OPEN NOTES
PEBBLE BEACH – Ernie Els and Miguel Jimenez won the other ournament yesterday, finishing tied for second place behind Tiger Woods at the 100th U.S. Open.
“Finishing second is good,” Els said. “But it’s kind of embarrassing to finish 15 shots behind the guy who won.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever see anyone 12-under at a U.S. Open,” Lee Westwood marveled at Woods’ performance. “I think [the USGA] thought they’d have level par winner this week … and I think level par is going to win the other tournament.”
Three-over-par won the other tournament – second place – though neither Els nor Jimenez was celebrating.
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Though Jack Nicklaus called this the last U.S. Open of his Hall of Fame career, other Senior Tour stars vowed yesterday to make another run at the Open next year at Southern Hills.
Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and Tom Kite all said they’d as much as try to qualify through sectional tournaments if they have to to get back in.
“They [the USGA] probably won’t give me a [special] exemption,” Watson said. “If they don’t, I’d like to qualify and go to Southern Hills and test it out again. I still think I can play with these young kids, most of them at least … all but one [Tiger Woods, of course].”
Watson, who shot 12-over for the week, said if he never gets back to Pebble Beach, “at least I can say I birdied the last hole.”
Irwin, who also finished at 12-over, said it’s his “intention” to be back to the U.S. Open.
“I just have to find the right road to get there,” he said. “I’m out of exemptions right now, so I’ve got to find my way back.”
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Rick Hartmann, the head pro at Atlantic on Long Island, showed himself well at this, his first U.S. Open. Hartmann was the only of the five New York metropolitan- area players to make the cut, which was 7-over.
He finished at 15-over after shooting a final-round 76 yesterday. Hartmann’s scores for the week: 73-75-75-76-299.
Another standout performance came from CBS commentator Bobby Clampett, who was the story of the first round, when he shot a 3-under. Clampett finished 14-over after a 77 yesterday.
“It’s amazing to be in the saddle again,” Clampett said.
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Colin Montgomerie, who’s yet to win a major and still hasn’t won in the U.S., was asked yesterday after he finished the tournament at 15-over and well out of contention, if he washappy to have finished No. 1 in fairways hit this week.
“That’s great,” Montgomerie said, sarcastically. “They should put the hole in the fairway.”
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Jim Furyk, who shot a whopping 84 on Saturday and was the first to tee off yesterday morning in last place, lamented his tough week after playing in two hours, 30 minutes by himself.
“I birdied the first hole [of Round 3 Saturday], birdied the 36th hole and shot about 50-over in between,” Furyk said. “At least I got out of the basement.”
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Richard Zokol of Canada shot a 30 on the front nine yesterday, matching a record for competitions at Pebble Beach. He ended up shooting 2-under 69 for the day and finished 13-over for the tournament.
“Being that I’m leading in the clubhouse, if we get an earthquake here I might win the golf tournament,” Zokol joked after his round. “I’m excited as hell to shoot 30 on the frnt nine. It was fun out there.”
Zokol missed a five-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and a 15-footer on No. 2, or his score might have been even more impressive.
Toughest weekend: Robert Damron made the cut at 3-over and was actually in the mix for the championship heading into the weekend – until he shot a pair of 84s Saturday and yesterday to finish dead last in the field.