When I entered the Brookline Media Center last Tuesday, the first thing I noticed was the lack of paper. The usual table next to the registration desk, packed with stapled details on all possible sides of the major event, was no longer there.
I was even more shocked to hear that there was no tournament program. Everything was found online.
The general setup seemed to include all the usual materials, but from this scribe’s point of view, the strange mood was different. The familiar faces of many longtime colleagues are gone.
For the first time, the combination of geographic conditions and Covid’s situation revealed that he hadn’t participated in the US Open since Martin Kaymer’s victory at Pinehurst in 2014. My last national open.
My decision to treat Boston as a swan song was based on its relative accessibility. And there was suspicion that the country club might fit in with Rory McIlroy’s special talent. The finality of the decision was solidified by the experience at Dublin Airport. There, takeoff was delayed by two and a half hours while Delta removed Covid’s contacts after three hours for security and passing through US immigrants. From the flight.
Ideas for situations, such as the start of an exciting new adventure, are from the distant past. In fact, when we finally aired last Monday, I was convinced that there was nothing to tempt me to repeat this ordeal.
Each of the four majors has its own personality, and efficiency is not at the top of the list at the US Open. The perfect example was provided at the 1993 event in Baltusrol (my fifth) when I received a billet at a hotel in Newark.
On Tuesday morning, I joined an English and American colleague on an official shuttle bus across New Jersey. It was only after we had been stationary for a few minutes that the driver asked on the intercom, “Does anyone know where the golf course is?”
At that time, prominent secretary Peter Doberiner, perusing the local roadmap, suggested that he might be able to help. “Welcome to the National Open!” Another deceased colleague, Renton Laidlaw, ironically said.
For years, the USGA has taken a clear pride in secretly explaining the rigors of testing they set at their blue ribbon event. The belief was not to confuse the best players in the world, but to identify them. Still, it was necessary to question the strategy of effectively eliminating the selfish and skillful Seve Ballesteros from their role of honor.
When pursuing their own way, they often act like a group of unleaded individuals who are afraid to take responsibility for something. This was especially apparent last Wednesday. Clear and accurate directions would have been invaluable when their leaders faced the media on LIV issues.
As a reminder, it’s not a comfortable mission against the backdrop of 16 Saudis, including Osama bin Laden, quoted among the 19 hijackers who caused the 9/11 horror. did.Christine Brennan’s USA Today Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, asked: [Jamal] Khashoggi’s fiancée? “
Thursday morning she Report: “I spoke for 1 minute and 49 seconds and didn’t say a word about the 9.11 family or Khashoggi’s fiancée. He said he felt” responsibility for this game and his competitors. ” He continued on the US Open qualifying rules many times, saying he had the American flag in the front yard, but didn’t peep at the people I asked.
“So I tried again —’and there is no support for the 9.11 family?” Wang said, “I fully supported the 9.11 family,” but then where he was and where he was 9 / Talking about remembering what he was doing in 11, he said: [of] Neighbors “, talk before returning to the USGA. Other US Golf Association executives sitting beside him offered nothing. “
Payne Stewart’s widow, Tracy Stewart, died in an unusual mid-air collision a month after the 1999 Ryder Cup in Brookline, when golf had some reconciliation available. Stewart’s Ryder Cup shirt was framed and prominently displayed in the US Open locker room last week.
The intent is the sportsmanship of a player who allowed Colin Montgomerie a single 18th hole when both reached the green to supplement the treatment Mongo received from the hostile Boston crowd that afternoon. It was to remember.
At that time, I met Eric O’Brien, a prominent audience who recently passed by us. After joining the Country Club in 1973 as a Boston-based Irish surgeon, he became a very active member of Portmarnock GC when he retired.
“America tends to be ugly at times, and this was ugly America on a golf course,” he typically told me in a straightforward way.
On the other hand, the big surprise when the field of the 122nd US Open was announced is that Scotland is likely to be Shawn Jacklin, Tony’s 30-year-old son who won the championship at Hazeltin in 1970. It was a discovery that there was only one challenger. And by the Friday cut here, there was nothing.
Wanting to dig deeper into this issue, I turned to the help of a USGA historian. With our help, we have been informed that more than 24 of them were born in Scotland from the field famous for 67 athletes defeating Francis Ouimet here at Brookline at the 1913 US Open. rice field. They included legendary names such as Jock Hutchison and Macdonald Smith, along with former champions Alex Ross (1907), Fred McLeod (1908) and Alex Smith (1910).
Departing Delgany just a year ago, Pat Doyle was the only native-born Irishman in the field and was acquitted for finishing 10th with a $ 30 prize.
The idea of such a shortage of Scottish people after the Halcyon era of Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance, Paul Lawrie and Montgomery seems to have surprised one of the world’s leading coaches, Pete Cowen. did not. “It’s often asked why the French aren’t producing more players in the top 100 in the world,” he said. “Is it a lack of opportunity or is it the devastating effect of stage phobia on big occasions?
“In my view, the most common problem is stage phobia, and overcoming it is not taught. Ideally, players will be comfortable at all levels reached when climbing a ladder. You need to feel, so by the time they come here, stage phobia is no longer a problem.
“That’s the place of Padraig [Harrington] It has had a huge impact on other Irish players. It’s a pity he’s not here this week. When asked who is doing his best lately, he says he’s probably Padraig. “
Finally, I haven’t read anything Next to the 83-year-old Artspander in my designated seat at the Media Center. This is the legendary figure of an American golf writer. He told me that his first US Open took place at the Olympic Club in 1966. San Francisco Chronicle..
At that time, a 17-year-old boy, Johnny Miller, was tied in 8th place behind Billy Casper, and the slightly less promising Lee Trevino was tied in 54th place.
One of our younger brothers had the temper to describe us as the “Sunshine Boys,” recalling the 1975 movie starring George Burns and Walter Matthau. Another colleague suggested that our location at the top of the central corridor facilitates easy first aid access, if needed.
Still, it was a long and fascinating road.
