Not even the peaceful Pacific in the background can console Colin Montgomerie after missing a putt on 18.
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Four of the five Senior Tour players in the field will make the cut. The exception: Jack Nicklaus.
Davis Love III and Greg Norman were paired together in the first two rounds. They were a combined 29-over par. They were a combined 4-over through eight holes when play was stopped Thursday.
Shigeki Maruyama shot 58 in qualifying for the U.S. Open two weeks ago. He shot 76 in the first round and 80 in the second and won't make the cut.
Vijay Singh is flirting with history by hanging around the leaderboard. The last time a Masters winner finished in the top 10 of the U.S. Open was 1990, when Nick Faldo tied for third at Medinah.
The par-5 sixth hole gave up three eagles on Friday -- to amateur Ricky Barnes, Sergio Garcia and Bill Van Orman.
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Freaky Friday
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- It was a long Friday at the United States Open. Really long. Fourteen hours long. For the unluckiest, 34 holes long.
"It was hard work," said Nick Faldo. And he had a good day on the course.
"I played 29 holes today," said Loren Roberts, who had a bad one with an afternoon 78. "That's not too bad when you're playing a regular golf course, but when you're playing a U.S. Open course, it's a little tougher."
Players were awakened at 4 a.m. PT. The driving range opened at 5 a.m., though in reality nobody could see anything until the sun crept up at 5:15. And the range was so crowded that Glen Day hit his practice shots off the patch of grass between the range and the parking lot.
By 6:45, the 75 players who were trapped in Thursday's fog were moved to where they had marked their balls when play was stopped.
Then, they waited. More fog had made Pebble Beach unplayable again. Finally, at 8:15 a.m. PT, play began.
Michael Harris, Jeff Lee and Mike Troy had the longest day. They'd played just two holes on Thursday. And Friday wasn't kind -- they were a combined 42-over par.
"The tough part is getting up at 4 o'clock," said Hale Irwin. "I don't usually see 4 o'clock very often. You know, I'm on the Senior Tour. We have those nice, relaxed starting times."
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Welcome to the club: Seventeen players broke par in the first round of the U.S. Open, including Jeff Coston with a 70. Who? Coston, a 44-year-old who runs a golf academy at Semiahmoo in Blaine, Wash., last played in the U.S. Open 22 years ago. He shot 84-89 at Cherry Hills. The year before that, he shot 79-79 and missed the cut at Southern Hills. Coston shot 77 in the second round.
Dal(e)y double: John Daly wasn't the highest-scoring Dal(e)y in the first round. Joe Daley, a Buy.com Tour pro who didn't finish his opening round on Thursday, came back Friday morning and carded an 83 -- matching Daly. Daley, however, stuck around and played the second round, shooting 69. Daly didn't.
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OVERHEARD
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MONTGOMERIE
On his tee times: "You look forward to this tournament and you prepare well and then you get the wrong end of the draw. It hurts. It's a shame." |
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TRIPLETT
On having to play extra holes because of Thursday's delay: "Golf is not that strenuous of an activity." |
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NICKLAUS
On whether this was his last U.S. Open: "I'd say the chances would be very slim that I would play again." |
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ROBERTS
On all the delays: "I think it'll be tougher on the guys who don't get to finish today, who have to come back again tomorrow." |
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ESPN takes a look at the possible final round for Jack Nicklaus at Pebble Beach.