U.S. Open report

Tough day for Tiger Tiger Woods didn’t have many chances to tip his cap to the crowd Saturday at the U.S. Open in Ardmore, Pa. Woods fi nished with seven bogeys and a 6-over-par 76 in the third round, tumbling down the leaderboard and matching his worst round as a pro at the U.S. Open. “At least I started well,” said Woods, who birdied the first hole and never made another.
Tough day for Tiger Tiger Woods didn’t have many chances to tip his cap to the crowd Saturday at the U.S. Open in Ardmore, Pa. Woods fi nished with seven bogeys and a 6-over-par 76 in the third round, tumbling down the leaderboard and matching his worst round as a pro at the U.S. Open. “At least I started well,” said Woods, who birdied the first hole and never made another.

Round 3: Nod goes to Merion

ARDMORE, Pa. - Merion still played mean and nasty Saturday in the third round of the U.S. Open, playing to a stroke average of 74.356 and refusing to yield a single birdie at the par-4 18th hole.

However, the 18th, which played at a robust 530 yards, was only the second-toughest hole at 4.740 strokes. The top honor went to No. 5, at 504 yards, with a stroke average of 4.795.

The par-3 13th, which played at 98 yards on Saturday, was the easiest hole, allowing 24 birdies and an average of 2.726 strokes.

Garcia’s nemesis

If it wasn’t for the 15th hole, Sergio Garcia might be contending in the 113th Open.

Garcia knocked three balls out of bounds Saturday at the 397-yard par-4 and carded a 10. He played the other 17 holes of the East Course in 1-under par and shot 75, finishing three rounds at 11-over 221.

Garcia hit two out of bounds on the same hole, which has a tight boundary just left of the fairway, and made an eight on Thursday.

That’s 10-over par on those holes this week, and 1-over on the rest.

“Funny enough, when I made an 8, I hit a lot of bad shots,” he said. “I only hit one bad shot [Saturday] and I made 10.”

Garcia, who drew criticism when he escalated his disagreement with Tiger Woods by saying he would serve fried chicken to him at dinner, said Philadelphia fans have been very good “for the most part.

“Obviously, there’s a little group that are trying to be funny and stand out,” he said. “They shout a little bit louder than the rest. But the only thing I have to say … the things they yell, they’re very common. They’re not very creative, how may I say?” Battling Billy

Billy Horschel got a taste of his first U.S. Open playing in the last group on the weekend and acquitted himself well, playing Merion’s final five holes in 1-over par in a round of 72 that left him two shots off the lead.

Horschel, 26, who joined Phil Mickelson as the Open’s 36-hole leader, hit 11 greens in regulation after going 18 for 18 on Friday. But he felt his putting was off.

“My speed was bad, I just putted bad,” he said. “I didn’t have my good stuff but I’m still right in it and I’m happy about it. I can go out [today] and hopefully play a good round, maybe post a number and get off early and see what happens.”

Local view

For a while Saturday, amateur Michael Kim was the talk of Merion because he was high up on the leader board. It was a thrill for the Pacific-12 golfer of the year from the University of California. It just might have been a bigger thrill for his caddie, LaRue Temple, a regular looper at Merion who got a bag for the Open.

“Walking down the first tee, Mike’s like, ‘Wow, you’re getting more cheers than me.’ It means a lot,” Temple said.

“Plus I bartend and a lot of people from the bar are here.

It’s very sweet. I just want to represent Merion.”

In good company

Phil Mickelson doesn’t have a driver in the bag this week so he can carry an extra wedge.

Ian Poulter has opted to go without his 7-iron.

Poulter said on Twitter that he didn’t think he needed a 7-iron for Merion.

He said he has had only three yardages where a 7-iron could have been used, and instead he played a soft cut with a 6-iron. It has worked well. He was tied for 11th going into the last round, despite losing four shots over the last four holes Saturday for a 73.

Besides, he’s not the only player to go without a 7-iron.

Ben Hogan didn’t have one in his bag when he won the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion. Asked why he didn’t have one, Hogan dryly replied, “There isn’t a 7-iron shot at Merion.”

Divots

The last time no one made birdie on a hole in the U.S. Open was in 2007 at Oakmont, when the first hole didn’t yield a birdie in the third round. ... Kevin Sutherland, who turns 49 on July 4, was the oldest player remaining at Merion.

Jay Don Blake, now on the Champions Tour, said he only recognized a dozen or so players in the locker room. “I have seen some of the kids walking in there,” Blake, 54 said. “Even seeing the name, I didn’t even know some of the names, either. It’s pretty interesting. It’s kind of neat, though.” Blake missed the cut with 74-80. ... For the second consecutive year, only two players were under par through 36 holes. The winning score at Olympic Club was 1-over-par 281.

All a-Twitter

Longtime golf writer Dan Jenkins of Golf Digest has, in recent years, turned to Twitter, posting clever comments and observations from golf’s major tournaments, including the U.S. Open. Saturday was no exception.

On third-round leader Phil Mickelson, who had a stretch of 27 holes with only one birdie before making three on the back nine:

“Time for Phil to start shutting his eyes on putts.”

“Back-to-back birdies for Phil. Eyes wide shut on those putts?”

“Phil takes the lead.

Too bad he has to fly back to California tonight for Amy’s book club.”

On Tiger Woods, who matched his worst round as a professional golfer at the U.S. Open with a 76:

“Tiger’s four over for the day and seven over for the tournament after playing the stretch of so called easy holes. Now what?”

“Lindsey Vonn to Tiger after his 76: ‘Did you, like, miss a gate on the course or something?’ “

And finally:

“Nicolas Colsaerts is hacking away at 18, doing his part to mow the rough.”

“The people at the Museum of Modern Art left a message for Hunter Mahan - they want their brightly colored paints back.”

Sports, Pages 32 on 06/16/2013

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