Gore hits the wall after strong start
PINEHURST, N.C. -- Orville Moody's name will stay on for another year in the US Golf Association record books. The 1969 champion remains the last one to win the competition after having come through two stages of qualifying, though Jason Gore made a pretty good run at it -- for three days, anyway.
But Cinderella turned into a pumpkin during yesterday's fourth round of the 105th US Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Gore, the 31-year-old journeyman from Valencia, Calif., started the day three off the lead and was paired with 54-hole leader Retief Goosen. With bogeys coming from all directions, Gore kept himself in the thick of things, and when he birdied the par-4 fifth, just one of five made there in Round 4, the rags-to-riches story was alive.
At 2 over, Gore was just two off the lead.
A half-hour later, the deficit doubled; three hours later, he was so far out of it, it was difficult to remember if he were even in the tournament.
''There's nothing I could do," said Gore, who is a member of the Nationwide Tour this year, having twice played himself off of the PGA Tour. ''Those things happen."
Gore bogeyed the eighth, and while that stung, what happened next really hurt. He missed to the left of the par-3 ninth green, pitched through the green, then had to pitch again, and when he completed the hole with a two-putt for double bogey, he was 5 over, five shots back, and reeling right along with his playing competitor, Goosen.
The inward nine? There was a bogey at 10, a triple bogey at the par-4 12th, bogeys at Nos. 14, 15, and 16, then he won the honors of finishing the play at this Open. With Goosen having made par to finish his 81 and with Michael Campbell already coronated as the champion, the celebration couldn't begin until Gore finished the hole.
He almost didn't, but finally he tapped in for a double-bogey 6, a round of 84--294, and a slide so far down the leaderboard (joint 49th) that Gore didn't even secure an automatic exemption into next year's US Open, which goes to the top 15 finishers.
Instead, Gore took a bow and exited through a line of well-wishers.
Perhaps never to be seen again on such a golf stage.
Mickelson streak ends
He made no secret about his preparation for this US Open; Phil Mickelson immersed himself in it. When the effort had come up painfully short, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and finally smile. He shot 74--292 to finish joint 33d, halting a stretch of five straight Top 10 efforts in the majors. What will he do next week? Go home and keep track of Annika Sorenstam's bid to win a third straight major. ''I'll be watching intently. I've become a big fan of hers," said the lefthander . . . When Mickelson birdied the par-4 16th in the third round, it snapped a streak of five straight bogeys on the hole. He had bogeyed it the final three rounds of 1999 and the first two this time around. He made bogey yesterday and has now played it in 5 over in his two Opens here . . . Mickelson can lay claim to an infamous stat for 2005 -- the 565-yard, par-5 fourth was played 478 times and just once did someone make double bogey or worse. Mickelson, in Round 3 . . . On a day when fellow South African Goosen would collapse, Ernie Els went about his final-round duties in relative quiet. An even-par 70 sent him rocketing up the leaderboard, going from T-41 to T-15 . . . He opened with a 77 and was in danger of missing the cut. But Davis Love played the next 54 holes in 1 under, his closing 70--286 giving him a share of sixth. It's his third Top 10 finish in a US Open and comes after having missed the cut in each of the last two seasons . . . Sergio Garcia was ahead of the madness and in relative obscurity, he shot 70--285 to finish third, though he never was a threat. It's his second Top 10 and he's made the cut in his six US Open starts . . . So disjointed was this US Open that when the dust had cleared, four players had finished Top 10 in a US Open for the first time -- Campbell, Aussie Mark Hensby (74--285, T-3), South African Tim Clark (70--285, T-3), and Arron Oberholser (73--287, T-9). Hensby and Oberholser were making their US Open debuts . . . Tiger Woods (69--282) was second, his fourth Top 10 in a US Open; Vijay Singh (72--286) was joint sixth, his sixth Top 10; Rocco Mediate (71--286) was also tied for sixth, his second Top 10; and Nick Price (72--287) snuck into joint ninth, his fifth Top 10.
Caddie gets closure
When he was last here, the 1999 US Open, Mike Hicks secured a place in golf folklore -- the caddie who leaped into Payne Stewart's arms after the unforgettable win. Stewart, of course, died four months later and since that tragic death, Hicks has faced an endless list of questions. Now, he caddies for one of Stewart's friends, two-time US Open champion Lee Janzen, and after they closed 74--296 and tied for 57th, Hicks again found himself in front of reporters. Yes, he was glad it was over. ''A little bit of closure to the whole thing," said Hicks. ''It doesn't hide the fact that we miss him, and I've been thinking about him all day, but I'm glad it's finally over."
And they reappeared
Three veterans were making reappearances at the US Open. Peter Jacobsen (75--289, T-15) and Steve Elkington (70--292, T-33) hadn't played since 1999, while Bill Glasson's (79--297, T-67) last start in this tournament was 1996 . . . Mike Weir had missed the cut in four straight events before making it into weekend play here. The lefthander from Canada was joint fourth a year ago in the US Open and tied for third the year before that, but this time around he finished at 71--293 for a share of 42d . . . Then there was, as always, the ever-popular John Daly. He finished with a 76 to wind up at 19-over 299 and tied for 75th. But by Daly standards, this was a successful US Open. ''I'm surprised I made the cut," he said, ''as many fairways as I missed." In 40 rounds covering 13 US Opens, Daly has had just five sub-70 rounds. He's also had seven in the 80s. He's missed three cuts and withdrawn twice. ''It's just tough for me to score at the Open. I don't even get butterflies, which is weird. But I enjoyed this week." Daly said the Pinehurst No. 2 greens were ''pretty consistent," but that the 203-yard, par-3 15th was a separate case. ''The cup's not even even," he pointed out. ''You can't be short, and if you go long, you're off the green. It's brutal."
Qualifiers made noise
Of the 83 players who made the cut, four had to go through two stages of qualifying. Gore (84--294, T-49) gathered the biggest spotlight, of course. John Mallinger shot 78--297 and finished joint 67th, while Omar Uresti closed 76--299 to wind up joint 75th. The fourth to go through both stages of qualifying was Matt Every, who just finished his junior year at the University of Florida, and he fared best. Every shot 70--291 to tie for 28th and take low amateur. His only competition was reigning US Amateur champ Ryan Moore, who earlier this year was low amateur at the Masters. Moore shot 73--296 and finished joint 57th in his farewell to the amateur ranks. He'll tee it up as a pro in this week's PGA Tour stop, the Barclays Classic at Westchester CC in New York . . . Trip Kuehne, an amateur who missed the cut, was still on site, so he played as a marker alongside Chris Nallen. They were teammates on last summer's US Walker Cup team . . . Of the 49 first-time participants, 15 made the cut . . . Next year's US Open will be staged at Winged Foot in New York. It'll go to Oakmont , Pa., in 2007, then to Torrey Pines in San Diego for 2008. After that, it'll be Bethpage Black on Long Island in 2009, followed by Pebble Beach in 2010.
