The playoff: We watched Tiger and Rocco tee off from hole 1, make their second shots, and finish the hole. Then we went to hole 5 about where the shots would land. We were able to see them on 4 when they went by and all of the play on hole 5. Then we headed over to 9 and did the same thing. Next was 14. We stayed up near the green because the hole was short that day and we wanted to see them drive the green which neither did. Next we sat on the ice plant across the chasm from 16 and watched from there. Then we went to 17 and watched from about mid fairway. As soon as they finished 17 we headed for the volunteer tent (18 was impossible to get to) and watched 18 and the sudden death on the big screen TVs while enjoying a snack and soda.

All I can say is, “Tiger is amazing.” 

I saw on the news, today, that he’s out for the season because of his knee. Not a bad record for 7 tournaments this year. Let’s hope and pray that his knee will recover.

Here’s a video of Tiger at the driving range. I can’t figure out how to rotate it so it’s right side up.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

Bonnie asked , “Why no cameras [at the U.S. Open during the competitive rounds].”

Good question, Bonnie. If you’ve ever watched the British Open, where they allow cameras and cell phones, you’ll often see golfers back off of shots and glare at the crowd. That’s because somebody was “clicking” their photo as the golfer was about to make his shot, interrupting his concentration. They have enough trouble trying to get some fans to be quiet during the shots, much less trying to get the “cool action photo”.

On practice days, they’re not trying to win a tournament, so they allow the clicking. They also allow fans to get autographs between holes. Practice days are very relaxed. Competition days are very intense. 

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

Thursday Son Major and I manned the thru board for hole 11.¹ We worked from 6:45 to 12:15. We got to see the entire morning round play the hole. 11 is a par three so we were able to see the tee and the green play. We developed a system that took the least amount of time so we got in the max amount of watching. The rest of the early afternoon we planted ourselves at the green on hole six, a 515 yard par 4. We wanted to see some long shots into the green. 

Yesterday, we slept in², had breakfast and headed out to the course. After watching a few shots on the way, we found seats in the bleachers on hole 3, another par 3 and watched almost the entire afternoon round from there. 3 is a tough downhill par three, 195 yards into the wind. The green is severely sloped and not too deep. We only saw two birdies while we were there and saw two double bogies and a triple. Great day.

One of the most impressive things about this U.S. Open is the transportation setup. Most of the crowd arrives at Qualcomm Stadium via trolley or car³. Then they’re shuttled to the course via bus, about a thirty minute trip. The process is reversed for the trip back. What’s impressive is the way that operation is executed. At each place there are cattle-chutes⁴ set up that funnel the crowd to about a dozen spots where busses are waiting to pick up passengers to shuttle them to the next stop. To give you an idea of how good they are, we left the course and were funneled to the “avenue” to the busses. The walkway was about 25 feet wide and maybe an eight of a mile long and was solid with people walking. We walked constantly and steadily through the various mazes and never stopped until we were on the bus. We were saying to each other, “I bet we’ll be on the bus in ten minutes or so.” It was just about five. Very impressive!

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

1. The thru board posts the scores for the group that’s currently playing the hole through the previous hole
2. until 8
3. parking is free
4. like Disneyland…only multiple lanes

Yesterday we went to see Old Dad and Pretty Betty. It’s about a two hour drive north of San Diego so we rented a car and headed out. We got to spend the whole day with them and Old Dad sprung for lunch.¹ Pretty Betty had a cable that worked with my camera, so I downloaded a bunch of pix and put them up on majormike.com. See them here. The photo to the left is Mike Weir.

On the way home, we stopped at Marie Calendar’s in Carlsbad for dinner and to catch the end of  game three of the NBA finals. The bartender, Paulina, had a tattoo of a Salvador Dalì artwork on her forearm identical to the one on Son Major’s forearm. They insisted I photo their forearms. Unfortunately, I left the camera on the table when we left. Fortunately, Paulina knew whose it was and gave it to the manager, Christine, who gave it to me when I drove back to Carlsbad this morning. Thank you Paulina and Christine.

Today was another day of great weather and great golf. Son Major and I decided we don’t have what it takes to be touring pros in the near future. These guys are so good that TV can’t even capture how good they are. I’m glad we came.

Tomorrow our shift starts at 6:45 am PDT. We plan to leave at 5:00 am. We’ve timed the walk/trolley/walk/bus ride/walk at just over an hour. But tomorrow the real crowds start. Let’s hope the fact that Tiger, Phil, and Adam don’t tee off until 8:12 will keep the really early birds in bed for an hour later than we plan to leave.

Son Major is allergic to grass. The rough here is about 4 inches tall and the grass seed heads are abundant. Monday he was sneezing and sniffling all day long. Today, he took a half dose of Tylenol Severe Allergy and was fine all day long.

I got a couple of videos of Tiger’s swing. Of course, I’ll have to wait until we get home to download them due to the lack of a cable. 

From now on cameras are not allowed onto the grounds so no more photos. I don’t know how many updates I’ll be posting before we get home as the Internet here is up and down and is not free. I’ll post when I can.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

1. Is anyone surprised?

Today was loads of fun. We walked the entire course—not in hole order, saw gobs of pros—but not Tiger or Phil¹, watched lots of shots, bought some U.S. Open goodies, and generally got sunburned from the long hazy day.

From our hotel, we walk to the trolley station, take the trolley to Qualcomm Stadium, take the shuttle to the golf course. It takes about an hour total, but is very relaxing…we don’t have to drive.

We’re looking forward to our trip to Seal Beach to see Old Dad and Pretty Betty. We’ll spend the whole day and part of the evening. 

Tonight, we’re beat and are heading for the rack right now.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

1. We did see Vijay, K.J., Trevor, Michael Campbell, Bubba, Zach, to name a few