No birdies flying
Pars or worse at Pinehurst
PINEHURST, N.C. — For the players who were hoping the USGA might keep Pinehurst No. 2 scoreable for the third round on “moving day’’ Saturday, they were left disappointed, because the pin placements and conditions were harder than they’ve been all week.
Kenny Perry, the oldest player in the field at 53, said the USGA did no one any favors with its setup for the third round, calling it “the hardest set of 18 pins I’ve ever seen.’’
“I was 7over after seven holes, and I wasn’t even hitting it that poorly,’’ Perry said after shooting 74, but holing out for eagle on the par4, 14th hole. “It was probably the hardest setup I’ve ever experienced in a major championship. You had to be spoton with your irons. There was no room for error, right, left, you had to basically kind of play short and up to everything.
“Every time I got a little aggressive it went a little long and went off the swale and I’m struggling to make par.’’
Phil Mickelson, who shot 72, called it “an interesting day.’’
“A little different golf course,’’ he said. “Pins were very diff icult. The only birdie pin I thought was 18. But the greens were receptive. It wasn’t unfair. It was a very good test. The pins are so close to the edges that if it went sometimes four to six feet on that one side, it was down in a bad spot. So it was a tough. It was a tough day to try to go low.’’
Mickelson said he had no problem with the setup.
“Given the way the first two days played, I think that you want to have a little bit more of a sterner test,’’ he said. “I think they probably could have put some of it in the first two days, where there were maybe some tougher pins. But it’s tough to do that when you have 156 guys trying to get through and you could be playing back and forth on some of the greens and it could just take forever.
“It was hard for me because I was trying to make a move, and it was hard to get birdies. But a lot of that was due to the fact I didn’t hit it very well, either.’’
Sergio Garcia, who shot 72 Saturday, said it wasn’t an easy test.
“The course was playing much tougher, drying up a little bit and a little bit windier, the long holes were playing into the wind, all of them, pretty much,” he said. “So they were very, very challenging.”
Retief Goosen, who won the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2004, is in the final year of his exemptions into the championship this year, but is in position, at 5over par through three rounds, to earn an exemption into the 2015 U.S. Open with a top14 f inish.
“If I can get a nice low round in [Sunday] and get myself back in the top 14 or something, that qualifies automatically next year, because this year’s my last year of exemption for the U.S. Open,’’ Goosen said. “So a nice round [Sunday], enjoy it, go out there. I’ve had a good run in the U.S. Open, and if I make it into next year, great.’’
Fran Quinn, the 49yearold minitour journeyman from Massachusetts, shot 79 after posting 68 and 74 in the first two rounds.
“To do what I did [Saturday] is really disappointing,’’ he said. “I missed all the short putts for par and I missed all my makeable putts for birdie, and in this type of championship, you have to make those.
“Then I had a horrific finish, finishing bogey, double bogey. Disappointing finish, but it’s still been a great week.’’