The final pairing was a combined 25 over par in Sunday’s final round. Little wonder why Retief Goosen brought up cricket to Jason Gore by the 16th hole.
“He asked me if I knew the game cricket, because when you score runs they’re called overs,” Gore said. “That was the only thing we were resembling.”
It might work in cricket, but not in golf. Goosen, who led by three strokes after 54 holes, imploded with an 11-over 81. Gore saw his feel-good story turn into a nightmare, as he dropped from second to a tie for 49th with a final-round 84.
Gore’s demise wasn’t a surprise but Goosen’s was stunning. The two-time U.S. Open champion was expected to cruise to his third title. Instead, he was out of it by the 10th hole.
He opened with a double bogey on the second hole and a bogey on the third, and it deteriorated from there.
“I played rubbish at the end of the day,” Goosen said. “There is nothing else to say. Just couldn’t find the hole on the greens, and that was really the end of the story. If I would have made at least a few putts, I would have felt better.”
The fans tried to help Gore complete his dream. But Open courses have a knack for knocking down dreamers. Pinehurst finally got the best of Gore.
“I feel like I’m a better player from it,” he said. “I’ll still try to be a good player and a good dad, a good husband and a good son. That’s what I learned, that a little humility is good for you.”
Falling down
Like Gore, Olin Browne stumbled playing in the spotlight. Tied with Gore for second at the beginning of the day, Browne shot an 80 to finish in a tie for 23rd.
“This game teaches you to embrace failure,” Browne said. “You spend a lot of time messing up. For three days I kept control of myself. And I played better [Sunday] than I did [Saturday] and I ended up shooting 80. I think that goes with the severity of the course setup.”
Going up
Mark Hensby couldn’t complain too much about a tie for third in his first U.S. Open.
“It’s good, you know,” said Hensby, an Australian who spent a good deal of time in the Chicago area during the 1990s. “I struggled a little bit. I got a little tight in the middle of the round. I couldn’t hit some shots that I wanted to, but then I got a little more comfortable.”
Getting closer
Sergio Garcia finished in a tie for third in his bid to win his first major. But Garcia felt good about his attitude during the tournament, and he hopes it carries over to the British Open at St. Andrews.
Unlike at the 2003 Masters, when he beat himself up after finishing fourth, Garcia took the latest close call in stride.
“A couple of things kind of woke me up a little bit,” Garcia said. “I have a friend who is only 24 who has lung cancer. To see those things, it really wakes you up. It makes you realize that a bogey really isn’t that bad. You’re still trying your hardest, and that’s what I did.”
