News
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Notebook: Murphy Continues Honeymoon At U.S. Open
Farmingdale, N.Y. – Trevor Murphy didn’t know exactly what to do. A USGA media official pointed him toward a small interview podium and up he went.
When your fledgling professional life has been spent on mini-tours, interview podiums, microphones, television cameras and screaming fans are not normal.
“I’m having a great time,” said the 24-year-old St. Johnsbury, Vt., native after carding a 69 at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in round two of the 2009 U.S. Open on Saturday to easily make the 36-hole cut. “I’m still taking it all in.”
A few weeks ago, Murphy was preparing for a wedding. Then he qualified for the Open at the Purchase, N.Y., sectional and now he’s playing the final 36 holes after finishing with three consecutive birdies to post even-par 140, eight strokes off the lead held by Ricky Barnes.
Late Saturday afternoon, he was high-fiving fans between the 17th green and 18th tee. U.S. Opens have a way of turning qualifiers into instant rock stars.
“They were yelling my name from all directions,” said Murphy. “The crowd was great. I’m from Vermont so there are a lot of New England people around here. [But] more people ski than play golf.”
Murphy was a nationally-ranked ski racer who was on the U.S. Junior Olympics squad. He attended the Burke Mountain ski academy for four years and traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe. One of his fellow U.S. team members was Lindsey Vonn, the all-around World Cup female champion for 2008 and ’09. Murphy thought he might someday qualify for the USA Olympic team in either slalom or giant slalom.
But an ACL injury seven years ago ended that dream. Since golf has such a limited season in Vermont, Murphy’s family sent him to a golf academy in Hilton Head, S.C., for a year, which helped him land a scholarship to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. After graduating last year, he moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., to play on the Gateway Tour, where his biggest check to date has been somewhere around $15,000.
“[My ski career] prepared me so much for this,” said Murphy. “We were traveling all the time and learning how to balance time, while being competitive.”
Murphy, however, did admit that his knowledge of golf history is limited.
“I was telling someone the other day that I could recite every [medals] podium from the 1988 [Winter] Olympics in Calgary [through 2006 in Torino, Italy],” said Murphy. “But if you asked me who won the U.S. Open three years ago, I wouldn’t have a clue.”
Golf fans could say the same thing about Murphy. Nobody knew him before this week’s Open. Now he’s playing the weekend with the game’s greatest players.
And Then There Were Three
The U.S. Open began with 15 amateurs, the most since 1981 at Merion Golf Club. But after 36 holes, attrition has sent all but three packing.
Canada’s Nick Taylor, a first-team All-America from the University of Washington, led the way by firing a second-round 65 to tie the 18-hole amateur record previously shared by two golfers.
Virginia Tech graduate Drew Weaver and 2007 USA Walker Cup member Kyle Stanley, who plans to turn pro next week, also survived the cut. Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur champion, hopes his performance this week can bolster his chances to play the 2009 Walker Cup Match at Merion this September. He has decided to wait to turn pro until the fall in order to make a run at making the 10-man squad.
Three amateurs also made the cut in 2008 at Torrey Pines, with Michael Thompson edging out Rickie Fowler and Derek Fathauer for low-amateur honors.
Going Long And Low
Most people know that Gary Woodland is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour. He’s showing this week in his first U.S. Open that there's more to his game than prodigious length. The 25-year-old PGA Tour rookie followed a first-round 73 with a 4-under-par 66 to easily qualify for the final 36 holes.
While Woodland ranks fourth on Tour with a 307.3-yard average, his accuracy has come into question. He sits outside the top 150 in driving accuracy, greens in regulation and putting, all necessary skills on U.S. Open set-ups.
But in the wet conditions, Woodland’s power has been an asset on the second-longest venue in Open history.
“You have to fly it a long way,” said the former Kansas University All-America. “Being able to fly it as long as anybody gives me a huge advantage.”
Because of Woodland’s power, he has used his driver only six times, opting for a 3-wood or lesser club on many of the holes just to get into position. His 293.5-yard cumulative driving distance is only average, but being in the fairway has allowed him to hit 66.7 percent of the greens and his 1.56 putting average has been his best showing of any event in 2009.
“The golf course suits me well,” said Woodland. “It sets up good to my eye.”
A former basketball player, Woodland has taken to the boisterous New York fans.
“I love the crowd,” said Woodland. “I played basketball, so the noise is back and I enjoy that.”
An Extra Eye
Stanley, a former Clemson All-American who plans to turn pro after the U.S. Open, has not needed to employ a caddie much in his career. College players must carry their own bags during competitions. But when he went to sectional qualifying in Columbus, Ohio, he hooked up with Fred Sanders, Kenny Perry’s caddie. The duo worked well together as Stanley opened with a 62 and shared medalist honors with George McNeill at 132.
With Sanders on Perry’s bag this week, Stanley had to find another caddie, so he hired Ron (Bambi) Levin, who caddied for Todd Hamilton when he won the 2004 British Open and now is on Fredrik Jacobsen’s bag.
But after next week at the Travelers, where Stanley will make his pro debut thanks to a sponsor’s exemption, the young Tiger will be forced to find another caddie.
“His guy didn’t make it through [Open] qualifying,” Stanley said referring to Jacobsen. "He has this next two weeks off and I will play here and Travelers. Having the same guy for two weeks was important to me from a continuity standpoint.”
What will happen after the Travelers?
“We’re going to take it event by event,” said Stanley, a member of the 2007 USA Walker Cup team. “Until I get some status.”
David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. Alex Miceli of the Golf Press Association contributed to this notebook.
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