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”