty thinking?

If Phil Mickelson loses this U.S. Open, the shot he just attempted from the rough on No. 5 will be the most-played highlight since Tiger Woods' chip-in at Augusta's 16th in 2004. What was weird about it was that Phil only had about 140 yards to the hole, yet he tried to hit a wood out of a badly buried lie. I'm curious to hear from him after the round about what he was trying to do.

All things considered, though, he only bogeyed to fall into a three-way tie with Geoff Ogilvy and Kenneth Ferrie, but Ogilvy just birdied the 6th to take a one-sroke lead. So how many of you had Ogilvy in our Open pool to start the week?
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6/18/2006 02:29:00 PM

A great way to spend Father's Day

Happy Father's day, Blogettes. I've always thought it was one of the great confluences of life that the U.S. Open's final round always falls on Father's Day. Unfortunately, as a golf writer that often means being away from home on the one day you want to lie around the house with your wife and kids and do whatever you want (which is usually to have your wife and kids leave you alone). Since I live in Connecticut, I got to wake up this morning at home with my beautiful wife, Melissa, and my two boys, Zachary (2) and Noah (six weeks). So no matter what happens from here on out, I've already had a great day. I hope you have, too.

Which is not to say I'm not particular about the chain of events that will unfurl over the next few hours. I'm sure I speak for all sportswriters inside this media center when I say we are hoping for a few things to come to fruition. For starters, we are all hoping the air conditioning holds out here in the media center. I can tell you this will be by far the hottest day of the tournament, with high humidity and temperatures expected to climb into the low 90s. I am sweating just sitting here typing, so I can't imagine how hard it will be on the players. If the wind picks up as expected, don't be surprised to see the winning score at 4-over or higher. But if it stays this hot AND the a/c goes out in the media center, then there will be a lot of blank pages in your local sports section tomorrow morning.

Second, I'm sure we are all hoping for the same thing you are -- an exciting finish. That may be hard to come by since birdies will be in short supply, but it will be critical that one of the big names is in the hunt at the end. Personally, I'd love to see someone like Kenneth Ferrie or Steve Stricker break through and win this thing, but I'm sure a lot of my fourth estate brethren would rather write Phil or Vijay stories. I thought about taking a poll of all the writers asking them to pick a winner, but I bagged it because I know Mickelson would win in a runaway. I know I'd pick him. You'd be a fool not to.

But if there is one thing every writer in this press tent is rooting for most of all, it's that there we have a clear winner at the end of the day. As you know, the U.S. Open is the only tournament that has an 18-hole Monday playoff to break a 72-hole tie. That hasn't happened since 2001, when Retief Goosen won at Southern Hills. Besides being a dumb way to end a major championship -- everyone knows the three- or four-hole playoff formats employed by the British Open and PGA Championship are the best way to go -- the Monday return is a sportswriter's absolute worst nightmare. It interferes with travel plans, carpools and tee times. Thus, if Mickelson is sizing up a three-foot putt to finish in a tie for first a few hours from now, you can expect to hear a bunch of guys standing by the green and shouting "Noonan!"

Anyway, if I can't be at home today, there's no place I'd rather be than in a temperature-controlled tent, watching the final round of the U.S. Open and firing off wiseacre comments into the blogosphere. So settle back onto the couch, fire up the widescreen and keep your laptop handy. As long as you don't spill any beer on the keyboard, we're gonna have a great day.

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6/17/2006 09:01:00 PM

Ferrie provides extra flavor to Open

Okay, so I've had a little bit of fun this week at Kenneth Ferrie's expense, but let us give the man his due: He is tied for the lead after three rounds at the U.S. Open. And the more I learn about Ferrie, the happier I am about that. Professional golfers are as vanilla as athletes get, so I'm grateful this pugnacious 27-year-old Englishman has brought a little piss-and-vinegar to the party.

For example, you may have noticed on the 18th tee today that Ferrie immediately walked away in disgust after striking his drive -– even though the ball ended up bouncing harmlessly down the middle of the fairway. That's not your standard even-keel behavior from a world-class golfer. And to think, he'll be paired tomorrow in the last group with golly-gee Phil Mickelson himself. It'll be Mr. Chipper playing with Mr. Chip-On-His-Shoulder.

I also like that Ferrie makes no apologies for his temperamental moody side. During his postgame press conference, he compared himself to Woody Austin, who once famously broke the shaft of his putter over his head. "People have tempers. That's just human," Ferrie said. "Wouldn't this be a really boring place to be, really boring for you guys if everybody acted exactly the same way and everybody read off cue cards every week?"

Amen to that.

Ferrie loves to joke about his high-wattage act. When a reporter suggested he wouldn't have the option of snapping his clubs because he'll be on such a huge stage tomorrow, Ferrie quipped, "You say that..." But his lack of self-restraint got him in a bit of a pickle last month at the Irish Open. The episode began when a gust of wind moved Ferrie's ball on the 14th green during his final round. He asked one of his player partners, Irish native Paul McGinley, for advice on what the rules were for that situation. McGinley incorrectly told Ferrie he could replace his ball.

After Ferrie discovered his error and was assessed a two-stroke penatly, he blew up at McGinley on the next hole and later suggested to the press that McGinley's incorrect counsel might have been intentional. After some of his European colleagues suggested a week later that Ferrie should be summoned before the players' committee and fined, he wrote McGinley a letter of apology.

During his post-round press conference today, I asked Ferrie what he learned from that incident. He didn't really answer my question, but he did return to it after another writer asked him later to reveal the last time he threw or broke a club in anger. Ferrie's jovial countenance quickly grew dark. "Guys, I'm tied for the lead at the U.S. Open," he said. "That has no relevance about anything. Your colleague asked before what I learned from the experience with Paul a few weeks ago, and the thing I learned is that, in the nicest possible respect, you guys can make a story out of nothing."

Amen to that, too.

If the Philofiles take the time to get to know him tomorrow, they'll see there's a lot to like about this guy who describes himself as "just an average Joe." (The same can be said for all those snarky bloggers who have derided Ferrie from the comfort of the air-conditioned media center.) Ferrie finished 11th on the European Tour's Order of Merit last year, so we know he can play, but even his own caddy never believed he could contend at Winged Foot. After Ferrie qualified for the U.S. Open, his caddie chose to stay in Europe so he could attend the World Cup in Germany. Ferrie admits he can't overpower golf courses the way he did 10 years ago, so he has to play smart, disciplined golf. And while Mickelson has struggled over the years to shed a few pounds of subcutaneous fat, Ferrie used good old-fashioned diet and exercise to drop 55 pounds last year.

Ferrie also admitted sheepishly today that he uses a line of TaylorMade irons billed as "game improvement" clubs that were designed for the 20-handicapper. "I find the game quite hard to start with," he explained with a grin. When someone asked him, "Are you enjoying this and what's fun about this?" he replied, "No. Nothing." The only real disappointing moment of the press conference was when Ferrie revealed that there's no special reason why he wears a Superman belt buckle. "Don't tell Phil that. I don't want him to carry Kryptonite around."

No, we all know who is playing the role of Superman tomorrow. Kenneth Ferrie is the Everyman packing game-improvement kryptonite. Whatever happens in the final round, his piss-and-vinegar act should provide the extra flavor this U.S. Open so badly needs.
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6/17/2006 05:52:00 PM

Leaderboard taking shape

The high-level negotiations between Alan Shipnuck and Rick Reilly have begun. Alan, as I mentioned, is writing the lead story for SI this week and Rick of course will be writing his world famous "Life of Reilly" column. In order to make sure they don't write about the same things, Alan and Rick will be spending the rest of the weekend staking out turf. So when Rick returned from watching David Duval play a few holes, Alan asked him, "You gonna write about D-D?"

"Oh yeah," Rick replied, "you'd *love* for me to write about D-D."

In fact, there is all sorts of witty banter going around me right now, but none of my SI teammates will let me put them in the blog. What a bunch of nervous nellies! Gary Van Sickle has been offering a running, sardonic commentary since Thursday morning, but he keeps looking at me and saying, "Don't burn me!" Reilly told me a hilarious story about an exchange he had with a player about an hour ago, but he refused to green-light it for blogdom. When I told him he was being a wuss, he suggested I go hang out with the Chicago Tribune guys if I'm going to be dispensing idle press room chatter to the public.

Typical mainstream media. I am officially a pariah among pariahs. Or as Dennis Miller once put it, I'm being treated like a narc at a biker rally.

I will, however, share with you a story Van Sickle told me about my favorite golfer this week, Padraig Harrington, who is currently 3-over-par and three strokes behind leader Kenneth Ferrie (whoever that is). Gary was assigned to write a story about Harrington a couple of years ago and had arranged to meet with Padraig after he was through practicing. So Gary was watching Harrington putt for a while, and before heading out to the range, Harrington came over and offered to do the interview. Gary told him it was okay to go ahead and hit balls as he planned, but Harrington insisted, saying, "I don't want you to have to sit around here and wait for me." I guarantee you those words have never traveled from a golfer's mouth to a writer's ears before or since.

I had a similar experience with Harrington two years ago at Shinnecock. I was working on a story about then-amateur Spencer Levin, who was paired with Harrington during Wednesday's practice round. (This was back when I was a member of the MSM.) I was walking with Spencer and his father, who was caddying for him that week, when Harrington came over to me on the second fairway, stuck out his hand and said, "Hi. I'm Padraig." That's what I call a mensch.

Anyhow, here we are on the back nine on Saturday, and no golfers are under par. I suspect we will not see a red number on the leaderboard the rest of the weekend. That is a real testament to how difficult this course is, because today's weather should be ideal for good scoring. It's sunny but not hot, the course is a little soft from morning rain and there's not too much wind.

The difficult grind can make for some boring television, but it's actually shaping up to be a pretty good leaderboard. Phil Mickelson has been playing poorly for most of the day, but his birdie at No. 14 just brought him back to 3-over. Mike Weir has snuck onto the first page with a birdie at No. 16 to drop to 4-over, and don't look now but Vijay Singh is hanging around at 5-over, where he is tied with Colin Montgomerie and Jim Furyk, among others. I think anyone who ends this round within five shots of the lead would have to feel pretty good about where they stand heading into tomorrow's final round.

Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go spy on those Chicago Tribune guys.
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6/17/2006 04:29:00 PM

Where's the excitement?

How exciting is this U.S. Open? A huge round of cheers just erupted from the media dining area, but that was only because the U.S. soccer team just tied Italy 1-1 in its World Cup match on ABC. It is a sad day when American golf writers would rather watch a soccer match than the major championship they are covering. Let's just say my SI teammate, Alan Shipnuck, who will once again be writing the lead story on the Open in this week's issue, isn't exactly breaking into gooseflesh at the prospect of chronicling a Sunday afternoon duel between Steve Stricker and Kenneth Ferrie.

Sorry to pooh pooh things, folks, but with Phil Mickelson spraying his drives all over the grounds and Colin Montgomerie duffing chip shots into bunkers, this Open is sinking faster than Enron stock. At this rate, Alan's story next week will end up as a Scorecard item.

I am impressed with Stricker's poise, and I'm glad my guy Padraig Harrington is hanging around. (You might say I'm riding the Paddy Wagon at the moment.) But frankly, if things don't start getting interesting soon, I'm going to have to go find a Mahjong game somewhere.
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6/17/2006 04:26:00 PM

Pulling for Harrington

So I was strolling through the media hotel in White Plains, N.Y., last night, and who do you think I happened upon. That's right, Colin Montgomerie his own self -– freshly showered, wearing a black button-down shirt and blue jeans and punching the buttons on his cell phone. I went right up to Monty, introduced myself and asked him about the rumor I wrote about yesterday that he was amongst the top vote-getters in a survey of British gay men asking them to name their favorite male athletes. Monty had not heard of the survey, but he found the question hysterical. "I'd much prefer I finish in the top in a survey of women," he quipped. Still, he did concede that it was a high compliment. I wished him well for the weekend and suggested he should remember to enjoy himself. "Yes, we're going to try to have a good time," he said.

See, I don't hate Monty. I don't hate hardly anyone, much less someone I have only met a few times. Personally, today I'm going to root hard for Padraig Harrington of Ireland. He's a great golfer and a true gentleman who has struggled since his father died of cancer last summer. Beyond that, the easy sentimental favorite is David Duval. As of now, Duval is 6-over through three holes (1-over on the day), so I'm not holding out much hope that he can take this thing.

Unfortunately, without Tiger Woods in this tournament, NBC's ratings are going to suffer this weekend. You see, there are golf ratings, and then there are Tiger ratings. Right now the best possible storyline would be for Montgomerie and Phil Mickelson to dual their way down the stretch, but Tiger battling anyone, even Kenneth Ferrie, would out-draw that. It's just the way it is.

At any rate, the media center is very quiet at the moment. Sportswriters enjoy the weekend rounds because is quicker and the action is easier to follow, but mostly we like that the leaders don't tee off until after 3:00. So far the highlight of the day has been the arrival of the great American novelist, Rick Reilly, whose new book Shanks for Nothing, is ranked 196th on the amazon.com best seller's list, a scant 187 places behind a book about correcting common dog problems. (Though I suppose I shouldn't say anything considering my book about summer camp is currently 954,859th.) Rick's book would make an excellent Father's Day gift, and I'm not just saying that because he's standing over my shoulder waving a 20-dollar bill.

Rick, incidentally, also has a huge gay following. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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