Meanwhile, in the June 1971 pages of the Chicago Tribune, magnanimous Mac Divot trails his cousin by two for the lead at the turn to Sunday's back nine in the Philadelphia suburbs ...
Thursday, June 15, 2017
U.S. Open (2017/1971)
Campbellsville's J.B. Holmes is 4-under through his first nine holes at the U.S. Open in Erin Hills, Wisconsin. That's tied for third, one stroke off the lead of Tommy Fleetwood of Southport, Merseyside, England, and Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, California.
Meanwhile, in the June 1971 pages of the Chicago Tribune, magnanimous Mac Divot trails his cousin by two for the lead at the turn to Sunday's back nine in the Philadelphia suburbs ...
Meanwhile, in the June 1971 pages of the Chicago Tribune, magnanimous Mac Divot trails his cousin by two for the lead at the turn to Sunday's back nine in the Philadelphia suburbs ...
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Wow. Rickie Fowler goes 65 for Round 1. That's two clear of everybody else in the morning group. Our main man from Cambellsville is 2-under and five back, and he's on No. 18 now.
ReplyDeleteJ.B. Holmes birdies 18, so he's 3-under and T6 at the moment.
DeleteJustin Thomas of Louisville is 2-under through three holes.
ReplyDeleteAs is amateur Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley, California. "Maverick McNealy" is right up there with "Mac Divot."
ReplyDeleteThrough two 2017 rounds:
ReplyDeleteT1. Paul Casey of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, 7-under
T1. Tommy Fleetwood of Southport, Merseyside, England, -7
T1. Brian Harman of Savannah, Georgia, -7
T1. Brooks Koepka of West Palm Beach, Florida, -7
T5. Rickie Fowler of Murietta, California, -6
T5. J.B. Holmes of CAMPBELLSVILLE, KENTUCKY!, -6
T5. Jamie Lovemark of Rancho Santa Fe, California, -6
Meanwhile, through the June 17, 1971, Chicago Tribune, Mac Divot has birdied No. 17 to pull within one stroke of his cousin, Lafe Coker.
ReplyDeleteThey both safely reach the fairway with their drives on Merion's par-4, 458-yard 18th. Divot's second shot dribbles onto the front edge of the green.
Lafe Coker: “Nice poke, Cousin! Ya’ll made it!”
Mac Divot: “Yes, but I’m 12 miles from the cup! A birdie from there would be a miracle!"
I wonder how their practice buddy, Gary Player, finished.
Justin Thomas has an 8-foot putt for eagle at 18. It would put him two ahead of the field and break Johnny Miller's record for best U.S. Open round to par ...
ReplyDeleteGOT It!
DeleteWell, the mostly anonymous pack within a stroke or two of each other at the top of the leaderboard started to string itself out a bit toward the end of Saturday's third round, but the real 2017 U.S. Open is still a muddle. Here's where things stand before today's action in Wisconsin, a state I love ...
ReplyDelete12-under: Brian Harman
11-unders: Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas
10-under: Rickie Fowler
9-under: Si Woo Kim
8-unders: Russell Henley, Charley Hoffman and Patrick Reed
7-unders: Bill Haas, Xander Schaufele, Brendan Steele and Brandt Snedeker
6-unders: J.B. Holmes, Hideki Matsuyama and Bernd Wiesberger
No 5-unders
Justin Thomas shot that 9-under yesterday, so you've got to figure somebody like Sergio Garcia at 4-under is thinking right now, if he can, I can. And he could. But even if he did, it's probably wouldn't be enough. While Thomas shot his 63 yesterday, Reed got a 65 and then a whole slew of guys shot 67/68/69. Hard to imagine scoring more than four or five strokes better than the huge clump of other golfers so close to the lead.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile at Merion, Hoptown/Chicago 1971 me has just about had enough of Mac Divot, who has nearly tipped over into unctuousness. In the Thursday, June 17, Chicago Tribune, Lafe Coker talked himself through his self-esteem issues and dribbled his second shot solidly to the middle of the green at 18. “That does it,” somebody remarks from the gallery. “I’ll say!” somebody else says from nearby. “He’s a cinch to get down in two and there’s no way for Sandy to make three!”
ReplyDelete“Sandy” is either Mac Divot’s nickname or real first name, with “Mac” being the nickname. They explained all that in the early days of the strip, and I learned which way it went several weeks ago when I first got into it. But now I’ve forgotten.
Anyway, as we flip to the Friday paper, Sandy Mac/Mac Sandy is validating his cousin with re-assurances that the cheers are, in fact, for Lafe. I think the Chicago Tribune runs this strip on weekdays only, so I think we might be wrapping up the drama in the June 18 panels ...
No such luck.
ReplyDeleteBack to Wisconsin and 2017 ...
ReplyDeleteT1. Brian Harman of Savannah, Georgia, 13-under (through 64 holes)
T1. Brooks Koepka of West Palm Beach, Florida, -13 (65)
3. Hideki Matsuyama of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, -11 (70)
T4. Tommy Fleetwood of Southport, Merseyside, England, -10 (65)
T4. Rickie Fowler of Murietta, California, -10 (66)
Harman is the 50th-rated player in the world; Koepka, 22nd; Matsuyama, fourth; Fleetwood, 33rd, and Fowler, ninth.
ReplyDeleteOn No. 12, Koepka lips off a birdie try.
ReplyDeleteOn No. 11, Harman misses birdie just right.
On No. 12, Fleetwood's birdie try twitters just right.
On No. 13, Fowler's dicey 10-foot par putt hangs just enough right to roll in and keep him in contention.
Hideki Matsuyama is 25 years old. I would've guessed at least 10 years older.
ReplyDeleteHarman sails his drive on 12 into "some of the nastiest fescue on the property," says some guy who is not Joe Buck on Fox.
ReplyDeleteKoepka on par-3 13th lands wide right of the green.
ReplyDeleteHere's Matthew McConaughey to talk about how nice or something it is to sit in the backseat of a new Lincoln Continental. I'll bet he's right. It's not a Lincoln, but our family bought a new Camry right after Christmas. I took Matthew McConaughey's advice and went out and sat in the backseat one day while it still was really clean and new, and that felt outstanding.
ReplyDeleteKoepka's second shot on 13 leaves him an 8- or 10-foot putt for par; Harman punches his ball out of waist-high grass and back out into the fairway on 12.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Matsuyama sinks a 6-footer (or so--I don't know; I can't ever tell) for par at 17.
Harman's third shot on the par-4 12th comes to rest about 10 feet in front and downhill of the hole; he seems angry, but it looks to me like a pretty good shot at a par save given where his drive landed.
ReplyDeleteKoepka pumps a fist after draining his long par putt on 13.
Harman knew what he was talking about, and I did not. He bogeys No. 12, to slip back to 12-under for the tournament (and one behind leader Koepka).
ReplyDeleteFowler (even today) is fading. For a lot of the afternoon, the announcers seemed impressed with Fowler's maturity in playing conservatively and waiting for the less-experienced leaders just behind him to give some strokes back. But with Harman (even today) and Koepka (2-under today) hanging in there and Matsuyama (5-under today) charging past, now the announcers are perplexed that Fowler isn't playing more aggressively here late.
Terrific chip for Fowler, and he pars No. 14.
ReplyDeleteMatsuyama chips up to within about four feet of the cup on 18, and the world's No. 4 player will have that left for birdie and a share of second, one behind Koepka.
ReplyDeleteSuccessful. Matsuyama, shooting to become Japan's first major champion, finishes with a 66 today.
DeleteAnd now a Kentucky Minute ... Fox shows, back to back, J.B. Holmes of Campbellsville rolling to within just a couple of feet for eagle on No. 18 (he made it!) and Justin Thomas of Louisville giving a long birdie putt the ol' St. X High/University of Alabama try (he missed it!). Holmes finishes 7-under for the tournament, and that's currently tied for 12th. Thomas is 8-under through 13 holes today, and he's T9.
ReplyDeleteOh, man, Harman misses a quite short par putt on 13, which, honestly, I think I would even have a two- or three-in-10 chance of hitting. He's back to 11-under and third place, and now Koepka rolls in a four-footer for birdie on 14.
ReplyDelete1. Brooks Koepka of West Palm Beach, Florida, 14-under (through 68 holes)
ReplyDelete2. Hideki Matsuyama of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, -12 (72)
T3. Tommy Fleetwood of Southport, Merseyside, England, -11 (68)
T3. Brian Harman of Savannah, Georgia, -11 (67)
5. Rickie Fowler of Murietta, California, -10 (68)
Fox puts up a helpful graphic that the last three holes today are playing among the course's easiest holes. No. 18, in fact, is playing the easiest of all. So, this could be a heck of a lot of fun here at the very end.
Fox goes off to commercial with "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, but not before the vocal starts.
ReplyDeleteNow here are some commercials about golf equipment. It'd be great if there were commercials about footballs and football helmets during broadcasts of football games.
ReplyDeleteI bought a kayak today! Happy Father's Day!
ReplyDeleteStill haven't played foot golf.
DeleteFowler misses a par putt on No. 15. I root for Rickie, so I'm sorry to see Fowler fade.
ReplyDeleteKoepka is 27 years old. His best majors finishes--thank you, Wikipedia--have been T11 at the 2017 Masters, T4 at the 2014 U.S. Open, T10 at the 2015 British Open and T4 at the 2016 PGA Championship. If he wins today, maybe Blogger's spellcheck will stop trying to change his last name to "Kopek."
ReplyDeleteHarman zips a gorgeous third shot to within about five feet of the cup on the par-5 14th. He's 30 years old, and his best majors finishes were T26 in the 2014 British Open and T40 at the 2014 PGA Championship. Before this weekend, he has played in the Masters and U.S. Open but never made the cut. Spellcheck does fine with his name.
ReplyDeleteHarman makes his birdie, and he's back to 12-under and tied for second.
ANOTHER BIRDIE FOR BROOKS! Koepka is 15-under through 15 and three ahead of the field.
ReplyDeleteJoe Buck points out that No. 15 has been playing the toughest of the course today, so that was quite a statement birdie from our leader.
ReplyDeleteHe's on the green with his drive on the par-3 16th.
Koepka was a key contributor to the United States' 2016 Ryder Cup victory.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Another birdie for Koepka ... my word, he's now 16-under and four ahead of the pack. Three birdies in a row.
ReplyDeleteBrian Harman birdies the 16th, so now he's in second place and three strokes behind Koepka, who is lining up a lengthy try on No. 17 for what would be his fourth-straight birdie ...
ReplyDeleteZips it by just right ... about four feet by ... hmmm ...
DeleteGot it. Saves par. Koepka goes to today's easiest hole with a three-stroke lead. This feels like it's over. But, with Harman three back with two (statistically) easy holes to play, my strategic advice to Brooksy is to try to score better than bogey on this last hole.
DeleteKoepka's in the fairway. OK, it probably is over.
ReplyDeleteI like Joe Buck, and the other guys on the broadcast seem fine to me. The picture looks a little gloppy, but I think that's my TV's fault. I don't prefer Fox's coverage of a major, but it has been fine. I do appreciate that they try to differentiate from CBS by making the screen look like a Wii game, putting a little graphic showing the wind direction and speed up before any shot in the air and then putting a trail on the flight of the ball as it zooms through the air. Again, I would rather be being shook down by seductive Jim Nantz and the CBS crew for this tournament, but I've liked Fox OK.
ReplyDeleteOh, good, Rickie finishes with a birdie.
ReplyDeleteFowler trailed the 2017 Masters by a stroke heading into the final found and scored 76 on Sunday. He trailed this tournament by two after yesterday and shot 72 today.
ReplyDeleteOK, there you go ... Brooks Koepka finishes it off at 16-under. Congratulations, Brooks Koepka.
ReplyDelete