NOTES
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Defending U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods is right where he wants and needs be to entering the weekend after the crisp 4-under-par 66 he shot yesterday to leave him lurking at a mere three shots behind the leaders.
Woods, who’s in serious pursuit of his ninth major championship and third U.S. Open, looked very much at ease about his position.
“Just something in the red,” Woods said of his goal entering yesterday’s round. “If you shoot something in red at the U.S. Open you’re going to continue to move up, and it’s tougher to move up on the weekend. I like where I am right now.”
The difference between Woods’ scrambling even-par 70 in the first round and his 4-under yesterday was simple. He put the ball in the fairway on 10 of 14 holes yesterday compared to only six times on Thursday.
“You just need to get the ball in play,” Woods said. “Then you can make the decision about whether to get aggressive or not.”
Woods got a big jump-start boost early in his round when he scrambled to birdie No. 1, a par-5, after spraying his tee shot into the right trees, hitting his second shot into a greenside bunker left and then getting up and down from the trap for birdie.
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There were many who, entering this week’s U.S. Open, the Price was right for this championship on Olympia Fields.
Nick Price is a solid striker who moves the ball around but is not long off the tee, something last year’s Open required because of Bethpage Black’s brutal length.
The 46-year-old Price, after his first-round 71 with a 65 yesterday, is in position to win his fourth major championship at 4-under-par, three shots behind leaders Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh.
“He was like a machine today,” Stewart Cink said of Price, his playing partner the last two days. “He made me feel like an 8-handicapper.”
Price said, “I didn’t have any goals other than staying within four or five shots of the lead.
“Yeah, I think I’ve got another major in me,” Price went on. “Maybe I’m hanging onto a dream, but I still feel I have an outside chance.”
