Friday, September 20, 2013

Notebook: Short week for rare local qualifiers


Notebook: Short week for rare local qualifiers












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Gain Hall, 18, clearly had a great time despite missing the U.S. Open cut.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 16, 2013 5:27 PM


By Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. -- Among those who had the shortest week at the U.S. Open took the longest road to even get to Merion.

For the first time since at least 1997, none of the 20 players who endured 18 holes of local qualifying and 36 holes of sectional qualify for the U.S. Open made the cut.

That doesn't mean the experience was a total waste of time.

Take 18-year-old Gavin Hall, who birdied his last four holes to make it through sectional qualifying in New York. Hall went to bed Thursday night with his name on the leaderboard because he was 1 under par when the opening round was suspended. He ran off a string of bogeys Friday morning, though he also holed out from the eighth fairway for an eagle to open with a 74.

The second round was tougher -- a 40 on the front nine, and then a triple bogey on the 10th hole, the shortest par 4 at Merion. He shot 77, but that included back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, and an experience he wouldn't trade.

"That's a special place, a special tournament to play in, and for me to play in this at such a young age is a great learning experience, and it's just a great tournament to kick off the summer," said Hall, who clearly had a great time despite missing the cut.

"I've gotten exposed to a lot of things and I have a lot to work on," he said. "But I still feel like if I clean up some things in my game, I belong out here."

Harold Varner III made it through local qualifying, and he was an alternate from sectional qualifying to play in his first U.S. Open. He went 76-79, so it was never really close when it came to staying for the weekend.

Varner was one of two players who competed in The First Tee event at Pebble Beach -- Scott Langley was the other -- only the 22-year-old who played at East Carolina was more disappointed with his results.

The biggest surprise was the size of the crowd.

"When I played in the Wal-Mart First Tee, there was a lot of people, and then I played in the one Web.com in Charlotte, seeing that many people," Varner said. "But this week was obviously like a circus. It was unbelievable."


WEIBRING'S STRUGGLES: Matt Weibring made the cut in his first U.S. Open, though it becomes an even greater achievement considering that Merion was only his second form of competition in the last two months.

Weibring, a Web.com Tour player and the son of former PGA Tour player D.A. Weibring, has been coping with Bell's palsy, a form of facial paralysis.

"I was happy just to be here, just to be back playing," he said. "And I hung in there, and I did what I had to do. It's hard out there."

Weibring, who qualified out of Dallas, had to return Saturday morning to complete his round and slipped over the cut line with two holes to play. But he made a birdie on the par-3 ninth hole, hung on for par and a 73 and earned two more days at Merion.

The 33-year-old Weibring said he couldn't even practice the last two months.

"Your face gets paralyzed so you can't close or blink your eye or anything," he said. "It's hard being outside because if the wind blows, you feel disoriented. I practiced a couple of weeks leading up to the qualifier. Sometimes you go out after you've been sick and shoot good, and I tied for medalist, and here I am. So I'm excited."

BIG NAMES MISS THE CUT: Former Masters champion Zach Johnson was among 12 major champions who failed to make the cut, and he wasn't happy -- not about his game, not about the way Merion was set up, and certainly not with the USGA.

"I would describe the whole golf course as manipulated," Johnson said after rounds of 74-77, his first weekend off at a U.S. Open since 2009 at Bethpage Black. "It just enhances my disdain for the USGA and how it manipulates golf courses."

As another example of how predicting winners is mostly guesswork in golf, three of the players who some thought would contend at Merion were Johnson, Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk. All of them missed the cut by at least three shots. For McDowell, it was his second straight cut in a major -- in a year when he already has won twice.

Furyk had his worst U.S. Open, and it hurt coming in his home state.

The most painful cut belonged to Stewart Cink, who played his last four holes in 4 over -- including a double bogey at No. 18 -- to miss by two shots.

DIVOTS: Kevin Sutherland, who turns 49 on July 4, was the oldest player remaining at Merion. Jay Don Blake, now on the Champions Tour, said he only recognized a dozen or so players in the locker room. "I have seen some of the kids walking in there," the 54-year-old Blake said. "Even seeing the name, I didn't even know some of the names, either. It's pretty interesting. It's kind of neat, though." Blake missed the cut with 74-80. ... For the second straight year, only two players were under par through 36 holes. The winning score at Olympic Club turned out to be 1-over 281. ... Thirty players were separated by five shots going into the third round.

Woods matches his worst-ever score in a major


Woods matches his worst-ever score in a major












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Tiger Woods shot a 4-over 74 Sunday, which gave him his worst 72-hole score as a pro in the U.S. Open, and tied his high score in any major at 13-over 293.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 16, 2013 7:47 PM


By Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. -- This isn't the kind of record Tiger Woods had in mind at the U.S. Open.

Woods went out-of-bounds on his second tee shot of the final round at Merion on Sunday and closed with a 4-over 74. That gave him his worst 72-hole score as a pro in the U.S. Open, and it tied for his high score in any major.

"I did a lot of things right," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I did a few things wrong, as well."

Woods finished at 13-over 293.

His previous high score in a U.S. Open was 290 at The Olympic Club in 1998 and Shinnecock Hills in 2004. Woods shot 294 at Oakland Hills in 1996 as an amateur.

Just two days ago, Woods was four shots out of the lead and very much in the hunt to end his five-year drought in the majors. Then, he went 76-74 for his worst weekend in a major championship. Just over two weeks ago, the world's No. 1 player had won three of his last four events on the PGA Tour and was starting to establish his dominance.

But he looked ordinary at Merion.

Starting the final round 10 shots behind, Woods made a birdie putt on the opening hole. Instead of a fist pump, he offered only a mild wave. Whatever hopes he had of at least getting his name on the leaderboard ended quickly. Woods pushed his tee shot to the right on the par-5 second hole, over the trees and out-of-bounds. His next tee shot was close to going out-of-bounds, stopping a few yards away in front of a tree. He wound up with a triple bogey.


It was his only big number of the week, though his 20 bogeys were startling.

"I struggled with the speed all week," Woods said. "These greens are grainy. It's one of the older bent grasses -- creeping bent. I struggled with the speed, especially right around the hole. Putts were breaking a lot more. I gave it a little more break and then it would hang. That's kind of the way it was this week."

The 293 matched his high score at any major, last year at the Masters when he tied for 40th.

Woods didn't mention any pain in his left elbow, though he kept that a mystery throughout the week. He was flexing and shaking his left hand on shots out of the rough early in the week, saying only that it was painful. He later revealed that he first hurt it at The Players Championship last month, which he won. But he didn't mention the shot or even which round it happened.

Merion remained a mystery for Woods throughout the week. For the first time since Olympic in 1998 -- the year he was rebuilding his swing -- he failed to break par in any of the four rounds at a U.S. Open.

"It played tricky. The rough was up," Woods said. "They were raking the rough up every morning into the grain, and the pins were really tough."

Woods plays again in two weeks at the AT&T National at Congressional, where he is the defending champion. His next major is the British Open at Muirfield, where in 2002 he was going for the calendar Grand Slam until he got caught in a vicious weather pattern of a cold, sideways rain and shot 81 to fall from contention.

The final major of the year is at Oak Hill for the PGA Championship, where 10 years ago Woods never shot better than 72 and wound up at 12-over 292.

"There's always a lesson to be learned in every tournament, whether you win or lose," Woods said. "I'll look back at the things I did right and the things I did wrong."

Stefani makes hole-in-one on Merion's 17th hole


Stefani makes hole-in-one on Merion's 17th hole












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Shawn Stefani aced the 17th hole Sunday, making him the first golfer to make a hole-in-one at any U.S. Open at Merion.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 16, 2013 5:32 PM


By Dan Gelston, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. -- Shawn Stefani lost track of the ball as soon it rocketed off his 4-iron. A roaring U.S. Open gallery tracked it for him.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!"

It did Sunday when Stefani aced the 17th hole, making him the first golfer to make a hole-in-one at any U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, which is hosting the major for the fifth time.

"When the crowd went crazy, I knew it went in," he said.

His shot bounced out of the rough and rolled some 50 feet toward the pin before falling in the cup.

Stefani raised his arms and hopped around the tee in celebration. Caddie Chris Callas gave him a playful hug and a slap on the back.

"I didn't know what to do but jump up and down for joy," Stefani said.


Then he walked down the 213-yard, par-3 hole and planted a kiss on the sweet spot where it landed.

"We're in Philly. There's some great fans up here and I know they can be tough on you and they can love you forever," he said.

USGA Museum officials waited for Stefani near the scorecard trailer and hoped to acquire the ball. Stefani declined.

"It's hiding right now," he said. "I'm going to save it."

But he did pull the ball out of his pocket and showed it off. He also inquired about getting some sort of commemorative plaque from Merion.

The USGA's Far Hills, N.J. museum didn't go home empty-handed -- Stefani donated a signed glove and scorecard.

His only other ace came when he was 13 at Goose Creek Country Club in Baytown, Texas, his hometown.

It was the first ace at Merion, but not at a Philadelphia Open. The first U.S. Open hole-in-one came in 1907, when Jack Hobens aced the 147-yard 10th hole at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.