Mike Report Day One of The US Open

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:52:09

" Thursday was one of those days that the golf gods weren't smiling down on me. Although my score was three over, it didn't feel that tough of a round and I didn't feel that I was that far away from being one or two under. I had a couple of really quirky breaks out there that were quite funny - that's just the kind of day it was. I got off to a pretty good start, being one under after my first seven holes. But then I hit a speed bump, making two doubles and a bogey in a three-hole stretch.

On eight, I got a terrible break when I hit my ball right down the middle and it bounced straight right and landed against the seam of the rough. Being left-handed, the shaft of my club grabbed in the rough - that's about four inches high - even though my ball wasn't actually in it. It was strange because I only had 150 yards and I didn't really have any kind of shot because of how the ball was sitting.

I have to admit that on nine, I didn't play the hole very well. With my tee shot, I was trying to hit a cut and I sort of push-cut it in behind the trees. I had a sort of muffy lie and so I tried to hit an L-wedge up and over the tree and it just unraveled from there. Two holes, two doubles. . . ugh!

I made another bogey on 10 after hitting a pretty good drive, but that was about it for the bad On the 18th, I had a great chance for a birdie but just as I went to hit the ball, a big gust of wind came up and almost knocked me over, causing the ball to go off line.

It was a little bit of an unusual day, even four a U.S. Open, but that's golf. You're going to get days when things don't go your way. I felt like I got some unlucky breaks and missed a couple of chances - it was just a weird day. The golf gods weren't with me today and that's just the way it happens sometimes.

The conditions overall were pretty soft, but by the end of the day, the greens were getting a bit firmer. Hopefully with a morning time on Friday, I'll get some of those softer and calmer conditions that the guys got on Thursday morning. But you just have to take what Mother Nature throws at us.

The wind was definitely a factor this afternoon. It wasn't very much fun through eight nine and 10, but I did gather myself well. I felt that nine was the only hole that I really played poorly today. I just had to tell myself that it's 72 holes, you've only played nine of them, there's a lot of golf left and to stay in the game mentally.

It wasn't that far off from being a good round. If I get a few breaks here and there, I probably could have shot one or two under. At the end of the day, I just have to take what the golf course gives me. It's not the end of the world and I know that if I stay patient on Friday and play my game, I can post a good score and get myself back in the championship.

With all the red numbers out there today, I'm expecting the USGA will toughen things up with a few unusual pin placements out there to toughen up the course so I'll have to be sharp. But I know I'm still very much in this tournament and I know that tomorrow is another day and another chance.

As always, thanks for your support.
"