Golf

Tough enough

Brutal Pinehurst exacts its toll, leaving defending champion Retief Goosen in a tie at the top with Jason Gore and Olin Browne.

By BOB HARIG
Published June 18, 2005

PINEHURST, N.C. - The pleasurable pursuit has again been replaced by pain. The leisurely stroll along the fairways is more of a death march to the finish. Golf, a game to be enjoyed, is instead endured.

At least the weather is nice.

Welcome to the U.S. Open, where fun is a relative term.

Even Retief Goosen, who has won two of these things and looks like he could barely be bothered, admits the process is more about trying to diminish the torment.

"It's not easy when you're out there, I must say," said Goosen, the defending U.S. Open champion who shot par 70 at Pinehurst No. 2 to share the second-round lead with a couple of unlikely challengers, Olin Browne and Jason Gore.

"It's hard work and it works on your nerves and all that kind of stuff. ... This weekend is going to be a grind. It's not going to be easy. This course is only going to get tougher. As we know, last year at Shinnecock, the course was like this in the first two rounds and then suddenly on the weekend it was dead."

It didn't seem to bother the South African last year, as he shot a final-round 71 to win his second U.S. Open by two strokes over Phil Mickelson. And there were 14 subpar rounds Friday, including 66 by Sweden's Peter Heblom, who had never seen the course before this week.

But on a tree-lined course with virtually none of them in play; where the one water hazard attracts mosquitoes, not golf balls; where the wind was tricky, but not bending flagsticks; and where the sun shined, it sure was a somber place.

Its hard, sloping greens, deep rough and fast-running fairways tend to do that at the U.S. Open.

The scoring average of 73.707 was actually better than Thursday's first round, but nobody was talking like it was easier.

"Days like today typify a U.S. Open," said two-time Open winner Tiger Woods, who was three strokes back after 71. "You've just got to go out there and be as patient as possible and grind away. ... No one is going to run off with it, not with these conditions and these pin locations."

Only five players were under par through two rounds, and the leading score, 138, 2 under par, was the highest at the U.S. Open in nine years.

Goosen (70), Browne (71) and Gore (67) led K.J. Choi (70) and Mark Hensby (68) by one shot. Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Michael Campbell were at 140, two back. Woods was tied with six players at 141, 1 over par.

"This course," Browne said, "will whip your butt, plain and simple, every single shot."

There were plenty of examples.

Mickelson shot 41 for his first nine holes, made just one bogey, shot 77 - his highest score in a U.S. Open in 11 years - and dropped eight strokes back of the leaders.

Ernie Els, who also made just one birdie, shot 76 and fell nine behind.

Woods had his troubles, too, scraping the grass with his putter on the ninth green after missing a par putt - an act of frustration that drew the attention of the United States Golf Association for a breach of etiquette.

Then there was David Toms, who led the tournament at 3 under par before a double-bogey, triple-bogey finish at the eighth and ninth holes.

"They (the United States Golf Association) are trying to get you to do what I did on the last two holes," Toms said.

"If I finish even par for the tournament, I would win by more than one, I think," Garcia said. "That's my guess. The course is not going to get any easier. You're grinding it out to shoot even par."

And that's a top-10 player in the world talking. How does it explain the one ranked 818th shooting 67?

That would be Gore, 31, who is not even fully exempt this year on the Nationwide Tour. But Gore managed to play his last nine holes in 2 under to grab a share of the lead.

"Deep down inside, I felt like I'd be playing well," said Gore, who has not posted a top 10 in seven Nationwide appearances this year. "It's tough to imagine you're going to be up there in the U.S. Open. I actually feel pretty comfortable. I'm surprising myself."

So is Browne, 46, who only made it into the Open field last week after shooting 59 at sectional qualifying. He followed his first-round 67 with a shaky 71 that saw him hole a 25-foot putt for double bogey on the sixth hole.

"I want to keep hanging in as long as I can," said Browne, who has two PGA Tour victories. "I have no fingernails left, I was hanging in all day long."

The 36-hole cut came at 148, 8 over par. (Anyone within 10 of the lead qualified.) Among those who failed to make the cut were Chris DiMarco, who lost the last two major championships in playoffs, U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Tom Lehman and British Open champion Todd Hamilton.

They won't be around for the weekend, but perhaps they saved themselves some agony.

[Last modified June 18, 2005, 00:48:45]