Notebook: Ogilvy praises Norman as his golf inspiration
After his surprising victory, Geoff Ogilvy paid tribute to Greg Norman, who never managed to win the U.S. Open. Plus, Ian Poulter was in the pink, David Howell feels like he let one get away, J.B. Holmes lamented his poor putting, and more.
By T.J. Auclair, Junior Editor
MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- With his victory at the 106th U.S. Open, Geoff Ogilvy became the first Australian to win the U.S. Open since David Graham won at Merion Golf Club in 1981. He is the 24th foreign-born championship.
"Every Australian of my age or any Australian really who grew up watching golf in the '80s and '90s, watching Greg [Norman] play, it became pretty apparent that the majors were a pretty big deal, and this is really what we want to do," Ogilvy said. "If it wasn't for Greg, we might not have an appreciation for how big these things really are.
"The first memory [I have] was Greg actually at Winged Foot with Fuzzy [Zoeller] waving the towel [in the final round of the 1984 U.S. Open]. That was one of the first golf tapes that I ever kept watching again because I was only about seven or eight," he added. "But I remember watching that quite a few times. He made some ridiculous pars the last few holes, even more ridiculous than mine. Obviously, you dream about it. Everyone who plays golf dreams about winning a major."
Ogilvy's 71-70-72-72--285 score made him the first champion to win without a score in the 60s since Tom Kite in 1992 at Pebble Beach Golf Links. His 5-over-par 285 total is the first over-par winning score since Andy North shot 1-over at the par-72 Cherry Hills Country Club 32 years ago in 1978 -- one year after Ogilvy was born.
Ogilvy's 2-over final round score of 72 was the fifth time in the last six years that the champion shot over par in that round and still won. The others were Retief Goosen (71 at par-70 Shinnecock Hills in 2004), Jim Furyk (71 at par-70 Olympia Fields in 2003), Tiger Woods (72 at par-70 Bethpage Black in 2002), Goosen (71 at par-70 Southern Hills in 2001).
PINK PANTHER: Ian Poulter wasn't content with merely proving that he's an excellent golfer. He also made a fashion statement Sunday while vying for the U.S. Open title.
The 30-year-old Englishman wore a pink shirt, pink pants and had his caddie tote a pink bag that listed Poulter's Web site (ianpoulter.com).
"I like the color pink. I thought it would be appropriate for Sunday," said Poulter, who has won six tournaments on the European Tour.
One of his head covers was a caricature of himself, with spiked hair and a pink visor. His corporation is selling a limited edition of 300 of them, and Poulter knew a fine performance Sunday could only boost sales.
"It can only help," he said. "I'm a noticeable character out there anyway, everybody knows that. It's not just this week's performance that people are going to notice. I am playing great golf and I have been for the last few months."
Poulter, who teed off in the penultimate twosome with winner Geoff Ogilvy, shot a 74 Sunday to tie for 12th at 9-over. But he sure put on a show doing it.
"The New Yorkers had a lot to say," Ogilvy said. "In New York they've got to yell at somebody, and they decided to yell at the guy that's dressed in pink."
GOING SOLO: Maybe he was just in a hurry to leave Winged Foot Golf Club. In any event, Tim Herron made the cut on the number (9-over), but after a 79 in the third round, he was the odd man in the tee time shuffle for Sunday.
Rather than take a marker to play with him, which he is entitled to do, Herron elected to play by himself in the final round. It was quick, too. Lumpy zipped through Winged Foot in just two hours, 43 minutes and posted a 7-over 77 to finish the tournament at 25-over 305.
Afterward, he declined to explain his decision.
"I'm done. Sorry," he told reporters.
THE BRITISH ARE COMING: The 106th U.S. Open will likely go down as the tournament that could have been for 30-year-old David Howell.
In an otherwise sensational first round, Howell took two bogeys and a double-bogey on three of his last four holes to finish with an even-par 70. The sting from that turbulent finish carried over into the second round, as he shot an 8-over 78 to make the cut by one.
Howell bounced back to put together a nice weekend for himself. He had a 74 on Saturday and then a 1-under 69 Sunday to finish the tournament at 11-over. His tie for 16th was his best finish in three U.S. Opens.
"I lost my patience a little bit, try as I did not to on Friday, I obviously did let the course get to me," Howell admitted. "Didn't feel like that at the time. I was trying my best on every shot, but in hindsight I made so many classic errors and that is the learning experience I can take from this week.
"I don't know how far behind I will be, but I will probably be in the top 20 and I let things drift there in the second round quite badly. You cannot afford to do that. You have to steady the ship somehow. That is what I need to learn for next time."
Howell's countryman Paul Casey also shot 69 in the final round and finished alone in 15th place at 10-over 290.
"I am going to look at that as a success," he said, speaking of his sub-par round. "A round under par in the U.S. Open, I am very happy with that. It was tricky coming in. I dropped a couple, but the greens are tremendously quick and burning, I think the phrase would be.
"A couple got away from me there, but I was very happy to shoot under par. I thought 8- or 9- [over par] might be close to a top 10 and that was the goal before I got out there. I'm very proud of what I did."
ROOKIE LAMENTS: A quirky putter deprived J.B. Holmes from deriving maximum satisfaction out of playing the final round of the U.S. Open.
Holmes, a strong candidate for PGA Tour rookie of the year honors, shot a second straight 75 to tied for 48th at 17-over 297.
"I should have shot a 65 today, I putted that bad," he said. "I had 35 putts yesterday and 36 today. C'mon. Even if you putt bad, you should have 31, 32 putts.
"I feel like I can compete in a major. I'm a good enough ball-striker. I've just got to learn how to putt."
Holmes last played in the U.S. Open as an amateur in 2003 and failed to make the cut. He entered this Open with far more confidence, because he's already got one win (FBR Open) and two top-10 finishes.
"I've played in tour events all year, made cuts, been successful out there. I'm playing the same people," he said. "Being in a major is a big deal, but I looked at it as just another tour event. That's why it's disappointing to play like this."
DIVOTS: Peter Hedblom, who aced the par-3 third hole on Saturday, double-bogeyed the same hole Sunday. ... Colin Montgomerie's second-place place finish was the best at the Open since a second in 1997. He has five top-10 finishes. ... Four players eagled the par-4 sixth hole: Kent Jones, Steve Stricker, Jeff Sluman and Henrik Stenson. The pin was in front of the green, which made the hole 307 yards instead of the usual 321.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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