Sunday at the US Open. A day that is awaited each year with anticipation without knowing which actors will be playing the parts. Today began with the hope of a Sunday for the ages…the veterans Els, Mickelson and Woods vs the dominant, young Johnson vs the diminutive Irishman and the Frenchman few had ever heard of much less knew how to pronounce his name. The stage was set; the curtain was raised but all but one exited stage left.
The excitement of Phil’s 66 on Friday and Tiger’s and Dustin’s on Saturday made us believe that miracles could happen on Sunday. The only miracle Sunday was that all who played finished with at least part of their sanity intact. It was more of a train wreck than the final round of the US Open.
The beautiful weather of the previous three days fled as if it knew that the day would require the cold, foggy gloom that settled itself over Pebble and never left. Jeff and I were detailed to Phil and Ernie on Sunday. Pretty darn exciting to work the course with two of the game’s superstars in the 3rd to final group. Tiger and Havret behind and Johnson and McDowell last. I wondered all day if Johnson and McDowell had anyone following them other than extended family and friends. I still do not know if they found a crowd before the reached 17. Certainly Graeme McDowell deserved a crowd and Dustin Johnson wished he had been playing on another planet.
Phil never got untracked, Tiger faltered from the get-go but Ernie was looking really good. We heard of Johnson’s disaster on 2 and suddenly everyone was back in the game big time. Then came 3 for Dustin and all were stunned. Apparently the golf gods got up on the wrong side of the bed and poor Dustin was on the wrong end of their wrath. Losing is one thing. Losing the US Open with a 5 shot lead going into Sunday and shooting 82 is something else entirely. Wherever his next tournament is I hope he wins by 10.
14 is a very long par 5 with a green that would make the Marquis de Sade smile. Phil hits his drive into the rough on the left. Ernie has laid up and is standing behind a rather large tree in the right rough. Phil hits his second over into the right rough and hits Ernie in the leg. Jeff was standing right there and neither he nor Ernie could believe it. Phil’s comment: Sorry about that. Then they both hit their approaches that curled back off the green and bogied the hole. I was standing behind the green by the tee 15 tee and found that Tiger is not the only one who drops ‘f’ bombs. Phil was so hot another marshal said he could hear his milder curse down the fairway.
Phil pushes his drive on 15 into the left rough and the ball lands on top of two TV cables. This is what our job is – get to the spot, move the crowd back so the player can hit his shot. Jeff and Terry are on the site and even though he could have taken relief he chose not to. Not your usual lie I must say. Pretty cool to stand 5’ from Phil taking his shot.
On 17 Phil’s tee shot lands about a foot from Jeff. Unfortunately for Phil, Jeff is not standing anywhere on the green but behind it. We both had opportunities to be incredibly close to the players during play. Still hard to believe.
As we made our way through the last few holes I paused to reflect on the week and tried to create lasting memories that likely will not be repeated. Because Phil, Ernie and Tiger did not take advantage of the gift they were given it was more subdued that it might have been. It was a relatively quiet, calm US Open Sunday without the usual roars and building excitement. Had the three of them risen to the occasion it would have been total chaos and the world would have loved every minute of it regardless of who won. It is unfortunate that it slipped away. Well to everyone except Graeme Mc Dowell of course.
That is not to say it wasn’t pretty amazing to walk 18 and see the phenomenal crowd. They cheered their unhappy heroes who were gracious in defeat but all knew what might have been. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the final twosome. Johnson managed to finish with grace and McDowell was beyond words. He seems like a nice man who will wear the crown well for the coming year. Many congratulations to Graeme McDowell!
We say goodbye to our new friends who were lucky to share this incredible week with us – Brian who is my everlasting hero, Rick, Chuck, Terry, Dave and Steve the Kiwi. Special thanks to Tom who brought us together and led us through the week.
Jeff and I make the long walk from one end of Pebble to the Carmel gate for the last time in the evening mist. It was very, very special at Pebble Beach and we will remember it always.
Happy Father’s Day again to all the Dads. Today I watched a son make his father enormously proud and that is what it is all about.
Ps – on Tuesday I will post my usual final thoughts and hopefully some photos. We of course forgot our “real” camera that Jeff took those fabulous photos with last year. That will not happen again we promise. But, others have promised some of their pictures that I will share with you as soon as I receive them
Pps – today a friend asked what Jeff did all week while I was doing all this crazy stuff…I guess when I said ‘we’ I knew that it was Jeff and me. We were together each day and he was part of the Tiger/Phil Advance Teams. If anyone else wondered now you know the truth – the whole truth – so help me!
The excitement of Phil’s 66 on Friday and Tiger’s and Dustin’s on Saturday made us believe that miracles could happen on Sunday. The only miracle Sunday was that all who played finished with at least part of their sanity intact. It was more of a train wreck than the final round of the US Open.
The beautiful weather of the previous three days fled as if it knew that the day would require the cold, foggy gloom that settled itself over Pebble and never left. Jeff and I were detailed to Phil and Ernie on Sunday. Pretty darn exciting to work the course with two of the game’s superstars in the 3rd to final group. Tiger and Havret behind and Johnson and McDowell last. I wondered all day if Johnson and McDowell had anyone following them other than extended family and friends. I still do not know if they found a crowd before the reached 17. Certainly Graeme McDowell deserved a crowd and Dustin Johnson wished he had been playing on another planet.
Phil never got untracked, Tiger faltered from the get-go but Ernie was looking really good. We heard of Johnson’s disaster on 2 and suddenly everyone was back in the game big time. Then came 3 for Dustin and all were stunned. Apparently the golf gods got up on the wrong side of the bed and poor Dustin was on the wrong end of their wrath. Losing is one thing. Losing the US Open with a 5 shot lead going into Sunday and shooting 82 is something else entirely. Wherever his next tournament is I hope he wins by 10.
14 is a very long par 5 with a green that would make the Marquis de Sade smile. Phil hits his drive into the rough on the left. Ernie has laid up and is standing behind a rather large tree in the right rough. Phil hits his second over into the right rough and hits Ernie in the leg. Jeff was standing right there and neither he nor Ernie could believe it. Phil’s comment: Sorry about that. Then they both hit their approaches that curled back off the green and bogied the hole. I was standing behind the green by the tee 15 tee and found that Tiger is not the only one who drops ‘f’ bombs. Phil was so hot another marshal said he could hear his milder curse down the fairway.
Phil pushes his drive on 15 into the left rough and the ball lands on top of two TV cables. This is what our job is – get to the spot, move the crowd back so the player can hit his shot. Jeff and Terry are on the site and even though he could have taken relief he chose not to. Not your usual lie I must say. Pretty cool to stand 5’ from Phil taking his shot.
On 17 Phil’s tee shot lands about a foot from Jeff. Unfortunately for Phil, Jeff is not standing anywhere on the green but behind it. We both had opportunities to be incredibly close to the players during play. Still hard to believe.
As we made our way through the last few holes I paused to reflect on the week and tried to create lasting memories that likely will not be repeated. Because Phil, Ernie and Tiger did not take advantage of the gift they were given it was more subdued that it might have been. It was a relatively quiet, calm US Open Sunday without the usual roars and building excitement. Had the three of them risen to the occasion it would have been total chaos and the world would have loved every minute of it regardless of who won. It is unfortunate that it slipped away. Well to everyone except Graeme Mc Dowell of course.
That is not to say it wasn’t pretty amazing to walk 18 and see the phenomenal crowd. They cheered their unhappy heroes who were gracious in defeat but all knew what might have been. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the final twosome. Johnson managed to finish with grace and McDowell was beyond words. He seems like a nice man who will wear the crown well for the coming year. Many congratulations to Graeme McDowell!
We say goodbye to our new friends who were lucky to share this incredible week with us – Brian who is my everlasting hero, Rick, Chuck, Terry, Dave and Steve the Kiwi. Special thanks to Tom who brought us together and led us through the week.
Jeff and I make the long walk from one end of Pebble to the Carmel gate for the last time in the evening mist. It was very, very special at Pebble Beach and we will remember it always.
Happy Father’s Day again to all the Dads. Today I watched a son make his father enormously proud and that is what it is all about.
Ps – on Tuesday I will post my usual final thoughts and hopefully some photos. We of course forgot our “real” camera that Jeff took those fabulous photos with last year. That will not happen again we promise. But, others have promised some of their pictures that I will share with you as soon as I receive them
Pps – today a friend asked what Jeff did all week while I was doing all this crazy stuff…I guess when I said ‘we’ I knew that it was Jeff and me. We were together each day and he was part of the Tiger/Phil Advance Teams. If anyone else wondered now you know the truth – the whole truth – so help me!
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