Notes and Quotes from the U.S. Open
Playoff? What playoff? – U.S. Open Championship
SAN DIEGO - The comment to England's Lee Westwood was to the effect that the playoff for the U.S. Open obviously going to be exciting.Said Westwood: “I'm struggling to even think who is in the playoff. It's not really in the front of my mind, to be brutally honest.”
What is in the front of his mind is the one shot he couldn't find out on Torrey Pines that would have put him into Monday's 18-hole playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. Woods birdied the last hole for 2-over 73 to tie Mediate, who had finished with a par-71 and a 283 total. Westwood, who played with Woods in the final twosome, shot 74 and finished third, a shot behind.
“Well, it's sickening not to be in the playoff,” said Westwood, after his best finish in nine U.S. Opens. “But all in all, I played pretty good all week. So while I'm disappointed, I'm pleased with myself to think that I've proved to myself and a few others that I think there is a major championship in me.”
MICKELSON ON THE GOOD NEWS - Phil Mickelson, who blew whatever chances he had of winning this U.S. Open with a duffer's 9 at the par-5 13th in the third round, regrouped and shot a 3-under 68 in the fourth. If nothing else, it showed the resiliency of the guy. This was, after all, the first time he'd broken par in the final round in his 18 U.S. Opens, and that includes two as an amateur. He finished, by the way, with a 6-over 290.
MICKELSON ON PAIN AND SUFFERING: Would he watch the rest of the Open: “Yeah. It's kind of my punishment.”
MICKELSON ON WHAT HE TAKES AWAY FROM THIS OPEN: “What I take away is I have three weeks off.”
FUN WITH NUMBERS - “That was obviously one of the better rounds I've ever played,” said Heath Slocum, tour pro from Alpharetta, Ga., after shooting the lowest round of this Open, a 6-under 65. “I hit the ball pretty well at times, but I kept it out of bad trouble. And I made a lot of putts. I made some big par saves, some long putts that I wasn't supposed to make for birdies.” It was his best score in an Open by far. He played in only one other, and shot 83-82.
ON A DINKY PAR-4: The U.S. Golf Association, borrowing from the temptations of Oakmont's 300-yard, par-4 17th, cut Torrey Pines' 14th from 435 yards to about 267 for the final round, to tempt golfers into trying to drive it. From a sampling:
*D.J. Trahan (72-286): “I thought it was great. I thought was a great risk-reward that hole was today. I just didn't think it was worth it at that point for me to go for the green. I felt if I could lay back and hit a wedge in close, I could still make birdie very easily. Unfortunately, I missed the fairway.” (He parred it.)
* Amateur Michael Thompson (72-292): “It's interesting. You don't expect to find that in a major, especially a U.S. Open. I didn't go for it because I didn't see any reason to, but it's an exciting hole.” (He parred it.)
* Robert Karlsson (71-286): “It's good. Mix it up. It tests us, strategy-wise. My caddie told me I can't hit driver because if I land on the green, I'm in the back. If I hit a good 3-wood, I'm also in the back.” (He bunkered his tee shot, didn't say what he hit, but made birdie.)
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?
* Kevin Streelman, first round co-leader, finished with a 72-295, tied for 53rd and won $20,251.
* Justin Hicks, the other first-round co-leader, closed with a 78-301, tied for 74th, and won $14,306.
FROM THE FRINGE -
* Amateur Rickie Fowler, from Murrieta, Calif, after finishing with a 72 and a 13-over 297 total: “There wasn't any part of my game that stood out as being great; or good, and nothing was completely terrible. Everything was just a little bit off.”
* Amateur Derek Fathauer, of Jensen Beach, Fla. (75-289): “It was awesome, just having all these people cheering for me. I don't even know who they are.”
* Pat Perez (70-293, 9 over), on whether the week was memorable for him: “Yeah and no. The fact that I got in -- but I didn't play well. I'm not really all that happy with it, but it's better than sitting at home, I guess.”
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