PE.com - Professional Sports

Beaumont's Tseng, Temecula's Michaels 2-under at U.S. Women's Open

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:05:37 -0800

With the first round of the U.S. Women's Open halfway through, Temecula's Sydnee Michaels and Beaumont's Yani Tseng find themselves near the top of the leaderboard after shooting matching 2-under-par 71 at the testy Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn.

Ji Young Oh shot a 67 and is leading.

Tseng, who became the second-youngest player to win a major title when she claimed the LPGA Championship earlier this month, carded four birdies and one double-bogey on the 316-yard par-4 seventh hole.

Michaels, a junior-to-be at UCLA, got it going with a tap-in birdie on the par-5 18th (her ninth hole.) The 20-year-old notched birdies on three of her next five holes, before finishing her round with her fifth birdie on No. 9.

"I kind've was trying to do something swing, and I didn't get it down until my back nine," Michaels said by phone. "Then once I got it down, I really attacked the pins."

Neither player has made the cut at an Open in two appearances apiece.

"Have I broken through? I guess so," Michaels said after her best Open round. "It just shows that hard work pays off, and my game is really improved a lot over the past couple years."

US Open merch sale

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:03:06 -0800

This from the USGA...

Half-Price Sale At U.S. Open Merchandise Pavilion Tuesday

All remaining merchandise at the U.S. Open Merchandise Pavilion at Torrey Pines Golf Course will be discounted 50-percent on Tuesday. The sale will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shoppers will be directed to park on the North Course (Lot D) off North Torrey Pines Road.

The end.

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:44:02 -0800

"This is probably the greatest tournament I've ever had." -- Tiger Woods

U.S. Open: The 91st hole

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:14:20 -0800

An estimated 24,000 plus in attendance on a Monday -- lots of sudden sicknesses and dead grandmothers phoned in to bosses in San Diego, I'd gather -- and they've all traipsed back over to the seventh tee for the first hole of sudden death. Tiger had birdied it twice and parred it three times through the first five rounds. Rocco had a bogey and three pars before a birdie today.

Tiger is on the fairway after his tee shot. Rocco found another bunker, and it looks like he's in a bad spot, close to the lip of the trap.

Rocco's second shot is 183 yards to the hole out of the sand ... except he went way left, nestled next to the grandstand. Tiger, with 156 yards to the hole at the extreme right hand side of the fairway, puts it on the front of the green, about 20-25 feet from the pin.

Rocco takes a drop before his third shot, and it actually bounced out of the marked drop zone. His shot rolled past the pin, leaving him a 20-footer for par.

Tiger, with a chance to close it out, is short on his birdie putt. He falls to his knees in disgust, then taps it in for par.

That leaves it up to Rocco Mediate, attempting at 45 years, 7 months to be the oldest U.S. Open winner ever and the oldest first-time major champion ever. But his 20-footer, slides right, and Tiger Woods wins his third U.S. Open and his 14th career major.

U.S. Open: Bonus golf, coming up

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:56:19 -0800

Rocco had an 18-footer for birdie to win it, and slid it left.

Tiger, who had a 40-footer for eagle and slid it past the hole, then had about an 5-footer for birdie and a tie -- and put it in.

Which meant Rocco had to make his par putt, of about three feet, to extend the tournament to sudden death. He made it, and we're going to overtime.

U.S. Open: Not quite enough

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:45:44 -0800

Tiger had a 25-footer for birdie but left it four feet short at 17. He took his par, and Rocco made his five-footer for a par and a one-shot lead going into the 18th hole.

U.S. Open: No magic here

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:32:09 -0800

Tiger had a 40-footer for birdie at the par-3 16th and almost pulled it off ... but the ball stopped just short of the hole. Both men parred the hole, so Rocco goes to the 17th still up by a shot.

U.S. Open: Advantage, Rocco

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:18:32 -0800

Mediate curls in an 18-footer for his third birdie in a row at 15. Tiger, whose tee shot once again went beyond the ropes, got within 15 feet of the pin and left his birdie putt wide. And with three holes to play, underdog Mediate has a one-shot lead.

U.S. Open: In the event of a tie...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:07:57 -0800

Yes, if we are still tied after 90 -- 90! -- holes of golf, the 108th U.S. Open will be decided in a sudden-death playoff, using holes 7, 8 and 18 in rotation.

No. 7 is a 461 yard, dogleg right par 4 that faces out toward the Pacific. Woods birdied today, Mediate parred.

No. 8 is a 177 yard par 3 with a large bunker protecting the front of the green. Mediate parred, Woods bogeyed.

No. 18, of course, is the finishing hole that Woods birdied to force a playoff. Woods is 3-under for his round at No. 18. Mediate is 2-under.

--Michael Becker
mbecker@pe.com

U.S. Open: It's tied

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:59:38 -0800

In answer to the question we posed earlier, Tiger went for the green on the 269-yard 14th rather than laying up, as he did Sunday. So did Rocco, and both came up short.

But when Tiger's 12-footer lipped out, after Rocco had birdied, they were all tied up after 14, meaning Tiger had let a three-shot lead get away in the span of four holes.