Notebook: Even after a 75, Duval isn't giving up hope
Despite seven Saturday bogeys, David Duval believes he can post a good number on Sunday and let the leaders shoot at it. Plus, David Howell admits that frustration got to him, and John Cook enjoys a great early Father's Day with his son.
By T.J. Auclair, Junior Editor
MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- David Duval began his second hole of the day with a drive that hooked to the left, caromed off a tree and landed in the rough -- far short of where the fairway begins. Then he hit a sensational 3-wood to the front of the green and got up and down for par.
His good fortune at the U.S. Open pretty much ended right there.
Duval followed with the first of his seven bogeys Saturday and shot a 75, seven strokes worse than the 68 he carded Friday. That was his best round in a major since 2001 and let him make the cut in a major for the first time in four years.
"I played OK," he said. "It's just that a couple of shots I thought were good bounced a little the wrong way and turned into bogeys. That's about it."
The same can be said for his shot at winning his first U.S. Open. Yet Duval wasn't ready to concede anything, even though his 10-over 220 was eight shots behind third-round leaders Phil Mickelson and Kenneth Ferrie.
"I still think I have a chance. It's going to take a round of 4- or 5-, maybe 6-under, but I'm going to be out ahead of everybody," he said. "If I can [finish] plus-4 or plus-5, you never know how that could turn out."
After the par save at No. 2, Duval bogeyed Nos. 3 and 4 and then did the same on 7 and 8. A birdie on No. 11 was offset by successive bogeys on 13 and 14. Duval then finished the round with two pars, a birdie on 17 and a bogey on 18.
Afterward, he met with his family and signed autographs before fading out of view.
Unfortunately for Duval, his drives this week have often done the same thing. He has hit the fairway only 33 percent of the time, and on Saturday he hit the green in regulation on less than half the holes.
"It's very hard. It's tough out there," he said. "If you're off the fairway, you're struggling."
UNUSUAL BOGEY: If ever there were an impressive bogey -- and there have been many at Winged Foot this week -- 30-year-old Henrik Stenson of Sweden, playing in his first U.S. Open, made it on Saturday.
Standing on the tee of the 478-yard 15th hole, Stenson prepared to lace a 4-iron to keep the ball in play. The result? A tee shot that traveled about 60 yards and to the right.
How the heck did that happen?
"The club broke in my hand," said Stenson, winner of the 2006 Qatar Masters on the European Tour. "It was a 4-iron and the shaft just snapped in the changeover at the top of my swing. I've never known anything like it. I somehow made contact, but didn't feel like I had anything in my hand. The ball shot about 60 yards right, almost hit a spectator and after that it was a good bogey.
"I had to fight for bogey. I have seen it before with a graphite shaft, but not in tournament play.
"Unbelievable," he said. "My caddie thought I should have been happy not to be cut in half on the tee box. It could have killed somebody."
Stenson finished with a 3-over 73 and is 9-over for the championship
TRIPLE TROUBLE: Had he simply parred the 18th hole, Padraig Harrington would have been one shot off the lead heading into the final round of the U.S. Open.
Instead, he took an unwanted tour of the par-4 hole and carded an adventurous triple-bogey that put him at 216, four shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson and Kenneth Ferrie.
It started with a drive into the left rough. Harrington's next shot dribbled about 10 feet, and the Irishman followed that with an iron that landed in the right-side bunker.
After a mediocre chip, his putt from about 40 feet rolled about 12 feet from the pin, and he two-putted from there.
"I hit it 10 feet right of the flag and I was with a 40-footer over the hill. That's the kind of golf course this is," he said. "I'm taking the putt, thinking we've taken the putt numerous times in practice, and we knew the pin would be up there.
"My last thought was I might as well try and hole it."
Six players have gotten 7s on the hole this week.
BIG MOVE: Ryuji Imada of Japan was the only player other than co-leader Phil Mickelson to break par on a wicked day at Winged Foot.
The 29-year-old Imada matched Mickelson's 1-under 69 and was at 218 for 54 holes, moving from a tie for 53rd to a tie for 16th.
"If someone told me I can shoot 69 today, I'd be dancing," Imada said.
Imada is playing in his third U.S. Open. He missed the cut in 2000, and tied for 15th last year when he shot a 2-under 68 in the second round at Pinehurst.
For the week, there have been a total of eight scores in the 60s.
MIND GAMES: David Howell was headed toward another dismal finish when he managed a par on No. 18 to cap a 74.
Howell had a bogey and a double-bogey heading into the hole, conjuring memories of his first two rounds. On Thursday, he had two bogeys and a double-bogey over the last four holes to finish with a 70. On Friday, he did the same thing, albeit on the front nine after starting at No. 10.
"This course is designed to test your patience and play with your mind," he said Saturday. "Half of the thing is not letting it."
He blamed frustration for his poor finish the first two days and bad luck for his 74 in the third round.
"I played about as well as a man can play to shoot 4-over," he said. "You need a bit of luck to get it around here, and I don't feel I've had it."
EUROPEAN TRIP: There are four Europeans in the top 10 entering the final round: Kenneth Ferrie (T1) and Ian Poulter (T4) of England, Colin Montgomerie (T4) of Scotland and Padraig Harrington (T8) of Ireland. The last European to win the U.S. Open was England's Tony Jacklin in 1970 at Hazeltine Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. The last European to win a major championship was Scotland's Paul Lawrie at the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie.
HOME COOKING: John Cook couldn't have asked for better company during his foray around Winged Foot on Saturday.
Cook's caddie was his son, Jason, and his playing partner Andrew Svoboda, a Winged Foot member and multiple club champion who qualified for the U.S. Open and has an intimate knowledge of the course.
Sixty-three players made the cut, and Cook was the odd-man out because he was the last one in at 149 on Friday. He could have played alone Saturday, but accepted the option of using Svoboda as a partner.
"I knew who the marker would be and I said fine. He plays here and just missed the cut, so it wasn't like I was playing the club champion who can't break 100," Cook said. "Andrew was great. He's a good player, he's a pro and he plays fast, too, so it was fine."
The best part of the day for Cook, however, was that his son handed him clubs on the day before Father's Day.
"It's pretty special. My dad's here, too," Cook said. "To have my dad here and my son carrying my bag, it doesn't get better than that."
Jason, 20, got a thrill out of being on the course on the penultimate day of the U.S. Open.
"We enjoy every second of it, even through the hard times," he said. "It's awesome."
Cook shot 74, bouncing back from a bogey on 17 with a scrambling par on 18.
"I felt like I played a pretty good round of golf today," he said. "Seventeen was kind of a disaster, but to make that at 18 was a nice way to end it."
Cook and Svoboda completed their round in just three hours and 15 minutes, and Svoboda enjoyed the experience.
"I was pretty much going to sleep all day and move on to the next thing, but it was really awesome to come out here another day," he said. "I really appreciate the fact that the USGA asked me to play. It?s a tremendous honor and shows that I know how to compete and how to conduct myself like a professional."
ENGLISHMEN IN NEW YORK: David Howell, one of the best European players these days with two wins in 2006, carded a 4-over 74 at Winged Foot Saturday, leaving him at 12-over.
Howell remember, was the man who reached unmarked territory in the first round when he was 4-under at one point, before struggling dearly on the way in with two bogeys and a double-bogey over his last four holes.
Howell had a 78 in the second round to finish two shots above the cut line and was pleased with his 74 in the third round.
"I played about as well as a man can play to shoot 4-over," he said. "I hit one or two bad iron shots, but once again, I didn't get the ball up and down one single time. Not one single time this week have I got the ball up and for a par when I missed the green. You can't get around this course if you can't do that. You can't hit all the greens. That sums it up."
This is Howell's third U.S. Open. Is he learning anything as he goes along?
"More than anything else, you need to be on your game at the U.S. Open and be as patient as you can possibly be," he conceded. "You need a bit of luck to get around as well and I don't feel I have had that. All in all, it's so bizarre a tournament there is not much you can take from it. Take the rough with the smooth."
Howell's countryman Paul Casey is playing in the U.S. Open for the fourth time in his career this week. However, 2006 marks the first time he
has made the cut -- he made it on the number at 9-over after two rounds.
For the second day in a row, Casey -- who has seven top 10s on the European Tour this year, including one win -- posted a 2-over 72 on Saturday, but is happy to be in the tournament for weekend play.
"I haven't played particularly great golf tee to green, but I have done a good job of keeping my head screwed on and rolling with the punches," he said. "It is always a learning experience and it is the first time I have made the cut in the U.S. Open, so I have got to be happy. This is a wonderful golf course and a good experience."
Luke Donald, also from England, recovered beautifully from a bogey, double-bogey start to shoot an even-par 70 in the third round. From there Donald made four birdies, but picked up a bogey at the last and stood at 7-over for the tournament.
"Really pretty solid," he said. "I played very solid apart from the first two or three holes. Obviously a bad start on the first couple of holes. From there on I don't think I missed a green until the last. It was good, solid golf. I got myself back under par with a few birdies. Disappointing obviously to finish with a bogey, but I hit a good putt there that just didn't go in."
Finally, Englishman Ian Poulter -- owner of the wacky clothes and crazy hairdos -- shot an even-par 70 Saturday, despite a backbreaking double-bogey on the last hole.
"I wish there was another hole to go and play right now because I'd probably make 3 and walk off with a smile on my face," Poulter said. "But 18 holes is 18 holes. That's the main thing. If I keep having the swing thoughts I had today tomorrow, then I'm going to be in the mix."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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