Now they know how we feel.
For Saturday’s third round of the U.S. Open, 73 world-class players toured Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 308-over par. They posted only 130 birdies against 366 bogeys and 38 double-bogeys or above.
Long Island hasn’t seen anything like it since the “Amityville Horrors,” but this could get worse because there’s a sequel planned. They have to go 18 holes again Sunday, when it’s supposed to be warmer and windier.
Before this Open is closed, golf could witness tales from the crypt reminiscent of a decade ago, when the championship was last staged here. Like Fred Wadsworth’s rescues from the fescue. He sprayed a tee shot into what members lovingly call “native grasses.”
Wadsworth dug deep with a wedge to knock his ball back onto the fairway. He got all of it, and more. As he swung, two balls flew out of there simultaneously. The white one’s mine, decided Wadsworth. If the yellow one’s from the ’86 Open, it has to be the 1886 Open.
These millionaires were up to their knees in shrubbery again Saturday. Tom Kite shot 82. Ben Crenshaw had 79, and so did Nick Faldo. These aren’t hackers. These are marquee golfers.
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But Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, who might be the sport’s best player never to win a major, suffered the ultimate meltdown. Only a stroke from off the pace at No. 6 Saturday, Ozaki went 11-over par on the next 12 holes and had 80. He wore a bright purple silk ensemble. For Sunday, he really should consider overalls and combat boots and give the caddie a compass too.
“I’ve played golf everywhere golf is played,” said Greg Norman, “and I’ve never played in conditions this difficult.”
Norman, in the last twosome with Ozaki, also could have shot the temperature. But he salvaged a 74 from the rough and is tied for the lead with Tom Lehman at 1-under par.
“I feel like I shot 62,” said Norman.
“What does that say for Lehman?” he was asked.
“Oh, he shot 59,” replied Norman.
Actually, Lehman crafted a 67, though nobody can explain exactly how.
Only two others–Ian Woosnam and Gary Hallberg–landed in the 60s.
“Yeah, but did they play all the holes?” inquired Mark McCumber in a locker room where the prevailing mood was shellshock. Yet, the other recurrent refrain hailed this special occasion.
“It’s the Open,” said Bob Tway. “This is the way it’s supposed to be. We play enough bad courses where the winner shoots 18-under par. This is great.”
To the casual ambulance chaser, Saturday’s chain reaction accidents were somewhat puzzling. Officially, gusts reached only 25 m.p.h. That’s what golf’s all about for Faldo in Europe, and for Kite and Crenshaw in Texas. So, where’s the beef?
“The greens,” said Phil Mickelson. “They were treacherous last year at Oakmont. The same at Pebble Beach in 1992. If they don’t put at least a little water on these, they could be worse. It could be a joke.”
Sunday also could mean a frantic finish. At one juncture during the fourth round in 1986, nine players shared the lead at 1-over par. But none of them won. Ray Floyd stood alone at the end, shaking slightly.
This leader board is tightly packed too. There are the stars, such as Norman, Mickelson, Woosnam, Corey Pavin and Nick Price. There are the upwardly mobile types, such as Lehman and Steve Stricker. There are Tway and Scott Verplank, housemates this week who have returned with a passion from golf oblivion.
Also, back in the pack, there might lurk a Johnny Miller, who shot 63 in 1973 at Oakmont and went from the early leader in the clubhouse to the winner in waiting.
“That’s possible,” said Norman, who was all over Suffolk County but scrambled gamely. If he finally wins a U.S. Open on Sunday or Monday, he surely will remember Saturday, when he refused to lose it.