Thursday, June 12, 2014

U.S. Open Day One Wrap Up

The big story of the day was Pinehurst Number 2, which looked like a golf course from the Great Depression, but which held its own against all challengers but one, and which left us with a pretty impressive leaderboard.  The second big story of the day was Martin Kaymer, who has put his game back together and shot a glorious 65 in the afternoon to take a three-shot lead over the rest of the field.  Kaymer is playing well these days, and he could run off and leave everyone.  But if he comes back to the pack -- which is what one would normally expect -- then the tournament could go in many different directions.

Phil Mickelson, who missed the cut at both the Masters and at the Players Championship, shot an even par 70 and is in a very good position.

Bubba Watson shot a six-over par 76 and is likely to miss the cut.

J.B. Holmes, of Campbellsville, Kentucky, matched Mickelson at even par.

Rory McIlroy is one over.

Here is what the top of the leaderboard looks like:

1.  M. Kaymer (GER):  -5 (65)

T2.  K. Na:  -2 (68)
T2.  G. McDowell (NIR):  -2 (68)
T2.  B. DeJonge (ZIM):  -2 (68)
T2.  F. Quinn:  -2 (68)

T6.  B. Snedeker:  -1 (69)
T6.  H. Stenson (SWE):  -1 (69)
T6.  M. Kuchar:  -1 (69)
T6.  B. Todd:  -1 (69)
T6.  J. Spieth:  -1 (69)
T6.  H. Matsuyama (JPN):  -1 (69)
T6.  D. Johnson:  -1 (69)
T6.  H. English:  -1 (69)
T6.  K. Bradley:  -1 (69)
T6.  F. Molinari (ITA):  -1 (69)

49 comments:

  1. And Kaymer comes out and birdies No. 10 to get his second round started.

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  2. Fran Quinn, a 49-year-old who won the Massachusetts amateur championship in 1986 and whose professional-golfing travels since them sound fantastic to me, is giving chase. Quinn, who had to go through qualifiers to be in the U.S. Open, shot 2-under yesterday and has now come out and birdied No. 1 and No. 3. He's 4-under, four strokes behind Kaymer (who has now birdied No. 16 to move to 8-under) and alone in second place.

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  3. And a bogey for Quinn at No. 5, and he drops back to the group at 2-under. Those guys--Quinn, Brandon, De Jonge, Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell and Kevin Na--are all tied for second at six strokes behind the leader.

    Kaymer opened his second round on the back nine and scored three birdies and six pars. He made the turn at 32, and he just parred No. 10.

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    1. No. 1, I meant--Kaymer's 10th hole. And now he has parred 2, too.

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  4. My man Fran Quinn doubled No. 7, so he's back to even.

    Get off his back; the man's 49 years old!

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  5. Kaymer's 3-under through 11 holes is the best score posted among any of the morning tee-offers today.

    It might to turn out to be of more note yet later this weekend that Adam Scott (of the goofball putter) has shot 2-under through 13 today to get back to 1-over for the tournament.

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  6. Kaymer birdies No. 3! He's 9-under for the tournament and 4-under for the day.

    Brendon De Jonge separates himself from the 2-under group with a birdie at No. 15, and he's alone in second and six back of Kaymer's giant lead.

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  7. Kaymer birdies No. 5 to go to 10-under, and De Jonge bogeys No. 17 to drop back to 2-under! Kaymer's lead is eight freaking strokes.

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  8. Kaymer's 5-under today remains the best second round so far. Scott is now 3-under today through 16 holes, and he's to even for the tournament. No one else has shot better than 2-under so far today.

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  9. Campbellsville's J.B. Holmes is 1-over today through 17 holes and 1-over for the tournament.

    Kenny Perry of Elizabethtown, Lone Oak and Franklin tees off this afternoon.

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  10. Kaymer finishes off his 5-under second round of 65 to follow his 5-under first round of 65, and ESPN switches over to the Chris Berman segment of coverage with a montage of Phil Mickelson clips and a voiceover begging him to finally win a U.S. Open.

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  11. Vandty Snedeker lasers in a long, long birdie putt on No. 1 to join the second-place group at 2-under for the tournament.

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  12. Jason Sobel ‏@JasonSobelGC
    Why it might not be over: In each of his last three starts, Martin Kaymer shot in the 60s for his first two rounds and 70s for the last two.
    12:19 PM - 13 Jun 2014

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    1. If you want to bet on Martin Kaymer to win the U.S. Open, the British betting houses will give you odds of 1 to 2.

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    2. In other words, they think Kaymer has a 66.7 percent chance of victory.

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  13. Graeme McDowell birdies No. 10, the first hole of his second round, and he's the latest to take a turn at alone in second place at 3-under for the tournament.

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  14. And McDowell's stay is one hole. He bogeys No. 11 and rejoins the second-place party at 2-under, now joining Keegan Bradley (finished today), Brendon De Jonge (finished) Dustin Johnson (finished) Brooks Koepka (finished), Matt Kuchar (through two holes today) and Kevin Na (three).

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    1. Now Mickelson, too--he's 2-under through three today.

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  15. Three years ago, Rory McIlroy set the U.S. Open scoring record by shooting 65+66+68+69=268. Kaymer has started off with rounds of 65 and 65, so he is currently one stroke ahead of McIlroy's pace.

    On the other hand, McIlroy was playing on a par-71 course. So he was 11 under after two rounds. He had a six shot lead on Y.E. Yang, and at least a nine shot lead on everyone else.

    I was at Congressional Country Club on the Friday when McIlroy vaulted out to his huge lead, and you could really feel the excitement normally associated with the U.S. Open slipping away. So I feel bad for the people at Pinehurst.

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  16. Kevin Na pitches in on No. 8 for birdie, and so now he's on the clock for alone in second place at 3-under for the tournament.

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    1. Not long ... but only because 28-year-old Brendon Todd of Pittsburgh joins 30-year-old Na of Seoul and Las Vegas at 3-under.

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  17. Somewhere, Mike Davis has got to be fuming. This would be a really close and dramatic leaderboard -- with some really big names in contention -- if not for the fact that Martin Kaymer is seven shots ahead of the field.

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    1. This tournament is shaping up to remind me of so many Tiger Woods wins where he would go out and post such a big lead and the rest of the typically strong players would seem to lose hope and just muddle through the remainder of the weekend. You might get the odd Bob May cut through the muck with the weekend of his life, but the guys who you would actually expect to challenge Woods would seem to either get distracted or start playing for T4 instead of T5.

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  18. In the big soccer game of the day, Spain leads Netherlands 1-0 after 42 minutes. Spain's only goal came on a controversial penalty kick -- the second controversial penalty kick in three World Cup matches so far.

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  19. Oh, my! Netherlands just scored a spectacular, headed goal just before the half to tie Spain at 1-1. The striker dove flat out like a wide receiver trying to catch a long pass and headed the ball past the goalkeeper. It's one of the prettiest goals I have ever seen, and it helps to explain why soccer fans are willing to put up with so much nonsense.

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  20. In Salvador, Brazil, the second half has gotten underway in a driving rainstorm. I'm hoping for lots of rain in this World Cup.

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  21. For some reason, both the Dutch and the Spaniards are wearing their away uniforms. So Spain, which normally plays in a dark red, is wearing all white. And the Netherlands, which normally plays in Tennessee orange, is wearing navy with orange numerals.

    (The Guardian wrote that Spain came out in all white as a tribute to England, which was pretty funny.)

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  22. Oh, my! The champs are on the ropes now! The Dutch just scored another spectacular goal. This time it was a long cross to a Dutch player (not the one who scored before) who caught the ball on his foot, and then beat two Spanish defenders (and the goalkeeper) with a glorious shot. Great, great stuff from the Dutch, who are famous for playing beautiful soccer.

    After 55 minutes, the Dutch lead 2-1.

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  23. This afternoon's marquee live-streaming group is Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Matthew Fitzpatrick. None of them is doing much to upset Martin Kaymer's afternoon nap, but the USGA commercials are a delight. We just had one honoring all of the USGA volunteers who help put on the tournaments.

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  24. Na is inching into contention, however. Through 11 holes today, he is now 4-under for the tournament, six holes behind Kaymer, and back alone in second place.

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  25. Spain won the 2008 European Championship, the 2010 World Cup, and the 2012 European Championship. They are not used to falling behind.

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  26. Good night! The Netherlands tore Spain's defense apart, but they ended up kicking the ball off the crossbar.

    After 60 minutes: Spain 1 - 2 Netherlands

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  27. Don't forget that in 2010, the Netherlands got all the way to the final -- knocking off Brazil along the way -- before losing to Spain. It was the third time the Dutch have lost in the final; they have never won the World Cup.

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  28. And there's the third goal for the Netherlands. The Dutch win a free kick that sets up a long cross into the penalty area. Spain's defense is again all over the place and a Dutch player has no problems poking the ball into the net.

    After 65 minutes: Spain 1 - 3 Netherlands

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  29. And now the Dutch have scored again! There was a simple back pass to the Spanish goalkeeper -- he lost control of it and the Dutch striker quickly stole the ball and banged it into the net! After watching Spain dominate international soccer for the last six years, this is a staggering display.

    After 73 minutes: Spain 1 - 4 Netherlands

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  30. Dutch and Brazilian fans are doing conga dances in the stands.

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  31. Final Score:

    Spain 1 - 5 Netherlands

    Spain hadn't given up give goals in a match since 1950. The Spaniards should still advance to the knockout rounds, but this was a humiliating defeat.

    On the other hand, seeing Holland score 5 goals in a half is very exciting, and will raise the hopes of those who want to see beautiful soccer in this World Cup.

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  32. They just showed Kenny Perry sinking a long birdie putt on ESPN! He looked great! That shot gets him back to 4-over, and they're estimating this might end up being the cut line.

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  33. No giant charge, but there has formulated an order among the golfers who would most likely get into contention if Martin Kaymer flubs tomorrow or Sunday:

    -- Brendon Todd has three birdies and no bogeys through 16 holes today. He's alone in second at 4-under.

    -- Kevin Na is 3-under after finishing his second round. Brandt Snedeker is there after 17 holes today; Jordan Spieth is after 15.

    -- Rory McIlroy is 2-under with two to finish today. He's 1-under for the tournament.

    -- Adam Scott's 3-under today tied for the second-best second round, and that got him back to even.

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  34. Everybody's awfully worried about Phil Mickelson's emotional wellbeing today. He doesn't strike me as a person who much gets depressed. I used to worry a little for Greg Norman and Craig Morton, but Phil Mickelson and Tony Romo don't strike me as guys who have many dark moments.

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  35. Sneds is done for the day and holds at 3-under. Spieth gives one back at No. 16 to drop back to 2-under.

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  36. Rory's in at 1-under through two rounds.

    Ouch ... another bogey for Spieth at 17 ... 1-under.

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  37. BUT HOLD THE PHONE, MR. KAYMER! HERE COMES KENNY PERRY! Our fellow McCracken County Mustang just rolled in his second looooooong birdie putt, and he improves to T34/3-over!

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  38. Hey, cool ... Brendon Todd is from Pittsburgh, but he went to Green Hope High School in Cary, N.C. The former Fighting Falcon just finished his second round, and he remains 4-under and alone in second place.

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  39. OK, I've got no problem with Martin Kaymer. I've got German roots, and he seems like a good guy. And he's won a major; I pretty much always root for guys who have won majors to win majors again. And I've got a birthday party to go to tomorrow and a Father's Day luncheon at Pennyrile State Resort Park to go to Sunday, so I wouldn't hate on Martin Kaymer just continuing to play historically excellent golf and running away with the championship.

    If that doesn't happen, I've got my old Cary ("Containment Area for Relocated Yankees") neighbor Brendon Todd in second place.

    I always root for Brandt Snedeker, and he's up there. If either Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy went nuts and charged into contention, that'd be great.

    Our Kentucky homeboys J.B. Holmes and Kenny Perry are going to be playing on the weekend.

    This is fine. This is shaping up as a satisfying major tournament in my book.

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  40. Berman just described Na, at 3-under, as being "a touchdown back, if you will." Football is coming, baby!

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