golf

A fellow told a story during the RBC Canadian Open last week. It was about a man, his young son, and Tiger Woods. It wasn't pretty.

The father and his son had been watching the first two rounds of the Open Championship two weeks ago, where Woods missed the cut. He threw clubs. His face contorted in anger at himself.

It wasn't pretty.

Reed Mackenzie was the general chairman for the 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. He was the 57th president of the U.S. Golf Association when Hazeltine was the host of its next major, the PGA Championship, in 2002.

Tom Watson finished second in the British Open last weekend. How can this happen, you say? How can a 59-year-old man compete with golfers half his age? Well, Watson didn't forget how to play golf.

Tom Watson's run at the claret jug over the weekend appears to have inspired the type of commentary usually reserved for figure skating. Every Winter Olympics, it seems, some rube mouths off about how triple toe loops don't constitute a sport.
Now that a 59-year-old has come within inches of winning a major, the knuckleheads have come out in force and said it discredits the game.

Moments after Auld Tom Watson clanked an 8-foot putt on the 18th at Turnberry on Sunday, the Grim Reaper himself appeared on the green.
I know Scotland is a spiritual place, but man, they don't fool around when you goof up on one of their precious golf courses.

The last round of the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black took some of Sunday evening, all of Monday morning, and the early afternoon. It ended with a worthy champion in Lucas Glover and a joke of a final hole.

"We're not trying to embarrass the best players in the game. We're trying to identify them."
Sandy Tatum, a USGA official, made that since oft-repeated comment about the U.S. Open in 1974, when players complained loud and long about the fiendish difficulty course at Winged Foot, where Hale Irwin was the winner, despite shooting 7-over-par.

The last time the U.S. Open came to Bethpage Black, a sprawling public course on Long Island, the fans roared for Phil Mickelson, tormented Sergio Garcia and wedged themselves into the story line alongside Tiger Woods, who capped an otherworldly stretch by winning his seventh major in less than three years.

In last year's United States Open, Tiger Woods turned in perhaps his most unforgettable performance, outlasting Rocco Mediate in a dramatic 19-hole Monday playoff despite playing on a broken leg.
But could this week's 109th U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. give us an even more dramatic finish? Well, that depends on the always-unpredictable Phil Mickelson.

Capsule previews for top contenders for the 109th United States Open championship starting Thursday at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y.

TIGER WOODS
Age: 33
Country: United States.
Top U.S. Open Finish: Won in 2000, 2002 and last year.
2002 Bethpage U.S. Open Finish: -3, Won by three shots.