Category: PGA

The U.S. Open is, without a doubt, the most difficult golf of the year. The USGA holds close to it’s heart the ideal that a course should be well defended against advances in both equipment and talent. Birdies should be a luxury, not an guarantee. It is certain that USGA officials will be smiling as they smoke their post-third-round cigars tonight because only one player is below par: Retief Goosen. The USGA can safely say that Pinehurst No. 2 has teeth and is defending itself against the best in the world.

Retief Goosen, Pinehurst’s second round co-leader, is this year’s U.S. Open “ice-man” keeping a cool head through three rounds with course conditions that can easily rattle the very best in the world. Goosen has long been misunderstood because of his retiring and quiet nature, but what he make lack in personal flair he makes up for in grit and determination.

Continue reading “Goosen Inches Ahead In Round Three of U.S. Open”

This report comes to us from Pinehurst #2 courtesty of Dave Koster, scratch golfer, North Carolina resident, and friend of The Sand Trap.

Moving day. The day where players try and set themselves apart from the rest of the field. As most of you saw on TV, not many players wanted to do that. This was a day that the players just wanted to get through 18 and hide in the clubhouse. Word of the day: survive.

Continue reading “On Location at the 2005 U.S. Open – Saturday’s Third Round”

The defending U.S. Open champion sits atop the leaderboard at Pinehurst with his sights set on a third victory in this prestigious tournament. That isn’t the surprise at the halfway point. Retief Goosen finds himself in a tie for the lead with Olin Browne and Jason Gore. Browne, who had to shoot a 59 in qualifying to even make it this far, shot a steady 71 on Friday to maintain a shot at winning the 105th U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Gore, on the other hand, has had mild success on the Nationwide Tour (three wins) but has never been in a situation quite like this.

Continue reading “Three-Way Tie for the Lead at the Halfway Point at Pinehurst”

Pinehurst is still a special place. That didn’t change since yesterday, but there is a new word of the day: people. There were people everywhere. The 20,000 spaces in the stands filled up before 10:00 and most of the other people on foot were following Tiger.

As soon as we walked through the gate, Tiger’s throng was amassing around the 11th hole. As my friend and I walked over that way, we got to watch the Els group hit their tee shots down the 12th fairway. After that, it was a blur. We went over to 11 to watch Tiger, back to 12 to see his tee shot, over to 13 again to stay ahead of him, then to 14 green to watch Els’ approach shot. We stayed there to wait for Tiger (who hit a monster drive on 14 by the way), and catch our breath.

Continue reading “On Location at the 2005 U.S. Open – Thursday’s Opening Round”

There is a lesson to be learned here kids. Never quit when you’re down because some of the best things are yet to come. The best example of this lesson comes from two guys whom have a couple of things in common. These two men are Olin Browne and Rocco Mediate. First and most importantly, they share the lead at the 105th U.S. Open Tournament. Also, they are over 40 years of age (Browne 46, Mediate 42), both have aches and pains, and both have kept going even when they faced failure.

Olin Browne, ranked 300th on the world golf rankings, qualified the old fashioned way for the U.S. Open by going through sectional qualifying. During the first round of the qualifying tournament, Olin finished with a score of 73 which left him disappointed. The next day, he searched for a tournament official hoping to withdraw from the tournament but was unsuccessful. He decided to tee off and what a decision that was. Browne finished his second round with a 59 which was enough for him to find his way to the main event.

Continue reading “Olin and Rocco Share Lead after First Round of the 105th U.S. Open”

Pinehurst No. 2 is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest layouts. Yet the 2005 U.S. Open is only the third major championship to be held on the course. The most recent was the stuff of legend, as the late Payne Stewart won a duel with Phil Mickelson just months before Stewart’s untimely death. Will this year’s U.S. Open match 1999’s drama?

Who can forget the 1999 U.S. Open? You had the built-in drama of a major championship finally coming to North Carolina’s Pinehurst No. 2, one of Donald Ross’ sublime masterpieces. You had Tiger Woods rounding into his “Tiger Slam” form and finishing third, his game ready to explode into the stratosphere. You had Phil Mickelson, looking for his first major championship while listening for his beeper to see if his wife had gone into labor with their first child – who would be born the day following the tournament.

Continue reading “U.S. Open Preview”

Weeks after his record-setting final-round collapse at the Wachovia Championships, Sergio Garcia pulled off a nifty 65 to surge to victory at the Booz Allen Classic. It marks the second year in a row the young Spaniard has won the event prior to the U.S. Open. “I guess they should move the U.S. Open one week earlier,” said Garcia. “It is the tougher courses I feel good playing.” No player has ever won the U.S. Open after winning the week before.

Garcia’s victory was not without some slip-ups. He missed the green on the last hole, the famous par-3 finisher at Congressional, and nearly chipped across the green. Adam Scott, playing in the group behind him, had unfortunately caught a flyer into the water right and long on 17, but was only two behind until he got wet. Sergio’s collapse at Wachovia fresh in his mind, he two-putted for bogey, all but assuring the victory.

Continue reading “Sergio Drinks up Victory at the Booz Allen”

Saturday at the Booz Allen Classic was just like any other day on the PGA Tour right? That is far from the truth, as 55-year old Tom Kite holds the lead by one over a host of others at Congressional Country Club. Kite has gone about his business all the three days, shooting rounds of 68, 69, and 66. He shot the 66 Saturday on “moving” day while the rest of the golfers just stayed where they were after the second round. Kite carded six birdies and only one bogey to move himself into serious contention with only one round to go. Tom Kite knows it will be tough to hold onto the lead. There are 15 players within just two shots of Kite’s lead, and that list includes a lot of the world’s top-ranked golfers. Kite had this to say about his current position heading into Sunday.

Continue reading “Tom Kite Relives His Youth at Booz Allen Classic”