LA JOLLA, CA – The U.S.G.A’s egalitarian course set-up of Torrey Pines produced uncommonly equitable scores in today’s first round action of the 108th U.S. Open. Relative unknowns Justin Hicks and Kevin Streelman find themselves atop a leaderboard which neatly mixes other relative unknowns, PGA tour favorites, and even amateurs. Meanwhile “the buzz” of Phil Mickelson versus Tiger Woods will have to wait at least another day as both are three and four shots off the lead respectively.
Though almost all attention pre-tournament was on the number one and number two players in the world, at the end of the day, it was on number 608 (Streelman) and 722 (Hicks) who commanded our attention. With a pair of 3-under 68s, Streelman, a twenty-nine year-old tour rookie who missed seven cuts in sixteen starts this season, and Hicks, a thirty-three year-old Nationwide Tour player who finished no higher than 28th in six tournaments while missing three cuts, are unlikely leaders. Hicks, who qualified for the tournament at Columbus, Ohio’s at Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course, earned a meagre $8,463.50 on the Nationwide tour this year. . His only U.S. open appearance was at Shinnecock in 2004 where he went 75-71 = MC.
Still, there is some sense to Streelman’s success today. As the last alternate to get into the Buick Invitational this February, Streelman opened that tourney with 67-69, but when paired with Tiger Woods, he ballooned to finish 75-77. Even so, he learned from the experience and, starting on the back nine today, raced out to a 3-under score after six holes, a feat similar to his last tournament start at Torrey.
At February’s Buick, “I was the last alternate to get into that tournament, six minutes before my tee time, and raced out and shot 5-under on the other [North] course and [got to] 9-under here, and all of a sudden, I was paired with Tiger,” he stated with the wide grin of a relieved first-round major championship leader. “The main thing I took out of it was the necessity of rest. I do enjoy this golf course…the lines off the tee kind of suit my eye well.” He later explained that his left-to-right cut worked well on the South Course.
This time, Streelman rolled in a twelve foot putt on ten after working a 7-iron pff some internal green contouring to a semi-tucked pin. He then holed out of a greenside bunker on the 504-yard par-4 twelfth hole, which played the hardest on the course, a whopping .60 strokes over par. Streelman was three-for-three in bunker saves on the day, a critical stat for anyone wishing to win a U.S. Open.
Hicks also carded birdies in bunches. During a mercurial first nine holes, he tallied three birdies in a row on two separate occasions. Starting on the back, he opened with a bogey on ten before stringing together birdies on eleven, twelve, and thirteen. He then bogeyed two consecutive holes before swashbuckling his way to another three successive birdies to close the back nine. He didn’t have a single par in his first nine holes and averaged a paltry 262.2 yards off the tee.
His up-and-down round was a microcosm of his life; Hicks has bounced around from tour to tour just as haphazardly over the course of his career. “I moved from Michigan to Florida and started with the South Florida Golf Tour, which collapsed, and then the Golden Bear Tour, which got bought out by the Gateway Tour” he explained with a chuckle and a barely perceptible shake of his head. “I also played some stints with a tour called the Maverick Tour which the owner ran away with some money and was never heard from again – he bounced me a check for 25-grand too for a win – and there was a Montgomery Sports Tour and the Minor League golf tour.”
Streelman and Hicks join a long line of unknowns playing “Feel Like a Stranger” with fans and sportswriters alike. Unexpected first round leaders of the U.S. Open include Mike Brady, (who was not “busy with three boys of his own” and suddenly married a single mom with three daughters), Jock Hutchinson, (I’m sure you all remember him from Inverness Country Club in 1920), Henry Ciuci, (who?), Mortie “I’m not Olin” Dutra, and Herman Barrow, (again at Inverness), Alvin Krueger, (who later formed a band with Simon and Theodore), the unforgettable Lee Mackey, Jr., and Billy Joe Patton, who lost at Balturol to a guy with a withered arm. (That would be Ed Furgol, for those of you scoring at home).
Streelman and Hicks will have quite a few seasoned competitors breathing down their necks besides Mickelson (Level Par) and Woods (1-over). Rocco Mediate, Stuart Appleby, Eric Axley, and 2006 U.S. Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy are one shot back at 2-under. England’s Lee Westwood, Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, Australia’s Robert Allenby, two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els, and amateur Ricky Fowler are at 1-under. In fact, several amateurs turned in outstanding first round scores: Kyle Stanley shot 1-over 72, Derek Fathauer carded 2-over 74, and Michael Thompson shot 3-over 74. A total of thirty players are within three shots of the lead. The top sixty and ties and anyone within ten shots of the lead make the cut.
Still, most media and fan attention is firmly fixed on Phil and Tiger, who hit six out of fourteen fairways each, a stat of men who normally shoot much higher scores at a U.S. Open. It shows how Torrey can be tamed without accuracy off the tee. Indeed, Mickelson didn’t hit a single driver today. “I only want to hit it a certain distance” he explained candidly. “I don’t really want to hit it past 300 yards on most of the par-4s because it runs into the rough. If it rains or gets softer, I’ll certainly pull driver out…and I was able to take advantage of the two par-5s and get home with no problem.”
Mickelson and Woods finished early, long before the greens began to get bumpy due to their mix of poa anna and the stress of 156 pairs of soft spike trodding upon them all day. One of the last groups, Ogilvy, Els, and Allenby, complained bitterly about their condition. “I left five or six shots out there” snarled a clearly frustrated Allenby. “But that’s a U.S. Open and you have to deal with that.”
“It was a problem” echoed Els, “but we tee off early tomorrow soft they should bounce back. That’s just one of the things you have to do at the U.S. Open, say focused and endure.”
Endure: that’s been the key word at the U.S. Open since 1951 when Robert trent Jones, Sr. created the prototype “Monster” course set-up at Oakland Hills and triggered the last fifty-seven years of crucible-like conditions the players must endure mentally and physically. That’s the gauntlet Hicks and Streelman will have to run if they want to join a long list of unusual U.S. Open Champions. Nevertheless, while many claim Our Open is the hardest tournament to win, it is also sometimes the easiest to back into. With a list of winners including Ed Furgol, Steve Jones, Scott Simpson, Michael Campbell, Orville Moody, and Andy North twice, they have every right to ask themselves: “Why not us?”
