You might have expected it at Madison Square Garden or Shea Stadium. Certainly at Yankee Stadium. But who would have expected it in Southampton?
Greg Norman didn`t. The 31-year-old Australian didn`t expect to be verbally abused Saturday en route to leading the U.S. Open after 54 holes.
”I`m enjoying the stay in Southampton a lot more than I would New York,” said Norman, whose day was spoiled by a loud-mouthed fan on the 14th hole at Shinnecock Hills.
Norman saw his three-shot lead dissolve to a single stroke over two-time Open champion Lee Trevino and hard-charging Hal Sutton. Norman shot a 1-over- par 71 and finished three rounds at even par 210. Trevino, who bogeyed the 18th hole, shot a 69. Sutton tied the course record with a 66, as did Mike Reid.
Fourteen players are within five shots of Norman going into the final round. First-day leader Bob Tway is two back and alone in third. Reid, former Western Open champion Mark McCumber, Payne Stewart, Raymond Floyd and Denis Watson trail by three. Western Open champion Scott Verplank, Lennie Clements, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer and Tom Watson are four back and Mark McNulty five. Jack Nicklaus, who shot a 67, and Seve Ballesteros are in a group at 6- over par.
Norman`s five-shot lead after nine holes disappeared when he double-bogeyed the 13th and playing partner Trevino birdied. That`s when the cheers turned to jeers.
”You`re choking, Greg! You`re choking, Greg!” screamed the rude galleryite.
Norman, a man of action, didn`t let the comment go unanswered. He walked over to the fan and had a word with him.
”If you`re going to say that, say it after the round so I can do something about it,” he told the heckler.
Norman, noting that he hadn`t been treated that way anywhere in the world, later said: ”There were one or two guys following us around who had too much to drink. I don`t know why they felt so righteous. This is not a football match, a hockey game or a soccer match.
”I`m not the type of guy to let a thing like that go. I went straight at him. I got it off my chest. I don`t like being abused for no reason, and the guy abused me without giving me a chance to defend myself. That upset me. He stood there smiling as he said it. That really made me mad.
”I hit one bad tee shot and I got my just desserts,” he said. ”I swallowed the pill and tried to go on.”
Norman said he wasn`t bothered by the fan after he let off a little steam and parred his way into the clubhouse. The fan–”he wasn`t big enough,” said Norman when asked his size–didn`t show up at the 18th green.
By the time Norman got to 18, the tournament was tightly bunched at the top, tightened by the three-shot swing at 13.
Norman drove into the rough on that par-4, 377-yard hole, hit his second shot over the green, chipped strongly and three-putted. Trevino hit a 7-iron from the rough two-feet from the hole and made the putt for a tie.
Norman had problems on the back nine for the second day in a row. He went out in 2-under 33 and finished with a 3-over 38 after the double bogey and his second straight bogey on the 409-yard, par-4 10th hole. Norman didn`t agree with the fan`s assessment of his play after the 71.
”Hal played his way back into contention, and Lee played his way back in on the back nine,” Norman said. ”Obviously, the double bogey helped them get closer, but I`m not going to give the tournament away.”
Trevino, who won the 1984 PGA championship, shot a 1-under 34 on the back nine to close within a shot. He lost his share of the lead when he bogeyed the 18th hole. He tried to hit a 4-wood out of the rough and bunkered the shot from 180 yards.
That was his only real mistake. He made four birdies and two bogeys and had the look of the player who won the 1969 and 1971 Opens.
”Naturally, I wish I`d been able to save par on the last hole,” Trevino said. ”But I`m very pleased. If I can play another round like this tomorrow, if I can shoot 68 or 67, I have an excellent chance to win. I`m only a shot back. I`m thinking 67 to win. But this is the U.S. Open, and it might not take that. I`m going to try to play the golf course, try to beat the golf course. If I shoot 68, I have a chance to win.”
Sutton started the day six shots behind Norman after opening rounds of 75 and 70. Saturday was another ideal day for golf, and the scores reflected it. Seventeen players broke par, and another 10 matched it.
Sutton, who won the Phoenix Open and the Memorial Tournament, made five birdies and a bogey as he tied the competitive course record set Friday by Joey Sindelar. Unlike Norman and several other contenders, Sutton made his move on the back nine instead of the front. He birdied the 10th, 11th, 15th and 17th holes for a 31.
”This golf course gave up a few birdies today and I`m happy to be where I am,” said Sutton, who made four of his birds on the back nine. ”I was a late mover, but at least I finally made a move. I knew as long as I stayed at five-over and made a few birdies, I`d be all right.
”Greg was in a tough position being three shots up. He was trying not to make a lot of mistakes, and that left him open for a lot of guys to shoot at.
”I thought the wind picked up as the day went on, but the course gave up a few more birdies. It`s near the end of the tournament, and a lot of guys want to get to the top. That`s one reason why there were so many birdies.”
Birdies put Reid, Verplank, Clements, McCumber and Crenshaw in it. Reid had six birdies and two bogeys to tie the course record. Verplank, had it not been for two three-putt bogeys, also would have broken the record.
Clements, with a 67, and McCumber, with a 68, made more than their share. Crenshaw used an eagle with a 189-yard, 6-iron shot on the 444-yard, par 4, 14th hole to move into contention for another major championship to go with his 1984 Masters crown.
Norman will be paired with Sutton Sunday. Tway and Trevino will precede them, with as many as six other groups in the hunt. It won`t be a match-play situation.
”You have to play the golf course,” Trevino said. ”Unless it`s a playoff situation like Nicklaus and I had at Merion in 1971, then you can watch the other guy play. When you`re playing the caliber of player we have out here, if you watch the other guy, someone will blow right past you. You have to play the course.”
Even if it has a loudmouth or two on the other side of the ropes.
