Stars Rise on Moving Day, Woods two behind Baddeley

OAKMONT, PA – The pressure of an Oakmont U.S. Open finally caught up to the pretenders while the stars of the PGA Tour, led by Woods, called on their experience and positioned themselves at the top of the leaderboard.

 

            Aaron Baddeley’s mercurial round looked to finish in flames, but suddenly skyrocketed as he rolled in a 14-footer for an unlikely birdie to the delight of the capacity crowd around 18.  Baddeley fired a level par 70, but had five birdies and five bogeys.  “Tomorrow, I’m going to deal with some emotions because I’ve never been in this position before” he noted sincerely.  “But I play golf and I’ve worked my whole life to get to this point, so I’m going to embrace it” he continued resolutely.  If I play well, I have a good chance coming down the last hole if I’ve got the lead.”

 

Although Baddeley has only made five cuts in twelve major starts, Baddeley is also number one in putts per round on perhaps the toughest greens in the U.S.

 

Alone in second two strokes back, Woods fired a clean round for seventeen holes, but a wayward tee shot on 18 led to a closing bogey.  In his post round interview, Woods admitted his disappointment, saying he was “pissed.”  He took a loose swing trying to hit a big cut and buried his ball in the tall rough.  His par putt grazed the lip but did not fall.  He finished with a 1-under 69.

 

Even though after hitting seventeen greens in regulation (Woods surged to number one in greens in regulation, it was Woods’ putts that told the story of his round.  After back to back birdies at 3 and 4, numerous putts burned the edge or stopped on the lip.  “I’d be miffed if I hit bad putts, but I hit good ones, so that’s just the way it goes” he noted candidly.  Woods had most problems with the pace of the greens – which stimp anywhere from 13-15.5.  Some putts stopped just short, others were a foot by, but the common thread was he missed on the high side by only microns.

 

            Ten more players are within five shots of Baddeley.  Paul Casey, Steven Ames Justin Rose and Bubba Watson are all at +5, three shots back.  Watson was in sole possession of the lead at +1 after the eighth hole, but a horrible mental error cost him three shots as he stubbed one chip, then bladed another on his way to a triple bogey seven at the 9th.

 

            Steve Stricker, whose 68 was the low round of the day was tied at +6, 216 with Jim Furyk and second round leader Angel Cabrera, who fired a disappointing 76.