By Dave Shedloski
Carmel, Ind. – Scoring in the 30th U.S. Senior Open has been relatively easy through two rounds at Crooked Stick Golf Club, but no one is expecting the good times to continue.
“Yeah, the party is probably over,” said Loren Roberts with a laugh.
And what a party it’s been so far. Crooked Stick is one of Pete Dye’s more deceptively challenging designs, but the greens haven’t had that Open fire in them, and the winds have been respectfully benign. As a result, the cut of 3-over-par 147 tied the championship record for lowest in relation to par set in 2005 at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio, and 147 represents the third lowest aggregate cut ever.
Thirty-one of the 62 players who qualified for the weekend begin today’s third round under par. Another six men shot level par.
It’s doubtful 31 players are going to be under par come Saturday night.
“I think the scores are going to be higher on the weekend,” predicted former U.S. Open champion Tom Watson, who three times has finished runner-up in the U.S. Senior Open.
“I expect it to get increasingly harder,” said Greg Norman, who hadn’t seen any course statistics but knew by feel that the golf course he played on Friday was more challenging than that he encountered in Thursday’s opening round.
The fairways were a bit drier and the greens firmer for the second round, and the field scoring average of 75.415 was more than a stroke higher than the opening round of 74.397.
“We haven’t seen the hardest pins or the longest tees yet,” said Joey Sindelar, who at 10 under par is a stroke behind the leader, amateur Tim Jackson. “The senior version of the Open, distance is always a tough journey for them (the USGA). I’m sure it’s a tough equation for them to solve because they want it to be tough enough to be a great championship, but it can’t be setting it up past the ability of some guys.
“But I’m sure,” added Sindelar, “that some pins will get closer to the edges, and if there is any wind, that’s what (makes it harder).”
Roberts added that he figured the field will see “the full length of Crooked Stick on Saturday.” A few tees that were moved up on Friday, such as at Nos. 2, 14 and 17, will be pushed to the tips, and the par-72 course could play almost all the way up to its 7,316 yards. The par-4 14th, a sharp dogleg left, already is the toughest hole, with the field averaging 4.435 strokes.
Jackson’s leading 11-under-par total of 133 set two records on Friday: the lowest 36-hole total by an amateur, as well as the lowest score in relation to par through 36 holes, two better than the previous mark held by six men, including Watson and Roberts. Additionally, Jackson tied the best 36-hole aggregate score.
“We’re going to see what Tim Jackson is made of, because you know it’s not going to get any easier from here,” said Hale Irwin, the two-time U.S. Senior Open champion, who rebounded from an opening 78 with a 67 Friday. “But 11 under par through two rounds, that’s great playing. It’s impressive. If he keeps that up, he’ll have earned it, I guarantee you.”
Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.ussenioropen.com.
