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Print Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Indiana, Pa. resident Jon Mills tees off No. 1 in the opening round of the U.S. Open yesterday at Oakmont. "I definitely was more nervous than I thought I'd be ... I was really nervous, almost shaking." |
The gallery serenaded Fred Funk on the first tee by singing "Happy Birthday," and on his 51st birthday, the shot-maker with the balky back made four birdies and five bogeys to finish with a 1-over 71.
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Morry Gash, Associated Press Fred Funk hits onto the eighth green during the first round of the 107th U.S. Open Golf Championship at the Oakmont Country Club yesterday. Click photo for larger image.  Hardest course he's played
 PG golf Writer Gerry Dulac wraps up Day One developments at Oakmont yesterday. |
Funk, who finished his round three shots off the lead, was under par through six holes before a bogey bug bit him on Nos. 7, 8 and 9. He also bogeyed No. 18 or he would have been in a select group at or below par.
"I was pretty upset after No. 9," he said, describing the only green he three-putted. "The irony of it is that I watched earlier from the putting green. I knew exactly what those putts were doing. Everybody was missing. Then I got up there and did the exact same thing."
Oakmont did play softer than it had in three practice rounds because of a Wednesday downpour. If it hadn't rained, Funk would have taken bets that nobody would break par.
"It's a testament to how hard this course is. It keeps coming at you," Funk said. "Without the rain, it would have been brutal."
Funk's game fits a U.S. Open setup because accuracy, not distance, is his hallmark.
But he laughed at himself for hitting a 3-wood on the 667-yard 12th hole.
"The longest hole in U.S. Open history and the shortest hitter is hitting 3-wood," he said.
He wanted to hit short to avoid a bunker. But he took a bogey-6 on the hole.
Run of the Mills
Jon Mills was prepared, or so he thought. But when he walked up to hit his first drive his knees were a bit wobbly and his hands sweaty. He saw all the people enclosing the tee area at No. 1. He heard the loud cheers when his named was announced.
"I definitely was more nervous than I thought I'd be,' said Mills, 29, a pro who works on the Nationwide Tour, lives in Indiana, Pa., and went through the qualifiers to reach his first spot in a U.S. Open. "I was really nervous, almost shaking."
Mills split the fairway at Oakmont Country Club on his first swing and his feet barely touched the ground as he strode toward his ball.
"I hit a great drive," said Mills, who three-putted the first two holes for bogeys and finished at 3-over 73. "I settled down around the fourth and fifth holes. I fought back, trying to focus and do my best on each shot."
A swing and a miss
Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy's tee shot on 17 appeared to hit one of the spotters alongside the fairway, but whether it did or not may never be known. Television replays showed the ball flying toward the spotter who jumped on the ground at the last second.
"I thought [the ball hit the spotter]," Ogilvy, who shot 1-over 71, said. "But when we got up there, nobody owned up to being hit."
Wave the red flag
While the USGA customarily uses yellow flags atop the pins at U.S. Opens, this week red flags adorn the pins. The reason?
Mike Davis, the USGA senior director of rules and competition went to the USGA and requested the change because red is the color Oakmont uses during everyday, regular play.
Rough rough
Golf is often described as a game of chipping and putting, but Jose Maria Olazabal, who finished with an even-par 70, said this U.S. Open will be decided by which player uses his driver and 3-wood the best.
The reason?
There is danger in every rough so a bad tee shot on any hole likely will cost a player at least one stroke, if not more.
"You need to hit woods here," Olazabal said. "I hit some shots into the high rough and couldn't reach the fairway.
