Oh, that title’s already taken? Well, how about “Dawn Among the Pine Needles”? Or, maybe something really cute such as “The Bells Toiled at Dusk”?
OK, so it’s been a long week. The fingers that walk across this keyboard are getting a little drunk with fatigue. You know, kind of like the golfers who had to tee off at 7 a.m. on Saturday to complete the rained-out second round, then, if they were lucky enough to make the cut, tee it up again for round three.
Golf is not an easy game. It’s tough enough when you’ve had a good night’s sleep, a leisurely breakfast and a quiet time to prepare for that first tee.
When you have a restless night worrying about that five-foot par putt you had to walk away from on Friday when the bad-news horn signaled an end to play, it gets even tougher. Getting up a 4 a.m. and trying to find a shirt that matches the shorts you’re wearing that day through eyes that won’t quite open complicates matters. Trying to warm up on the practice tee when the balls keep disappearing into the darkness isn’t quite what you had in mind on Thursday when you were dreaming about winning the U.S. Open.
Now it’s Saturday, routinely referred to as “moving day” on the professional tours. But instead of checking the leaderboard after that birdie to see if you’ve gained on the leader, you’re checking after a bogey to see if you’re above or below the expected cut line.
And that’s just the golfers. If you really want to empathize with someone, try the hundreds of volunteers who got caught up in this marathon.
Karrie Webb did the USGA and NBC-TV a tremendous favor when she posted that 5-under-par 135 number after 36 holes. The field was being cut to the low 60 and ties after the second round, with anyone within 10 shots of the leader also staying around for the weekend.
But the course-record 65 that Webb put up was three shots better than second-place A.J. Eathorne. As it turned out, exactly 60 players made the cut at 146. Had Eathorne’s 138 been the low score, 16 more players would have made the field.
This allowed the USGA to pair up 20 threesomes, and by starting 10 groups on each nine, guaranteed that NBC would be able to get at least some shots of the leaders on the back nine before leaving the air at 6 p.m. and turning the broadcast over to ESPN.
But the dominance of Webb did dull the appeal of the championship for those hoping for a down-to-the-wire duel. By the time the defending champion had played four holes, she had a five-shot lead and Catriona Matthew of Scotland was the only other player in red numbers. Goodbye ratings.
Annika Sorenstam, who came here riding one of the all-time hot streaks on the LPGA Tour with five wins and more than a million bucks already banked, disappeared into the morning mist with a so-so 72.
On a day when Donald Ross must have smiled, the Pine Needles course stood up and fought back. After Webb’s record 65 before the rains on Friday, it was speculated that the women might humble the course with the greens softened by the rains.
Not exactly. Pine Needles obviously drains well, and the greens, while somewhat softer than the USGA or course superintendent Dave Fruchte would have preferred, were still rejecting marginal approach shots.
Cindy Figg-Currier, tied for the lead with Eathorne after a first-round 67, tried to put a positive spin on having to play 36 holes on Saturday while Webb was spending the morning resting.
“It’s hard to say if Karrie will have an advantage,” she said after shooting 76 in the morning. “We actually know the course now because we’ve seen it and she hasn’t.”
If it was an advantage, it certainly didn’t show in the scoring. But hey, that’s what they pay those sports psychologists the big bucks for, you know. Think positive.
