PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — A dream day turned into a nightmare on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach yesterday for Morgan Hoffman, the amateur qualifier from Wyckoff, N.J.
Hoffman, who stood on the 11th tee leading the U.S. Open at 2-under par, leaked it away with bogeys on 11 and 12 and then a disastrous quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 18th hole after he put two balls in the Pacific Ocean and left one in a greenside bunker.
“It felt like ‘Tin Cup,’ honestly,” Hoffman, a sophomore at Oklahoma State, said of his mess on 18. “I had a great day. I stunk to end like that.”
When Hoffman drained a 12-foot putt for the 9 on the 18th, he raised his arms to the crowd, picked up his ball and threw it into the ocean.
“After nine shots it was nice to get it in the hole,” he said. “No. 18 is my favorite hole. I was looking forward all day to playing it. It was unfortunate what happened.”
*
Did too many of the world’s top players play scared in yesterday’s opening round? Padraig Harrington thinks so — and he called himself out as one of them.
“I think that most people are giving the golf course too much respect,” Harrington said after shooting a 2-over-par 73. “I’d have thought there would be some lower scores. I felt there would be a lot of guys under par, maybe 4- or 5-under. The greens were soft. It was a very reasonable setup with some accessible pins.
“I think the scores would have been better if it wasn’t called the U.S. Open.”
Luke Donald, who shot an even-par 71, agreed: “It just didn’t seem to be playing that tough,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a U.S. Open and there’s added pressure. Sometimes that elevates scores a little bit.”
*
While Tiger Woods was playing the ninth hole yesterday, a fan heckled him by yelling, “It is our business, Tiger, you made it our business!”
The comment referred to Woods’ curt response to a reporter who on Tuesday asked him if there had been any “resolution” between him and his wife, Elin.
“That’s none of your business,” Woods snapped to the reporter.
Several fans booed when the person yelled at Woods. Moments later, he three-putted the ninth green for bogey.
Woods said he heard the comment. Asked if it affected his putting, he said, “God no.”
*
Defending champion Lucas Glover shot a 2-over-par 73, but wasn’t discouraged with his start.
“I’ve been there before,” he said. “I did it last year. I just have to remind myself to stay patient and do the right thing and just fight it out.”
Asked how different was it was to play as the defending champion, Glover said, “It was nice going on the first tee, but everybody forgets that after that.”
*
In one of the most bizarre moments of the day, Aaron Baddeley nearly holed out for a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole and ended up four-putting for a double bogey.
Baddeley, who started his round on No. 10, ended up shooting an 8-over 44 on his first nine and finished with an 80.
The only blowup worse than that came from John Rollins, who was 2-under par entering the 17th hole, where he took a triple bogey after a shanked tee shot and then doubled 18.
Mickelson, praising Mike Davis, the USGA official in charge of setting up the U.S. Open courses, called him “the greatest asset the USGA has, in my opinion.”