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

Faldo has a major heartache

The Olympic Club, San Francisco, 19th June 1998 - Nick Faldo today crashed to his third successive missed cut in a major championship.

Faldo made it known that he was keen to add a US Open title to his three Opens and three Masters, but he walked off the 18th green after a second round 72 and sighed: "Lousy putting. That's all you need to know. See you in Ireland."

The 40-year-old is currently standing 107th on the American money list this season and has not had  victory for 15 months, Today he knew he had a mountain to climb after starting with a 77.

Faldo needed a good, solid  start and gave himself the chance when he hit a drive and long-iron to six feet on the 533-yard first. But missing the eagle putt set the tone and after he missed a nine-foot birdie opportunity on the next he failed to find the green at the 223-yard third, chipped on and three-putted from 20 feet.

After this double-bogey at the short third he bogeyed the next two - part of the stretch of holes known as Earthquake Corner - and now his hopes were hanging by a thread.

He did make three birdies after that, but a nine over par total of 149 left him well down the field.

For the last six major championships Nick Faldo is 59 over par and has missed four halfway cuts, including the last three in a row. His recent record looks like this:

1998:

US Open - 77-72 = 149 (+9) - missed cut

US Masters -  72-79 = 151 (+7) - missed cut

1997:

US Masters - 75-81 = 156 (+12) - missed cut

US Open - 72-74-69-76 = 291 (+11) - 48th

Open - 71-73-75-72 = 291 (+7) - 51st

US PGA - 75-78 = 153 (+13) - missed cut