ESPN.com - Golf Online - US Open Men 2000 - Notebook: Gogel returns to Pebble

Associated Press
Thursday, June 15

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- The last time Matt Gogel played at Pebble Beach, he was on his way to an apparent victory in his fourth PGA Tour event. Then, he became another victim of Tiger Woods.

Woods rallied from seven shots down over the final seven holes to overtake Gogel at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February. The PGA Tour rookie finished two shots back, in a tie for second with Vijay Singh.

"I'm not Tiger Woods," Gogel said after a practice round Monday. "I can't put unrealistic expectations on myself. But if I put the ball in the fairway, with the way I putt, I can play very well here."

Gogel, 29, earned his card this year after near-misses the last two years on the Buy.com Tour. He has struggled since that impressive showing at Pebble Beach, failing to make the cut in eight of 12 tournaments and finishing no higher than 11th.

"I'm trying to learn along the way," he said. "I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself. By the same token, I haven't played all that well since then."

Gogel realizes that the course plays much different in June than it does in February. Also, the stakes are much higher this time around.

"Jack Nicklaus is here. Tom Watson is here. Tiger Woods is here, and he's having a phenomenal year," Gogel said. "All the stars are playing great. It's the 100th year of the Open. You can just tell it's a phenomenal event."

Memories of '82
Jack Nicklaus is feeling a little better about his loss in the 1982 U.S. Open.

During a practice round Monday, Tom Watson pulled the Golden Bear aside at No. 17, showing him the spot where Watson made his famous chip from the rough for a clinching birdie 18 years ago.

"He wasn't quite sure where I chipped it in from," Watson said. "When I told him, that made a difference. It wasn't quite as tough as he thought."

Until that shot, Nicklaus appeared headed for a playoff and a chance at winning an unprecedented fifth Open. He has never come as close to winning as he did that day at Pebble Beach, but at least Nicklaus now realizes it wasn't an impossible shot that beat him.

"It eased the pain a little bit," Watson said. "It's not as tough to take after 18 years."

As for Nicklaus, he always goes into the U.S. Open thinking he has a chance to win. Even at age 60.

"I'm not playing very well," he said. "But I always believe somewhere deep down inside of me that I can do it. Sure."

Second chances
Clark Renner spent the past four years working with players like Colin Montgomerie, John Daly, Tom Watson and Paul Azinger.

This week in the U.S. Open, he'll be playing with them.

Renner, who played the Australasian and Canadian tours but never made it to the big leagues, finally left the golf circuit in 1995 and became a custom club-fitter for Callaway Golf. But the desire to play competitive golf stayed with him, and he quit Callaway six weeks ago to give it one more try.

So far, so good.

He played two mini-tour events in San Diego right after he left Callaway and won both. He also advanced through both stages of U.S. Open qualifying, and will tee it up in the 100th Open on Thursday.

"I was working with the best players in the world, learning about equipment and learning about myself," Renner said. "I was able to objectively look at my weaknesses over a four-year period and made a lot of improvements.

"I would hate to be 40 and say, `Your best golf was in your 30s and you didn't try.' I'll be 35 in two weeks and I've never played better."

After this week, Renner plans to play more mini-tours until PGA Tour Qualifying School later this year. He has never made it in three previous attempts.

As for this week?

He played another mini-tour event this past weekend and won, so who knows?

"Winning breeds winning, and I've been shooting good scores to do it," Renner said. "That gave me confidence that I could go on and get better. I've learned how to win."

Deep breath
Jack Nicklaus says he hasn't caught any grief for his admission in Golf Digest that he once tried marijuana -- except from wife Barbara.

"Anybody who tells you the truth probably tried it at some time in their life," Nicklaus said after a practice round Monday. "What's the big deal about it? I don't ever lie about something if= I can avoid lying about it."

In an interview for the July issue of the magazine, Nicklaus said he was having dinner with a college buddy some 30 years ago when his friend asked if he could light up a joint.

"I never had a puff of the stuff, so I said, `Let me have a puff.' I felt terrible, man," Nicklaus said. "I never want to touch that stuff. If my kids ask me, I tell them, `Man, it was terrible.' That's what it was."

Pebble rules
The USGA's new "pebble" rule will not be in effect at Pebble Beach.

The USGA aligned itself with the Royal & Ancient this year by saying courses can adopt a local rule on loose impediments in bunkers. Prior to this change, if a small stone was directly behind a ball in a bunker, a player could not move it.

That won't be the case this week.

"That's for golf courses that has problems with the sand," said Tom Meeks, director of rules and competition for the USGA.