San Francisco, California
18th - 21st June
Par 70 Prize Money $3.0 million

Pin placement turns into great debate

Associated Press

The Olympic Club, San Francisco, 19th June 1998 - As the first group came to the 18th green today in the second round of the U.S. Open, two USGA officials stood on carts from 200 yards away and watched them putt.

They were hopeful the back left pin placement on a green that slopes severely to the front was fair.

In the end, it was obvious that it wasn't.

"We're not happy with what happened,'' said USGA executive director David Fay.

Payne Stewart was a little more direct.

"That was borderline ridiculous,'' he said.

Stewart had an 8-foot birdie putt that would have given him a 69 and a three-stroke lead. His right-to-left putt curled under the hole, and the ball didn't stop rolling until it was 25 feet away.

He wound up with a bogey, and at 3-under goes into the weekend with a one-stroke lead.

And Stewart wasn't the only one who cursed the hole position on No. 18. Davis Love III had a 6-foot birdie putt above the hole. As soon as it left the blade, he started walking to the collection area toward the front of the green.

Kevin Wentworth had a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th which would have assured him making the cut. He, too, three-putted and will be going home this weekend.

And Kirk Triplett perhaps made the boldest statement of all. As his putt started to drift down the slope, he stopped it with his putter. Triplett was assessed a two-stroke penalty and took a triple-bogey 7.

"If they want to have a major, we can go to Disney World and play putt-putt," said John Daly, who had a 75 but considered himself fortunate to walk off the 18th with a par.

"Thank God our tour doesn't do that," Daly said. "That was absolutely stupid. We work too hard out there. People on TV have got to think, 'These guys are idiots.' "

Ironically, the USGA had considered cutting the hole in that spot during the first round, but decided it was too difficult and changed it about two hours into the round, before the first group got there.

Fay said to put the hole at the front of the green all four days might lead to battered turf by the weekend. The USGA had planned on putting it up top for one of the first two rounds.

After seeing it wouldn't be fair on Thursday, officials added more water and changed the mowing with hopes it would be fair.

"As it turned out, it's safe to say that any putt above the hole ... it was quite difficult,'' Fay said.

The concern about the pin placement was still evident Friday morning. About 30 minutes before the first group came through, officials watered the green to keep it soft.

The USGA officials peered through binoculars as Omar Uresti's 25-foot birdie putt from the middle of the green rolled 4 feet above the hole.

"He could be right back where he started if he misses this,'' one official said to another.

Uresti made the putt for par.

Stewart wasn't so lucky, and now has less room for error.

He said he was flipping channels in the morning and saw the Putt-Putt championship on television. One reporter's question perhaps summed it up.

"If you had made that putt, would you have gotten a free round?''