Ex-Saxon enjoys ups, downs of U.S. Open

OAKMONT, Pa. – The U.S. Open treatment can be both a treat and a trick.

The treat, especially this week for Spokane’s Alex Prugh, was practicing putting with Tiger Woods, trading notes about Oakmont Country Club’s breakneck greens with NBC mouthpiece Johnny Miller and playing rounds with some of the world’s best players.

The trick? Dealing with life once the tournament begins.

Prugh, the ex-University of Washington player, fired a 12-over-par 82 in his opening round of the 107th U.S. Open, tying him for 149th out of the 156 players.

His score ranked last among the 12 amateurs, none of whom broke par.

Prugh had nine bogeys and a pair of double bogeys, but he made more birdies than Ireland’s Padraig Harrington – one.

“I didn’t hit anything,” he said, sounding surprisingly heartening after what was a frustrating afternoon round. “I only had a couple birdie opportunities. I’ve been hitting the ball off the tee a lot better than I have been. It just seems like on a couple holes, being a couple yards off, it kills you.”

After a bogey-bogey start, Prugh sailed his tee shot on the par-3 third in the famed “Church Pew” bunker, had a reasonably good lie but hit his second shot fat. It took him two more shots to reach the green, and he missed a 10-foot bogey putt.

He got one back on the par-4 fifth hole. His 8-iron approach stopped on a ledge, but he sank a slick 10-foot putt for his lone birdie.

After seven holes, Prugh sat at 3 over.

Then, “the little shots here and there, I threw away,” Prugh said.

Midway through the round, Prugh was reeling noticeably – enough that UW assistant Jon Reehorn, also the Ferris High product’s caddie, had to add levity to the high-pressure situation.

“He was pretty down on himself,” Reehorn said. “On the 15th hole, we realized, ‘Hey, it’s just another golf tournament,’ and he was pretty much fine after that.”