SOUTHHAMPTON, N.Y. – We’ll never know if the spirit of Francis Ouimet was with Matt Parziale during the first nine holes at the 118 th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Country Club but it sure looked like he was on a mission.
“Parz” as his golfing buddies from Thorny Lea Golf Club call him, and who turned out over 100 strong, waltzed through the front nine with a solid even par 35. He played poised, smart, steady golf in one of the most pressure-packed golf tournaments in the world, teeing off at 6:56 a.m with Tey Mullinax, who shot 79, and Jason Scrivner, who signed for 78.
Starting on No. 10, the 31-year old fireman from Brockton, who got to the U.S. Open by winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur last October, one of 19 amateurs in the USGA field, made par-bogey-par-par-birdie and then four pars in a row to share a T – 6 for a short time on page one of the leaderboard.
The back side showed a card with six pars, one bogey on the 252-yard par 3, and one double-bogey on the 452-yard hole No. 6. With windy playing conditions, and typical U.S. Open rough penalizing errant shots, the 74 score on the monstrous 7,448-yard course will hold up and is expected to be within the top 40 best scores of the day.
The terrifyingly fast, sloping greens, along with prevailing winds up to 15 -20 mph at Shinnecock Country Club wreaked havoc on the world’s best players. Rory McIroy shot 10-over 80 while Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods posted 8-over 78. Jason Day (79) and Phil Mickelson (77) also had trouble.
Three other New England players also struggled, while the cut after 36 holes to low 60 players and ties could be as high as 6 or 7-over par. Peter Uhlien shot 5-over; Richie Werensky was 6 and Keegan Bradley finished at 11-over.
Another fabulous chapter in the life-and-times of Matt Parziale is developing here in the Hamptons, about two-and-one-half hour drive from the “Evil Empire.”
Will the spirit of Francis Ouimet, who in 1913 as an amateur beat the best professional golfers in the world at The Country Club in Brookline and forever establish golf as a sport for all ages, be with the popular player in round two?.
Friends, fans and golf pundits hope so and will agree that it’s a monumental feat for Matt Parziale to make the cut and play four days which is half-way accomplished?
For complete online coverage go to: ww.usopen.com
T1 Scott Piercy -1 F -1 69 69
T1 Ian Poulter -1 F -1 69 69
T1 Russell Henley -1 F -1 69 69
T1 Dustin Johnson -1 F -1 69 69
5 Jason Dufner E F E 70 70
T6 Matthieu Pavon +1 F +1 71 71
T6 Justin Rose +1 F +1 71 71
T6 Charles Howell +1 F* +1 71 71
T6 Charley Hoffman +1 F* +1 71 71
T6 Sam Burns +1 F +1 71 71
T6 Henrik Stenson +1 F* +1 71 71
T6 Byeong Hun An +1 F* +1 71 71
T13 Brendan Steele +2 F +2 72 72
T13 Patrick Rodgers +2 F +2 72 72
T13 Mickey DeMorat +2 F +2 72 72
T13 Xander Schauffele +2 F* +2 72
T13 Alex Noren +2 F +2 72 72
T13 Brandt Snedeker +2 F +2 72 72
T19 Eric Axley +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Paul Casey +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Zach Johnson +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Patrick Reed +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Andrew Johnston +3 F +3 73 73
T19 Matthew Fitzpatrick +3 F +3 73
T19 Rickie Fowler +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Russell Knox +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Luis Gagne (a) +3 F +3 73 73
T19 Chris Naegel +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Brian Gay +3 F +3 73 73
T19 Ryan Fox +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Rafa Cabrera Bello +3 F +3 73
T19 Pat Perez +3 F +3 73 73
T19 Steve Stricker +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Jim Furyk +3 F* +3 73 73
T19 Si Woo Kim +3 F +3 73 73
T19 Will Grimmer (a) +3 F +3 73
T37 Matt Parziale (a) +4 F* +4 74
T37 Aaron Baddeley +4 F* +4 74 74
T37 Louis Oosthuizen +4 F +4 74
T37 Brian Harman +4 F* +4 74 74
T37 Matt Kuchar +4 F +4 74 74
T37 Marc Leishman +4 F* +4 74 74
T37 Shubhankar Sharma +4 F +4 74
T37 Justin Thomas +4 F +4 74 74
T37 Brian Stuard +4 F* +4 74 74
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