U. S. OPEN NOTEBOOK
Weir flirts with greatness
FARMINGDALE — Mike Weir came within one stroke of matching the best round ever in any of golf’s major championships.
There have been four 63s in the 108 U. S. Opens, the last by Vijay Singh in the second round at Olympia Fields in 2003. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf both shot 63 in the opening round at Baltusrol in 1980. Those three rounds, like Weir’s, were shot on courses that played to a par of 70.
The best round in relation to par was Johnny Miller’s 8-under 63 in the final round at Oakmont in 1973, which gave him a one-shot victory over John Schlee.
There have been 10 63s in the PGA Championship, seven in the British Open and two in the Masters.
Weir made eight birdies and a double bogey for a 33-31—64 and said 63 wasn’t on his mind.
“It really wasn’t. I didn’t think much about it,” he said. “I was just in one of those days where I was so focused on what I was doing.”
Weir was 2 over through his first nine holes of the second round when play was suspended by darkness. He was two strokes behind Lucas Glover, who had completed 13 holes.
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When the horn sounded at 8:24 p. m. to suspend the round because of darkness, players had the option of completing the hole they were on or marking their ball and finishing when play is scheduled to resume at 7:30 a. m.
One group was divided over what to do. Ricky Barnes, Matt Kuchar and Billy Mayfair were in the fairway on No. 18, their ninth hole of the round, when the horn sounded. Mayfair, who was 4 over for the tournament at that point, marked his ball in the fairway and headed in.
Barnes, one stroke out of the lead at 5 under, and Kuchar, who was 3 over, both hit into the green.
Barnes two-putted for a par, while Kuchar three-putted for a bogey.
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Two-time U. S. Open champion Ernie Els had an opening-round 78 and was 12 over through 11 holes when play was suspended.
Els, who won the Open in 1994 and 1997, has missed the cut only twice in his 16 appearances — 1995 and 1999.
After finishing 14th last year at Torrey Pines, Els missed the cut in the Masters in April, and this would be the first time since 1995 he has missed the cut in the year’s first two majors.
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Three of the 14 amateurs in the field bettered or matched par and two of them completed their rounds in the morning when good scores were much tougher to come by.
Drew Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur champion and a junior at Virginia Tech, shot a 1-under 69, one stroke better than Cameron Tringale, who played at Georgia Tech, and Kyle Stanley, who played at Clemson.
Weaver and Tringale both completed their first rounds Friday morning when the course was still drying out from Thursday’s daylong rain, while Stanley played his round under sunny skies.
Ben Martin, who also played at Clemson, was at 72, a shot better than Nick Taylor, a native of Canada who played at the University of Washington.
Rickie Fowler, who just finished his sophomore season at Oklahoma State, was one of the amateurs who made the cut last year at Torrey Pines. He shot an opening 78 at Bethpage.
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Rocco Mediate became a fan favorite in last year’s U. S. Open at Torrey Pines when he lost to Tiger Woods in a 19-hole playoff. He may be on the other side of the country this year, but his popularity was still evident as he shot a first-round 68.
He was asked how many times he heard his name yelled out on Bethpage Black.
“About 4 million,” he said. “Unbelievable out there today. It was great, absolutely fantastic.”
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