Staking out early viewing spot wasn’t terrible idea
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes had a 12:55 p.m. tee time Sunday as the 36th and final group in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
As Oosthuizen and Hughes walked off the first tee, hundreds of people already were assembled around the 18th green from various vantage points, waiting for them (or those who would replace them atop the leaderboard) the remainder of the afternoon.
Tiger Woods rewarded those who crowded around the 18th green in 2008 with some of the greatest drama in U.S. Open history.
There was seating for 5,000 to 6,000 spectators that year, plus thousands and thousands more lined up along the rope line, adjacent patios and hotel balconies.
COVID-19 restrictions in place when infrastructure began for the 2021 U.S. Open reduced the footprint to about one-fourth what it was 13 years ago.
With observation areas at a premium, many people staked out spots hours in advance, especially in the bleachers behind the green and along the rope line to the right of it.
Their patience paid off when Jon Rahm, playing three groups ahead of Oosthuizen and Hughes, drained an 18-foot birdie putt on 18 that delivered a one-shot victory.
Some perspectives from around the 18th green as the final round unfolded:
The Grassy Knoll
Seating for 500 in the area right of the green and immediate fairway.
At 12:55 p.m. (when the last group teed off ) — Two dozen people.
At 4:55 p.m. (as the last four groups approached) — About 1,500 people, several rows deep all standing in an effort to see over those in front of them.
John Manley of Huntington Beach came across an extra Sunday ticket, so he offered it to Will Allen, his cousin in Charleston, S.C.
Allen, who was at the 18th green last month when
Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, hopped on a plane Saturday so he could make it two majors in a row at the 18th.
Things got a little crazy at Kiawah when the crowd rushed past the rope line. Allen remembers hearing a Charleston County sheriff
say, “Oops, that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Manley was hopeful that spectators would be allowed to crowd in adjacent to Devlin’s Billabong as the final group passed.
“Maybe they’ll let us on the fairway here,” Manley said. “Never know, right? I think it makes for good television and they want it, but they don’t want it to be out of control like what happened at the PGA.”
Alas, Manley didn’t get his wish.
By the time the last groups approached, spectators were scrambling for vantage points to see the green. People stood on chairs, short walls, in a couple cases even on each others’ shoulders.
One guy hopped a white fence into a private area and was quickly removed by security.
He was not happy with how he was treated for being in the wrong.
The rope line
Space for 100 on the rope from the green to the manual scoreboard, then room for another 300 people stretching halfway down the fairway.
At 12:55 p.m. — The 100 initial spots were filled, although no one was lined up past the scoreboard.
At 4:55 p.m. — All the
spots along the rope line were filled from green to midway down the hole. It was 15 rows deep in some places, totaling upward of 3,000 people.
Two early birds were Drew and Donna Schilder of Long Beach, who followed Mickelson for a couple holes, then made a beeline for the rope line.
They were situated pin high, just beyond a greenside bunker.
It was perfect position. “Our whole plan was to just stay here and watch the end because this is one of the best holes in golf, so historical,” Drew said. “You end up running around, you’re blocked all over the place and can’t get into the flow of what’s going on.
“It’s chaotic, you feel like you don’t know where to go. ... I was here in 2008, and it was so jammed that I couldn’t see anything.”
Canada’s Adam Hadwin was among the early groups they watched. He dropped a shot three feet from the pin, then missed the putt. After tapping in, Hadwin tossed his ball into the pond.
Memorable, maybe, but he was not the one to make history there Sunday with a birdie. That was to come.
The Bleachers
Seating for about 550 people.
At 12:55 p.m. — 310 people.
At 4:55 p.m. — 550 people, with 10 people lined up waiting for someone to leave so they could enter.
Tucson’s Tom and Pam Ferraro sat in the back row of the bleachers with their adult sons Matt and Nick.
“You can watch the players tee off and watch them come in on 18,” Tom explained. “This would have been a good tournament to follow the leaders because there’s not very many people here, but when I’ve gone to other tournaments it’s been difficult to follow.”
So the Ferraros chose a high perch.
“I’m just a creature of habit,” Tom says.
By midday, the most interesting thing he saw was Mickelson’s approach shot find the cart path and bounce past the 18th hole and down past the first tee box.
“What was interesting about that is he didn’t have a penalty,” Tom said. “He didn’t make the putt, but it didn’t hurt him.”
That provided some comic relief. Drama was to come.
“Watching the leaderboard all day, it’s pretty evident that the tournament could be determined on 18,” Tom said.
Rahm proved him right.
The Corporate Suites
Space for 750, including standing room only.
At 12:55 p.m. — 125 people, including those standing.
At 4:55 p.m. — About 500 people, including those standing.
Various colored wrist bands were required to access the area reserved for corporate sponsors like American Express, Cisco, Deloitte, Lexus, Rolex and Sentry.
Although this was the most comfortable area for watching, it did not come close to filling up.
It did not go unnoticed by some along the adjacent rope line, where one guy grumbled, “if people don’t show up by a certain time, they should just let us sit there.”
We’ll put that in the suggestion box for next time.
Among those in the Lexus suite were Jacqueline Delcarson and Jordan Wheeler of Hermosa Beach.
Lukewarm golf fans, they were interested in Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau before warming up to the winner.
“It was exciting,” Wheeler said of watching Rahm’s birdie drop.
“It was amazing,” Delcarson said, “especially being Father’s Day and seeing him with his wife and kid. It’s like, ‘Wow, what a memory.’ I got a very sentimental feeling.”
She may have gotten more choked up listening to Rahm during the trophy presentation, except neither they nor the thousands of others around the 18th green could hear what he was saying.
The mic wasn’t working.
Parting thought
Patience is a virtue that remains in short supply.
Torrey Pines South reopens to the public Wednesday with the same pin placements as Sunday’s final round.
One person couldn’t wait.
With defending champ DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler playing No. 13, a guy wearing a visor, pink halter top and rainbow flag, hopped a fence and ran onto the fairway.
The guy had a club and balls with him and took a couple of shots before security moved in.
SDPD tackled the man, preventing him from finishing the hole.