Alternate gets boot by USGA in practice

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — A USGA rule turned into a theater of the absurd incident Tuesday afternoon at Chambers Bay.

Clint Rice, ranked 1,188th in theworld and an alternate to get into the U. S. Open field, had his clubs confiscated by the USGA because he was playing a practice round. The USGA does not permit alternates to play practice rounds.

Rice, a Tasmanian who’s based in Chicago and teaches golf, played four holes with 2006U. S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy before a USGA official approached him and took his clubs away.

USGA rules permit alternates to use the practice facilities on site before the tournament begins, but they cannot play practice rounds — a potentially unfair rule because alternates might not land a place in the field until so late they would have to compete without having played a practice round.

Rice, who walked the remainder of the front nine with Ogilvy before getting his clubs back, declined to comment. But Ogilvy called the entire incident “a bit silly.’’

“I’d get it if therewere no spots available for players in the field,’’ Ogilvy said. “But this wasn’t the case here. I was playing on my own in the afternoon and he just asked if he could play with me and, of course, I said yes.

“I get where the USGA is coming from, but surely the top few alternates should be able to play. What happens if he gets in on Thursday and hasn’t seen the course? He effectively has his chances limited. It’s a shame because we were having a good time and he seemed like a really good bloke.’’ The last three winners on the PGA Tour are not playing the U. S. Open thisweek because

they failed to qualify. Fabian Gomez won the St. Jude Classic last week, David Lingmerth won the Memorial two weeks ago and Steven Bowditch won the Byron Nelson the week before. None is in the field this week.