Sunday trouble for the USGA at the 7th

U.S. Open officials knew they were in trouble when tiny blades of grass on the seventh green at Shinnecock Hills wilted before their eyes Sunday morning.

And this was two hours before the final round began.

It wasn't long before the 189-yard ``Redan'' par-3 hole turned into the disaster they feared.

Despite moving the pin to the easiest location, the first two players -- J.J. Henry and Kevin Stadler -- took triple bogey when they could not keep their ball on the severely sloped green. The next group didn't fare much better. Cliff Kresge made triple bogey, while Billy Mayfair escaped with a bogey.

``I'm not very happy about this,'' said Walter Driver, chairman of the U.S. Golf Association championship committee, standing glum-faced behind the green. ``You've just got to do the best you can to make it as fair as you can.''

The solution was to lightly spray water on the green between groups to try to keep the grass alive. The round was stopped for 10 minutes for the maintenance staff to arrive with their hoses, and they hosed down the green after the next nine groups.

This didn't sit well with the boisterous New York fans, who enjoyed watching the world's best players look foolish.

``Let them play! Let them play!'' they chanted when the maintenance staff started spraying the green.

One fan said, ``When the leaders get here, you're going to have to mow.''

Mayfair came up short, then made a sign of the cross before hitting his second. It went by the cup and had no chance, rolling off the green. He chipped up and made a 3-foot putt for bogey, then waved his putter like a sword at the hole, and saluted the gallery.

Mayfair wound up shooting 89, but was in no mood to blame the USGA -- or the idea that the watering didn't start until after he played No. 7.

``We were so far out over par, so far out of it,'' Mayfair said. ``I'd rather they water the greens for the other guys out there who have a chance.''

Watering greens in the middle of competition is not unprecedented.

Six years ago at The Olympic Club, the USGA lightly sprayed the 18th green when the wind and dry conditions -- not to mention a hole location just over a knob -- made it nearly impossible to play.

The No. 7 green at Shinnecock slopes away on the sides, with the most severe undulation toward the left. It is supposed to play into the wind, but the breeze was at the players' back, making it next to impossible.

Problems began in the third round when only one of 66 players managed a birdie. Phil Mickelson had an 8-foot par putt, and was lucky it rolled only 12 feet by instead of going off the green. He made double bogey Saturday.

The hole location for the final round was supposed to be seven paces on and seven paces from the right. But with the grass dead, Driver ordered his crew to change it.

``We moved the hole to put it in the most benign position we could find,'' he said.

Driver found a small, circular patch -- about the only area where the grass was green -- for the new location.

``We thought a change in hole location was enough,'' he said.

The watering helped. The crew went five groups before watering at one point, feeling the green with their hands.

Defending champion Jim Furyk missed well to the left and chipped to 2 feet for par. Joe Ogilvie went into the bunker and blasted out to 3 feet. Both made par, then high-fived each other.

Barry Proctor, who works at Huntingdale Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, was in charge of watering. He waved the hose like a can of spray paint, and every time he walked onto the green, he was jeered.

``I guess it's entertainment for them,'' he said. ``I'm just doing my job.''