I was restless all night and through lunch Friday. But once I hit the practice range, I was ready to play. The wind was blowing. Heard Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara and Fred Funk talk about the difficulty the wind was a would present the rest of the day and how slow the greens are as the USGA protects the turf. Including the drying and firming of the greens. I know that wind takes patience.
I see Duffy on the range and tell him today will be just like playing in Santa Ana winds of SoCal.
Go though the new routine and focus the full swings on smooth solid contact into the wind. The putting green doesn't seem any faster than the last two days.
My drive off #1 was solid down the right side toward the bunker but doesn't draw. The ball comes to rest sitting up in the second cut of rough. The pin is cut just over a bunker and I attempt to play toward the middle of the green, but end up firing at the pin instead. The ball goes over the green and a simple, at least by Open standards, up and down brings par.
A drive and a 3 hybrid leave me 65 yards to the pin cut just two paces over a false front on #2. I get the SW to about 20 feet safely above the hole and I roll it in for birdie to reach -2. Funk at the time was the clubhouse leader at -3. And I am calm and confident my good play will continue.
With the tees up on three, I select a five iron to a pin slightly back of center. I do not drive through the shot with my legs and block the ball into the right bunker. I have plenty of green to work with and plenty of green behind the pin to insure a bogey at worst. But my shot doesn't reach the green. Whether I decelerated or just didn't hit it hard enough I'm not sure. I make too aggressive a stroke with the chip shot from the long rough and miss a six footer for bogey. The first double of the tournament. But I am ok.
My drive on four starts on the right as planned but again, like number one, doesn't draw. I am left with a 3 hybrid out of the first cut of rough to a left pin that requires a cut around the tree limbs to find the green. A four iron would have reached the green, but I was afraid with the ball sitting up so well that I would hit an iron fat, but the wide sole of the hybrid would prevent that.
So choking down on the 3 I catch the ball squarely and it begins to cut to the middle of the green, but then begins to draw toward short side deep bunkers. But it lands on turf and I can't see where it ends up. But it rolls just through the green into long rough between a couple clumps. These clumps deaden the ball and I leave the chip 18 feet short. I have the line of the putt down, but leave it two feet short. Bogey.
The pin on 5 is on the upper right shelf, but the tees are up, so only a six iron in my hand. My plan is to start the ball over the right greenside bunker and draw it back to the pin. But I lean into the swing a push it horribly into a tree. I hear it hit the tree and maybe the cart path. I can't determine where it is and am not receiving a signal from the marshals. As I go to play a provisional, we receive the safe sign. I find the ball under the tree and behind the bunker with the leader board blocking my preferred path. I find out the only reason the ball stayed in bounds is it hit a TV crewman in the leg and bounced back.
I ask for line of sight relief from the temporary immovable obstruction for the path I wan to play. A rules official is a called over and I am told I only get line of sight relief if the TIO blocks my direct path to the hole. He says, "play hard".
In trying to make a bogey, my choice is to play toward the front of the green, but not so close as to risk running down the hill that fronts the green. So I play into the bunker instead. On the green 10 feet and miss again, another double. Ouch.
Six is playing very short. Fred Funk hit wedge in for his second shot earlier. I hit a good tee shot leaving me a six iron second that I put on the front edge and two putt for birdie. Relief.
I put my tee ball on seven in another greenside bunker but manage to get it up and down with the ball barely making it to the hole. It almost looked like it hesitated and then fell in.
To 8 where there is no way I can reach the green today. A good drive gets me half way and I don't want to hit 3D off the deck because I haven't tried that shot yet with that club. I just want to hit 3W to near the front of the green, pitch up and make a par putt. But I end up hitting a rolling dying draw that ends up in a fairway bunker 40 yards short of the green. I play out to the front of the green and get that up and down for bogey. Ok, that is an expected score on that hole.
A good drive on nine gets me to a flatter area in the fairway, but a pulled 8-iron puts me on the green but well away from the hole. I leave the first putt five feet short and make that for par.
I turn at +3 for the event and feeling fine after the dilemmas of the front nine.
With strong winds helping the drive on 10 I consider hitting the 3D past the bunker and hazard, but I am not sure I can carry it that far. So the 3W is played down the middle. I have 182 effective yards to the front edge, playing less due to the wind. That information tells me to hit six iron, but it doesn't look right. So I try a punch cut 5 iron and totally miss the shot and hit a worm burner slice into a greenside bunker and make a bogey.
As we get to the 11th tee, tees and pin up, the wind is helping and it appears a PW would work well. Matt Hall hits his shot in the back right bunker with that wind. But as I approach the tee the wind shifts and indecision creeps in. I choose to hit an easy 8-iron and plant it in the front bunker. I should have hit it full to the middle or back of the green and rely on my putter for a par. I tried to be too cute and paid the price.
A good drive on 12 gives me a five iron shot. The pin is on the right tier and I attempt to start the shot at the middle of the green to fade to the right. But it starts too far right, lands on the right fringe and just rolls into the 2nd cut of rough pin high. But an excellent chip provides a much needed par.
Finally a solid iron off the 13 tee leaves me just under 100 yards to a pin in the back of the green near a side slope. I play a great shot to within four feet with a L-R break. I don't find the line at address again an miss the putt. I really wanted that putt to give me a cushion with the cut. I am pretty sure it will be set at 5 or 6 over par, if I am lucky.
Another pulled drive on 14 puts me in the 3rd cut of rough. I am more aggressive this time and get the ball to within 130 yards of the pin set on the back left shelf. I need to draw the ball around some trees, but can't be too aggressive and flirt with the trees. I do get the ball on the upper shelf, barely. When I hit this putt my feet are on the downslope. I don't get the ball high enough but make an easy par.
15 is much more downwind than any of the other days. I get my drive to within 120 yards of the pin, but in the second cut. The pin is cut on the front right portion of the green, so any shot right of the pin from the rough will most likely run off, or, if short, find a bunker. So I am playing toward the middle of the green in anticipation of the slope moving the ball toward the hole. I want to make sure I drive my legs strong through the shot here to avoid going right. But the ball comes out too far left and lands short of the green, but fortunately hangs in the first cut of rough, otherwise it would have rolled back down the fairway a ways. I have a simple makeable chip that I roll to within a foot for an easy par. I have been told this shot was on TV.
The tees are up on 16 and so is the pin. The effective yardage to the pin is just over 180, and just over 170 to the front. The wind is helping and right to left. A 6-iron hit well would get me to the front, but if I missed it I would find another bunker. So I choose the 5-iron and finally put a good swing on a par-3 tee shot. The ball begins to drift toward the left bunker, but lands just off the green and kicks on.
I am left with a 25 foot putt over a mound and downhill for 20 feet of the putt. I can see a line where the ball will go in: big right to left but falling right at the hole. With the putts having a tendency not to roll as much as one would like when trying to cozy the ball down a slope, I don't want to get too cute and leave a difficult down hill putt for par. So I hit the ball on the line I see and it takes the last break just a half second too late and the ball runs 10 feet past the hole.
Another weak putt for par that is never high enough or firm enough gives me a bogey. I see Connor twirl in disappointment. Now six over and now I believe over the cut line.
I hit my second terrible tee shot of the tournament on the short 17th and I can only advance the ball into the front bunker on my second leading to the bogey that totally kills my chances of making the cut.
Tees are up again on 18. I hit another good tee shot here and rope a 2 hybrid to within 10 feet. This shot was on TV. I hit the birdie putt too hard and settle for par and I know I blew this chance.
I leave the green and say "thanks Omaha" to the sparse remaining crowd and they invite me back.
I see my Dad and ask if I made the cut. He doesn't know but tells me I made his cut. Minda gives me a kiss as I walk to the scoring area where I see 64 players are at +5 and better. And the final disappointment sets in.
Matt Hall finishes dead last of those that completed and Matt Sughrue is in the bottom 10.
Most of my errors in this round were lack of execution of the chosen shot whether due to lack of commitment or physical errors of a poor swing.
It is the putt on 16 that bothers the most. Believing I needed to play the last three holes even par, including the short par-4 17th. I chose and aggressive line on a putt in a situation that required more patience. This mental error is the most troublesome. Now if the putt had gone in, and it very nearly did, I would tell you the "field", as described in The Legend of Bagger Vance, showed me the way.
And not keeping my composure on the 17th tee shot was another error. I should have motivated myself to hit good shots to give myself an chance and I didn't.
If I had made the cut on the number, I would have teed off on Saturday before 8am, less than 13 hours after completing the 2nd round. That would have been physically demanding.
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