The U.S. Open

So I arrived home from Asia on Tuesday night, June 14, at approximately 11 pm.  I got two good nights of sleep and headed out to D.C. and Maryland for the U.S. Open (Golf) on Thursday morning the 16th.  I stayed with my buddy Rob (Aka Rob on the Cob) in Northern Virginia and commuted back and forth to the golf tournament.  Not only was it one of the biggest golf tournaments in the world, but it was also Rob's birthday.  Awesome combination for all parties involved.

My journy started from Raleigh on Thursday morning.  It was about a 4 and a half hour drive to Northern Virginia.  The plan for the weekend was to meet up with Rob and his friends for Happy Hour (Yes, it deserves capital letters) on Thursday night and go to the golf tourny on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I arrived an hour or two early on Thursday afternoon and his parents were nice enough to give me a ride to the Pentagon Memorial commemorating the 9/11 attacks.  The memorial was right beside the Pentagon and was a really cool place.  It was a oval shaped area with a walkway around the outside.  On the edge of the walkway are year numbers engraved and there were rows of benches in honor of every person who died in the Pentagon attacks.  So for instance, if there were 4 people who died in the attacks who were born in 1960, there were 4 benches across on the 1960 row.  Also, there was water underneath the benches that added to the memorial.  I sat down on one of the benches for a minute for a rest, but a guard came over and said that the benches were reserved for family and friends of the victims.  He was really nice about it and talked to me about some of the logistics of the memorial.  The wall on the outside was built in a very complex manner, there were walkways going across the memorial that coincided with the plane and its wings, and there was a special water regulator underneath the memorial to ensure that the water beneath the benches stayed at a certain temperature.  (I can't remember the number but it prevented it from freezing in the winter)  We only saw what happened on tv, but to talk to people directly affected and ones who were around it gives you a different perspective.... this is the defining moment of my generation and one of the most infamous moments in US history.  Rob's mother said that she could feel the ground shake when the Pentagon was hit and knew some of the families affected.

The Year of Birth of the Victims

Benches

After the Pentagon Memorial, I met up with Rob and his co-workers for Happy Hour.  Jet lag was in full affect from Asia and I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open after 2 beers.  We roamed around Arlington for a few hours and went back to catch some sleep before a 6:45 wake up to go to the golf tournament.  The plan was the drive from his house to the Dulles Airport in D.C. to catch a shuttle to the golf course in Maryland.... about an hour and 15 minute trip total.  (And no cell phones allowed past the airport.... try it for a day, it's weird.  If you lose someone, you can't get back in touch with them)  The tournament was at Congressional Country Club or better known as Congressional (pretty good ring to it, huh) in Bethesda, Maryland.  Rob found out that the initiation fee to be a member there is $950,000 and then $2,000 a month after that.... and you can only be invited in.  It used to be for Congress members but they aren't allowed anymore.  Now it is for attorneys, lobbyists, and anyone with an extra million dollars to spend on golf.  This course was nice, but a million dollars nice?  Nah, not quite.  The course had two memorable holes, number 10 and 18.  Number 10 was a downhill par 3 right by the clubhouse.  The clubhouse at Congressional happened to be 4 stories and the largest one in the United States.  (Hell, for a million dollar membership it better be the biggest and nicest)  Number 18 was a long par 4 that is one of the best finishing holes in golf.  The two are beside each other and share a pond. 

The Clubhouse at Congressional

A view from behind the # 10 green looking up to the tee box and clubhouse

So the crowd Friday.... Rob, his dad Ralph, Ryan Kelley, his dad Bob, and myself. On Friday, everyone who started the tournament was still in, so we got to see some contenders as well as some personal favorites who weren't making it to the weekend.  We roamed around the back nine in the morning, saw Ricky Fowler play, along with Bubba Watson (A certified gunslinger) among others.  The afternoon featured more prominent golfers like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, the eventual winner Rory McIlroy, two of my favorites Jim Furyk and K.J. Choi and my new favorite golfer Robert Rock from England, see below.  (And if you're wondering, Tiger wasn't playing, he had some females to tend to..... oh, I mean he was hurt and unable to play.)  Some other golfers I saw in person on Friday.... Hunter Mahan, Matteo Mannasero, Anthony Kim, Sergio Garcia, and Miguel Angel Jimenez and Alvaro Quiros (Two Spanish Golfer and without question, 2 gunslingers)  The first day, I was just amazed by how good these guys are at golf.  I am a decent golfer but watching it on tv does no justice.  These guys are at least 45 shots better than I am at golf..... I'm not even 45 shots better than my sister at golf.  Friday night, Bub joined the crowd and we went to eat at Ted Turner's restaurant in Arlington that had all beef choices available in Bison, which if you have never tried Bison, is awesome.  We met up with one of Rob's friends for the evening and then decided to call it a night.

Robert Rock became my favorite golfer for 4 reasons.

1. He was the only person in the tournament who didn't wear a hat while playing.  
2. Without a doubt, a gunslinger.  
3. He had a permanent 5 o'clock shadow

And then there is the story of him qualifying for the tournament.  He won a tournament in Europe the week before the US Open to qualify.  However, his visa was not up to date so he spent thousands of dollars to speed up the process to get here before the tournament started.  He arrived to Newark, New Jersey on a flight Wednesday night (the tournament started Thursday) and paid $1,000 for a cab from Newark to Maryland.  A thousand dollar cab ride, now that's impressive.  Not only did all of this occur, but he didn't even play in the practice rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday that the rest of the field played in.  Practice rounds? Who needs em, he just slung it around and actually made the cut.  And during the round, while he was walking up the fairway to his ball I yelled at him and he acknowledged me.  A couple minutes later I yelled at him again.  He looked again and smiled at me.  It was pretty cool, and I might have a man crush.  Bob Kelley gave me immortal hell for it, but he was probably just jealous.  We nicknamed him "The Rock".  Alright, let's get back to the golf tournament now.


On Saturday, the cut was made and about half of the field was eliminated from competition.  Rob and I arrived at about 8:30 and only two groups had teed off.  We followed Bubba Watson around for about 4 or 5 holes and then caught some of the front 9 that we hadn't seen the day before.  On Saturday and Sunday, the remaining competitors teed off in reverse order, so the person with the worst score went first, and the leader teed off last.  We met Ryan and Bob in the afternoon at the first tee to see a few guys tee off and then walked around with some of them before the leaders teed off.  Some notable golfers from Saturday, Rory McIlroy, Y.E. Yang, Robert Karlsson, Sergio Garcia, Davis Love 3 (Not a fan of the UNC guy), Luke Donald (The #1 ranked golfer in the world), Brad Benjamin (An amateur who almost hit us with a ball off a tee shot), Lucas Glover and his beard, Steve Stricker (The top ranked American right now), Matt Kuchar, the gunslinger Quiros and of course "The Rock".  We stayed until the leaders had finished their 3rd round and got to see the leaders come through on the par 5 16th hole.  Lee Westwood and Jason Day made some big moves on Saturday, but Rory still had an 8 shot lead heading into the final round.  It was his to lose.... as long as he shot a decent round, maybe anything near par, someone would have to play out of their minds to win it.

Bubba Watson

Alvaro Quiros

Steve Hunter joined Rob and I for the last day as a birthday present from Bub.  Sunday was the final round, and many of the players were in the same position as they were on Saturday.  We saw many of the same players as the day before, and followed around Bubba Watson and Luke Donald in the morning.  We spotted both of their wives, who were together and following them around.  Watson's wife was about 6 foot and blonde and Luke Donald had a very attractive wife to say the least.... although Jason Day takes the prize for having the best looking wife, plus he finished second.  We followed Steve Stricker around for a few holes on the back 9 and then waited for the finish as Rory tore apart the field.  On hole 14 we watched while Quiros and the amateur, Russel Henley waited to tee off.  Henley was from the University of Georgia and qualified as an amateur.  He had to wait a few minutes on the tee box and him and his caddy came over and talked to us.  They were both really nice guys and he was having a great time out there, just living in the moment.  They were joking with each other and going back and forth, giving us a few laughs.  And to solidy his gunslinger status, Quiros sat down on the tee box while his caddy smoked a cigarette.   On the back 9, we got to the last 10 groups and would watch one group come through, follow them for a hole or so, and then stay with the next group.  We did this until we saw Rory McIlroy and Y.E. Yang, the last group on about hole 15.  We then jumped ahead to hole 18, where we sat by the number 10 green to see Rory's last putt on 18 to win the tournament.  Everyone knew going into the last few holes that he had won, but we had to see the last putt go in.  Everyone was behind McIlroy this weekend and to see a 22 year win the tournament with the best score in U.S. Open history wasn't a bad way to finish my first golf tournament.  I also got a salute from Scott Van Pelt, one of my favorite Sportscenter anchors on ESPN right before Rory got to the 18th green.

Tiger Woods is the only person in the past 10 or 15 years to dominate golf, and America loved him for it.  He is one of the most well known athletes in the world, and since his scandal and drop-off, everyone is looking for the next big name.  No one has the following Tiger does, and no one can bring ratings to golf like Tiger does.  His game has fallen off, but no one has stepped up to take his place.  (I'm talking to you Phil Mickelson)  Golf has been described as a Broadway show with a different lead every night since Tiger fell from the number one ranking.  You can tell that fans want what Tiger brought to the tour.  The whole crowd was behind Rory this weekend, even though is from Northern Ireland.  Golf fans just want to see something great from someone.  We don't care who it is from, we just want to see memorable moments and exciting golf.  Rory McIlory destroyed the field this weekend, and no one in the last 15 years has put on a show like that except for Tiger Woods.  Is he the next big name?  I think so, and I have only been wrong like three or four times in my life.  He is only 22 years old, and has a beautiful golf game.  Unless Tiger starts having flashbacks and comes back strong, my money is on Rory to become the next guy.

It was a great experience and what a first golf tournament.  JHW3, wish you were there with me, I know you would have enjoyed it.  (By the way, my dad was a scratch golfer)  I know this post is 2 weeks late, but I haven't hardly had any time to work on the blog.... Stay tuned for the post from New York and Atlantic City in the next couple of days.  I know some people have said they couldn't post comments on the blog if they didn't have a gmail account, so I tried to change the settings to allow for anyone to comment.  I want to hear everyone's thoughts and ideas for anything I'm doing so I hope this will let everyone have their say.  The big road trip is about 5 weeks away and a trip to D.C. with Rachel, my exchange student from high school Fabio, and my cousin Lindsey is in the works.  For now, enjoy the 4th and stay tuned.