Open not for everyone, even some who've been there

Paul Azinger and John Daly are among the big names not on hand this week in large part because they chose to not even try to qualify. Azinger admits his last round at Winged Foot was a killer, and says he didn't need to undergo another beating.

MAMARONECK, N.Y. (AP) -- The U.S. Open isn't for everybody, especially those who have been through its rigors.

Paul Azinger didn't bother entering U.S. Open qualifying this year, and it wasn't an oversight. He tied for 29th in the '97 PGA Championship at Winged Foot, then played their last year during the week of the Barclays Classic.

"All I know is I played my 18 holes there last year and decided I wasn't even going to qualify," Azinger said. "I was playing terrible, and it just seemed too hard. And I don't need that beating."

Azinger last played a U.S. Open in 2002 at Bethpage Black. He is using a one-time exemption from career money to play the PGA Tour this year, and is in his last year with ABC in the broadcast booth. His schedule is important, and even after a 10th-place finish at the Memorial, he had no regrets.

"I stuck to my guns on that one," Azinger said. "I'm hitting it great, but I need a week off. And that's a good week to take off. Because that week will take two weeks out of you."

Beth Daniel's case is different.

She entered the U.S. Women's Open qualifier outside Baltimore last Monday, but never had any intention of playing. When she turned in her entry form, when asked to mark where she would like to play sectional qualifying, Daniel wrote "Top 35 on the LPGA money list."

That meant two things. She hoped she would be exempt through the money list, and she wasn't about to qualify. She is playing a major this week, and would be have to play 36 holes on a course she would not have no time to see before the qualifier.

Besides, the 49-year-old Daniel is already in the Hall of Fame. Perhaps these words from her mother persuaded her not to bother -- "You're usually miserable that week."

Then there was John Daly, who withdrew from the U.S. Open qualifier in Columbus. He had other plans Monday, playing in Jim Furyk's charity exhibition Monday called the Exelon Invitational. Daly won six skins worth $130,000, which is probably $130,000 more than he might have earned at Winged Foot.