Open Field Feels Payne, Shark Bite

The Monster is back. And so is Greg Norman.

Oakland Hills sifted through the players in the U.S. Open on Friday, wearing them down with its gruesome greens and wearing them out with its ankle-deep rough.

And after this cruel course’s own version of survival of the fittest, Norman, who has experienced more trial by fire than anyone else in golf, was one stroke behind leader Payne Stewart after two rounds.

“I’m not out there to prove anybody wrong,” Norman said, denying he wanted this especially badly after blowing a six-stroke lead in the final round of the Masters. “I cherish any golf tournament that I win.”

He should cherish the sensational 66 he shot in the second round, a brilliant score on a day when Oakland Hills showed why it is known as The Monster, yielding only four sub-par scores through 36 holes after 12 players broke par on Thursday.

“Anybody who played under 70 is playing a great round of golf,” Ernie Els said after shooting a 67. Els, Norman and Woody Austin were at 1-under-par 139, behind Stewart’s 138.

“Even if you hit it on the green, you’ve still got two tough putts,” Els said about the steeply contoured greens that were quickening by the minute as the rain of early in the week became a distant memory.

“I’ll take my score right now and sit in the clubhouse on Sunday,” Els said.

Stewart, who won the Open in 1991, stumbled on the back nine with a 38 and shot 71, letting a slew of other players into contention and allowing more than 100 players to make the cut, the most in a U.S. Open.

“He came back and he brought a lot of other guys into the picture,” Els said about Stewart, who was at 5-under when he started the back nine.

Slipping into contention were such big names as Tom Watson, Davis Love III, Sam Torrance, Frank Nobilo, John Daly, Nick Faldo and Corey Pavin.

Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett shot 73 and was in a group at 143, 3 over par.

Dozens of players were still in contention because of Stewart’s stumble. But no name jumped out like that of Norman.

Here he was again, two months after his Masters collapse, contending for a major title.

Norman, troubled with allergies and looking a little drained, shot an indifferent 73 Thursday and started the day six shots behind first-round leaders Stewart and Austin - the same distance Faldo trailed Norman going into the final round of the Masters.

“Anyone who has played in the U.S. Open knows you can be six back with one round to go and still win the tournament,” Norman said with no hint of irony in his voice.

Norman got back in the hunt with the help of a 140-yard 8-iron he holed for an eagle on the treacherous 16th hole, the hole Tiger Woods made an 8 on the previous day by knocking two balls into the water.

“I just hit it dead over the top of the flag and it went in the hole,” Norman said about the shot that hit 10 feet past the hole and spun back down the slope into the cup.

Norman also made three birdies and bogeyed No. 5 when he missed the green then chipped 10 feet past the hole.

Stewart’s 71 included four birdies and five bogeys and he had one six-hole stretch - from No. 7 through No. 12 - where he failed to make a single par.

“When you have rough like this, you are not going to hit every fairway and every green,” Stewart said. “It’ll be a wonderful weekend if I do.”

The tournament easily broke the previous record of 88 players making the cut, set at Baltusrol in 1993, as more than 100 - including Woods and Jack Nicklaus - qualified for the weekend rounds by getting to 148 or lower.

The weekend should be very interesting with so many players positioned perfectly and the devilishly contoured greens drying out and putting faster.

Neal Lancaster got back into things with a 29 on the back nine, tying the nine-hole U.S. Open record he set last year at Shinnecock Hills.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: U.S. OPEN LEADERS Leaders after Friday’s second round of the 96th U.S. Open Golf Championship on the 6,974-yard, par-70 Oakland Hills Country Club’s south course at Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Payne Stewart 67-71-138 Greg Norman 73-66-139 Ernie Els 72-67-139 Woody Austin 67-72-139 Sam Torrance 71-69-140 Davis Love III 71-69-140 Frank Nobilo 69-71-140 Ken Green 73-67-140 Steve Jones 74-66-140