ESPN Golf Online: 1999 U.S. Open: Notebook: Praise dries up for Pinehurst

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Saturday, Jun. 19
Notebook: Praise dries up for Pinehurst

ESPN Golf Online and news services
PINEHURST, N.C. - Nick Price hesitated, searching for the right words after walking off Pinehurst No. 2 Saturday with a 4-over-par 74.
"It's hard to describe," Price said of how difficult it is playing in the 99th U.S. Open. "It's really a shame that television isn't three dimensional, so the folks watching at home could see how severe all these humps and bumps are around the edges of the greens.

Hank Kuehne
U.S. Amateur champion Hank Kuehne said he's never played a course so difficult.
"This course is playing so difficult. I really think par today is 75 or 76."
The 68 world-class golfers who staggered around the 7,175-yard, par-70 layout, averaged 75.972 strokes Saturday. That's up significantly from Thursday's 72.857 and Friday's 75.442, considering only the best of field made the weekend cut.
"I have been asked many times what is the hardest golf course I've every played," said defending Open champion Lee Janzen, whose 76 Saturday put him at 13-over overall. "Now I have the answer."
"If I had to play golf like this every day, I don't think I'd play anymore," said Hank Kuehne, the 1998 U.S. Amateur champion whose 81 was not the worst score of the day. "I've never played a course this difficult, and I've been playing tournaments since I was 6 years old."
Early in the week, a vast majority of the golfers praised the USGA for easing up on the length of the rough and not narrowing Pinehurst No. 2's fairways. But the USGA had something else up its sleeve in ensuring that this untraditional U.S. Open would keep its traditional toughness on the scorecard.
Donald Ross built the course in 1903 with round-edged greens leading to bunkers and collection areas. With Friday's sunshine and two straight days of strong breeze, the putting-surface edges turned crusty.
Combined with the USGA's selection of hole placements precariously close to these edges, often times the hole being located at the top of a mound where balls will roll away on all sides, and it was no surprise that praise for the USGA had totally dried up Saturday.
"It has crossed the line," said John Cook, whose 77 left him at 14-over. "You can make some pars, but birdies are out of the question."
"It's not the hardest course I've every played, but it's the hardest to get it close to the hole on the green," said Tom Watson, at 12-over after a 77.
Time and again, players watched as what they thought were soft, high, perfectly struck iron approach shots hit near the hole, appeared to be coming to a stop, only to trickle off the green, 20 to 50 feet away from the flag stick.
"It's just wild," said Sven Struver. "If you don't hit a perfect golf shot, you get punished. Even when you hit good shots, you can be punished. ... I had a few bad golf shots, for sure, but my 75 today was five shots better than my 76 yesterday."
Breaking tradition
Tom Lehman was attempting to set a U.S. Open record with his fifth straight year in the final twosome. That won't happen.
Lehman's 3-over-par 73 Saturday left him with a three-round total of 10-over 220 and back in the pack heading into the final 18 holes Sunday.
"I am really not hitting it that well," Lehman said after his round. "My biggest problem has been my putting. I've made three birdies in three days and one was a chip-in. I have hit it good enough to where I should have been in the hunt."
Lehman was a good pick to be up front again this week considering he finished second last week at Memphis. However, he has thought too much about his mechanics this week.
"When you are playing well, it's second nature; you don't really think about your swing, you step up and rip it," Lehman said. "Right now, I am a little more conscious of what I'm trying to do because my swing feels so lousy."
Lehman said he won't feel any different not teeing off last in the Open on Sunday.
"It's such a demanding course I'm still nervous on the first tee, even though I'm so far back," he said.
Burns gets burned
Bob Burns would just as soon forget the front nine at Pinehurst No. 2.
Last year's Nike Tour player of the year bogeyed the first six holes in Friday's second round. It got worse Saturday as Burns carded eight straight bogeys to start his round of 14-over-par.
"I set a couple of personal bests this week," Burns said, joking about his bogey binge on the front. "I would have much rather made a triple (bogey) in there. This is something I've never done before."
Burns was 0-for-9 hitting greens on the front nine. That followed his 0-for-9 effort on the back nine in Friday's second round.
"I went 18 straight holes without hitting a green," Burns said. "I mean, I hit some, but they didn't stay on. It was amazing.
"It's a fun golf course, but most golf courses lose their fun when the USGA gets hold of them."
Ping
Tiger Woods had quite a reaction immediately after hitting his approach from the 16th fairway.
Woods' left hand flew off the club after impact and he looked off the side even before the ball was finished rolling on the green. He said the reason was because of the sound of someone teeing off at the nearby No. 18 tee.
"It was so quiet out there, and then that metal wood sound -- it was just right there," Woods said. "Whoever it was made contact right on my downswing, and I flinched. I didn't even know they were on the tee."
The sound didn't hurt Woods' shot. His ball rolled up to within 15 feet of the hole, where he two-putted for par.
Divots

Should Sunday's round end with a tie for the top spot, an 18-hole playoff, as is the U.S. Open tradition, would start at noon ET on Monday. ESPN would televise the first two hours of the playoff, then coverage would switch to NBC at 2 p.m.

Besides a major championship to add to his resume, the winner of the U.S. Open this year also gets $625,000 from the $3.5 million purse.