Shuhei Matsuo
Assistant Sports Editor
This year’s U.S. Open seemed to have more drama than usual ones.
Not only did the fact that the world’s best golfer Tiger Woods missed the cut for the first time in majors as professional surprised the world, but also how Phil Mickelson lost a great opportunity of winning his third straight major victory after double bogeying the 72nd hole on Sunday did.
The Lefty was leading the tournament by one stroke, one more hole to go. All he needed was a par to win a U.S. Open title that he desperately wanted more than anything.
But he took a driver out and ripped it – the ball ended up far left of the fairway.
OK, he made a mistake off the tee, but he can still get a par by just punching it out to the fairway and try to get up-and-down. However, what we saw was the old Phil, who aggressively aims the flag regardless of the circumstance.
So he went for it.
The ball hit trees and only went 25 yards closer to the hole, leaving him the same lie.
And there he goes again.
The ball went through the trees this time but it’s in the bunker. A very bad lie.
A master of the short game couldn’t even get an up-and-down to get a bogey. Instead, he hit the ball over the green and ended the final hole with a double bogey.
Mickelson tied for the 2nd place with Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomery, who also collapsed on the 72nd hole.
Even though Geoff Ogilvy played very well throughout the tough 4-day tournament, it didn’t seem like he won it – it seemed more like Mickelson gave it to him.
But this is the U.S. Open. You never know who wins until the very last hole.
This is going to hurt Mickelson for a while, but he will come back. Maybe he might get one of two majors left this year.
All right, enough of Mickelson. Let’s talk about Alex Coe.
Recent Pepperdine alumnus Coe challenged his first U.S. Open last week and failed to make the cut by one shot, shooting rounds of 77 and 73 for 10-over.
What’s amazing about last week’s Coe was that he beat some of the best golfers in the world including Tiger, the defending champ Michael Campbell, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia, and a bunch of other good ones.
Coe’s 150 was also the lowest 2-day score by an amateur.
Michael Putnam, who graduated from Pepperdine a year before Coe, also played at the U.S. Open right after he left Pepperdine. Although Putnam had a better college career than Coe, he couldn’t beat many golfers at the U.S. Open like Coe did.
Coe is expected to turn pro after competing at 2006 Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Colligate Championships in July.
After he turns pro this summer, it might not be too long to see him on TV again.
06-20-2006