Sergio Garcia fell off the
leaderboard with a thud Sunday.
Garcia began the day 4
under and in fourth place but soon found himself playing pinball in the trees.
He made six bogeys and a double-bogey to finish 7 over for the day. His 3-over
283 landed him in a four-way tie for 12th place.
Garcia's round began to
unravel with his drive on the second hole.
``I thought I hit a tree,
but they said I hit somebody, and the ball — it could have gone left, but
it went way right into the trees,'' he said. ``And then I hit it over the tree
and then I hit a little branch, and I hit it right again.''
On No. 5, his drive bounced
in the middle of the fairway and then rolled into a bunker.
``If it goes the other
way, I par No. 2 and maybe birdie No. 5 and it's three shots better,'' he said.
``It's those little things that you need to have in a major this week.''
The 21-year-old returns
to Castellon, Spain, counting the Open as good experience.
``It's hard because I wanted
to win,'' he said. ``You learn things. You learn how to handle yourself in a major
on the last day and be there if you play half-decent.''
———
CART GUY: Stephen
Gangluff has a broken-down car in his driveway, a hotel bill he can't afford and
a U.S. Open under his belt.
``I'm happy to be here,
and I'm glad it's over,'' said Gangluff, a struggling pro who helped pay his way
to the Open by hefting golf bags for $6 an hour at a Virginia country club.
Gangluff shot a 7-over
77 Sunday to finish his first Open at 21 over.
He just made the cut Saturday
with a 146 but never found his swing after that.
The minimum payout is about
$8,000, more than enough for Gangluff to get back home to Marysville, Ohio.
But after a week of sharing
a locker room with millionaires, he'll be back on the job as bag boy soon. There
are more tournaments to pay for.
``I'm never going to give
up,'' he said. ``It's just a matter of being out there full time.''
———
SWEET 64s: Vijay
Singh and Tom Kite both came up a few feet short of landing in the U.S. Open record
book.
Both players needed to
sink putts on the 18th hole to shoot 63 and tie the record low in a major. Both
missed and settled for a 64, matching Mark Brooks for the lowest round of the
tournament. Brooks had a 64 on Friday.
``I made two bogeys (on
12 and 14),'' Singh said. ``So if you make bogeys out there on the golf course
like this you're not going to shoot a 63. But I'm quite happy with what I did.''
Kite, the 1992 Open champion,
said he wasn't thinking about the record books, just trying to make his shots
on the testy 18th.
``You know it's a slower
putt, but it's not that much slower,'' he said.
There have been three 63s
in the U.S. Open, most recently by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf in 1980 at Baltusrol.
It has been done seven
times at the British Open, five times at the PGA Championship and twice at the
Masters.
Singh shot a 63 in the
second round of 1993 PGA Championship where he wound up fourth.
———
NOT SO EASY: Ernie
Els sighed as he cleaned out his locker and headed out the door after a poor U.S.
Open.
The Big Easy finished with
a 72, and at 294 was close to the bottom.
``I'm mentally gone,''
said Els, a two-time Open champion.
A year ago, Els became
the first player to be runner-up in three straight majors, although he finished
15 strokes behind Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open and eight back in the British Open.
After those tournaments,
Els talked about raising his game to meet the challenge. That no longer appears
to be the case.
``I've got no fight,''
Els said. ``I hate to say something like that, but that's what it is. I don't
feel like I've got any energy. I want to feel like I want to play. Right now,
it's just not fun.''
What will it take?
``I need a month off,''
he said with a smile, although he wasn't entirely kidding.
The only thing in Els'
favor are the places he is going. The Buick Classic is next week, where Els is
a two-time winner. Next month he defends his title at Loch Lomond, followed by
the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, where he tied for second in
1996.
Then again, maybe not.
``When I'm playing well,
I can play any place,'' he said. ``The way I'm playing now, I don't think I would
even play Lytham good.''
———
DAD'S DAY: Rocco
Mediate didn't quite have the day he wanted with a fourth-place finish Sunday.
But he had a happy Father's Day nonetheless. Mediate said his kids surprised him
with a card and ``little heart-shaped things made out of beads.'' ``They said
things like `I love you dad,''' Mediate said. ``It was cool.''
———
AMATEUR PAYOFF:
Bryce Molder wasn't having second thoughts about his amateur status Sunday. But
he did find out how much money he could have made after finishing tied for 30th
place. It would have been about $30,000, he said. ``I did check to see how much
I would have made,'' he said, ``but that's something to look forward to later.''
———
WAITING ON TIGER:
Tiger Woods' fans weren't the only ones waiting for the comeback that never came.
Matt Gogel said he expected to see Woods post some numbers, but finally came to
the conclusion a comeback would be next to impossible. ``There were too many guys
that were 3-, 4- and 5-under par. He'd have to shoot 62 or 63, and you're just
not going to do that on that golf course, although Tom Kite and Vijay Singh looked
pretty close.'' Gogel knows the course well. He attended high school in Tulsa
and caddied at Southern Hills. ``The golf course equalized him,'' he said.
———
DIVOTS: Hale Irwin
has completed all 72 holes in 27 Open championships. That ties him for second
on the career list with Sam Snead. Jack Nicklaus holds the record with 35. ...
Tim Herron went into the last round leading the tournament in hitting greens in
regulation. But he was last in putting. ... Olin Browne aced the 165-yard 11th
hole, the second hole-in-one of the tournament. Phil Mickelson aced the sixth
hole on Friday. ... Tiger Woods made par on the 374-yard ninth hole only once
in four tries.
