Woods, Mickelson, Scott paired in Round 1 at U.S. Open at Torrey Pines



<!-- Add placeholder so that '/DEFAULT' can be taken-up --><!-- START 'printFriendly' BRANDING: /www/pgatour/microsites/.element/tmpl/1.0/ad_areas/story/usopen/2008//default/printFriendly.txt -->http://i.pga.com/pga/images/events/t...print_icon.gif <!-- FINISH 'printFriendly' BRANDING -->Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will play together the first two rounds of the U.S. Open, a decision by the USGA to create equal footing for the highest-ranked players, but one that could turn Torrey Pines into one big traffic jam.


<!-- Add placeholder so that '/DEFAULT' can be taken-up --><!-- START 'inlineAd' BRANDING: /www/pgatour/microsites/.element/tmpl/1.0/ad_areas/story/DEFAULT/default/inlineAd.txt --><!-- FINISH 'inlineAd' BRANDING -->Woods and Mickelson, Nos. 1 and 2 in the world, will be joined by No. 3 Adam Scott.

The USGA will release the pairings Thursday.

Mike Davis, the senior director of rules and competition for the USGA, said the top 12 players will be grouped together and spread over the four various time slots -- starting on the first tee or 10th tee in the morning, and first tee or 10th tee in the afternoon.


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<!--endclickprintexclude-->The biggest stars usually are dispersed among the morning and afternoon times, largely at the behest of television. Davis said the USGA has been thinking about a major change over the past few months and decided to give it a try.
"Why not put them in the same wave?" Davis said in a telephone interview from San Diego. "The heck with what TV wants. Let's do what we want for the championship."


The last time Woods and Mickelson played together in the early rounds of a major was the 2006 PGA Championship, which traditionally groups the three major champions of that year -- Mickelson won the Masters, Geoff Ogilvy the U.S. Open and Woods the British Open.

But that was at Medinah outside Chicago.

The U.S. Open will be held at Torrey Pines, where Mickelson and Woods have perhaps their strongest fan base. Woods is a six-time winner at the Buick Invitational and grew up 90 miles up the road in Orange County. Mickelson is the local favorite, a San Diego native who played high school matches at Torrey Pines and won the Buick Invitational three times.
Not to be ignored is Scott, a 27-year-old Australian with model good looks who often draws plenty of women in his gallery.

"This year we got to thinking, 'Isn't it kind of crummy that we've never had the two guys ranked 1 and 2 in the world in the same wave?'" Davis said. "Weather can affect outcomes in the U.S. Open. It could be windy in the morning, or firm in the afternoon."

The original thought was to keep Woods and Mickelson near the same time, but as Davis spoke to USGA executive director David Fay and other executives, they decided to go a step further.
"What's wrong with putting 1 and 2 together, given their background at Torrey Pines?" Davis said.

From there, they decided to involve the top 12. That means Ernie Els, Ogilvy and Justin Rose would be in the same group, while Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and K.J. Choi would comprise another, and Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and Stewart Cink would be the other.

The U.S. Open traditionally groups the defending champion, the British Open champion and the U.S. Amateur champion. That would not be affected with Angel Cabrera at No. 22 in the ranking, Padraig Harrington at No. 14 and U.S. Amateur champion Colt Knost not in the field because he turned pro.

"If there was a right year to do it, this was it," Davis said, alluding to Woods' and Mickelson's history at Torrey Pines.
Woods and Mickelson played in the final group at Torrey Pines in the 2003 Buick Invitational, when Woods was coming off a two-month layoff from knee surgery. Brad Faxon also was in that group -- he was known as "Switzerland" that day -- and Woods closed with a 68 for a three-shot victory.

Adding to the hype is that Woods has not played since surgery on his left knee two days after the Masters.

But the super pairing has its risks.

Woods and Mickelson are the biggest draws, and Davis said traffic to the course and on the course could be a problem. There also is the possibility that everyone leaves when the stars are done.

"We all know how traffic can be in San Diego," Davis said. "That was a huge part of the equation. We all talked long and hard about it. And the end of the day, we felt we could make that work."
Davis said there was some trepidation among USGA officials that the idea would create havoc, but he felt it was worth a shot.
"In absolute honesty, it was never done for promotional reasons," he said. "It was done because these guys never get to play together. They always want them separate because of TV. We hope it's positive."

<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--tablemaker--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tourStoryTableTitle>Tale of the Tape: Tiger vs. Phil</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tourStoryTableSubtitle>Since 2002, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have played 10 competitive rounds together: </TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">2008 Deutsche Bank</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Woods (Rank)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Mickelson (Rank)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 1</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">72 (73rd)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">70 (43rd)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 2</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">64 (13th)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">64 (4th)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 4</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">68 (2nd)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">67 (1st)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">2006 Ford Championship</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>Woods (Rank) Mickelson (Rank)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 3</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">68 (1st)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">72 (6th)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">2006 PGA Championship</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Woods Rank)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Mickelson (Rank)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 1</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">69 (10th)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">69 (10th)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 2</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">68 (5th)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">71 (10th)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">2005 Ford Championship</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Woods(Rank)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Mickelson(Rank)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 4</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">66 (1st)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">68 (2nd)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">2003 Buick Invitational</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Woods (Rank)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Mickelson (Rank)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 4</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">68 (1st)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">72 (4th)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">2002 TOUR Championship</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Woods (Rank)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Mickelson (Rank)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRowAlt><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 1</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">71 (15th)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">70 (9th)</TD></TR><TR class=tourStoryTableRow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Round 4</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">70 (7th)</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">69 (5th)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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Here's the link to the US Open thread....

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=185748















:)

Your a little late

Ahhh, you're new to the game. Don't worry - once you start getting into it and start to make changes, you'll start getting worse like the rest of us.

Hole #1 at Bushwood ****ed me over more than any hole on that course.

greenskeeper was drunk

He's a n00b. He doesn't know about that yet.

where's the baby ruth in the pool?

Everyone was hammered.

Hell apparantly we all went to the Duck pond after the bars and I don't remember going there. I woke up at Smoot's w/o my wallet which was for some reason in Matt's pocket.

Frog pong lol

Matt's a pick pocket....:D

It's the exact opposite with me. I started playing golf when I was about 13. By the time I was a senior I was playing some really good golf. I played in the summer about 5 times a week at least. Got down to a 2 handicap and we made state my senior year. Played at a shitty little NCAA Division II school, then transferred to a state school to party.

Now, I golf about 3 times a year since I was 20 years old. I get real happy when I shoot 80. It's just so time consuming when you have a full time job, and it's so freaking expensive. It just doesn't seem to add value to my life. Back in the day, I had a youth membership at a nice course for $150 dollars. Now if I want to get a membership at a nice course, you better be ready to drop a couple grand. If you want to play on a Sunday, better be ready to drop at least $65. On top of that they get pissy if you don't wear perfect little golf clothes. Who wants to get a farmers tan? Not me.

I have been meaning to get out to Ironhorse Golf Club though. Great course over there, and they have a twilight rate for as many holes as you can play after 4 PM for $30 bucks including a cart. I have fond memories at that course, and played in my only AJGA event there when I was 17.

Going to play the noon game and then league tonight. Have a different set up on my driver that I am going to try out today.

I can say I am not looking forward to the sloppy mess all this rain has left us.

HERE COMES TIGER

Shit he is on fire! Phil has his head up his ass. Phil has no driver in his bag, 3 wood only, WTF. Pretty stupid

ouch double bogie for Scott, man I wish he would break through

Phil hitting the 3 wood and can't keep it in the fairway.

Phil is a dipshit. Always has been. Choke artist too.

I miss Payne Stewart, he was fun to watch

ugh, Tiger.

Nice putt Phil.

Nice, Tiger!

Tiger, man he is a machine

Nice shirt adam lol

Good hole for Tiger, Phil and Adam.

Greens are FIRM

WOW how did that hole in one not go in

Tiger in da bunker

The lead is now -3. Tiger gave them a heads start. What else do they want?

What was up with the coverage this morning. Seemed like they wanted to talk more about crap than they wanted to show the tourney. Kept on showing replays of the big 3's shots. Didn't ever go to anyone else.

I'm currently watching on the internet which is only following Tiger, Phil and Adam.

Has anyone mentioned the 'hey who stepped on a duck joke' yet?

no

I figured that would happen. Rumor has it that the Netorks were pissed that these guys where paired together. Claiming it would hurt there coverage

I watched for roughly an hour earlier today and didn't see much. They kept on having interviews and BS. Continued to come back and say "Here is Tigers shot a few moments ago."

The tourney committee said they didn't care what the networks thought.

NBC is doing a much better job

What the hell happened to Stricker? Was -4 and now +2.

Tiger is getting into trouble

Torrey Pines. Man this course is tough

Had to go do a bunch of stuff. Did I miss anything?

Went out and played tonight. Played pretty damn well. First 7 holes, I had 3 pars & 4 bogeys. Three of the bogeys were putts that I left 1-3 inches short....damn you slow greens.

All was going well......until 7. Hit into the water off the tee (par 5). Still had a shot at par if I could make a good shot from the drop. Had a pretty good shot, left me a PW to the green. Pull it left. No biggie. I can chip on and in for a bogey. Good chip. Leave the putt 1 inch short. Double. Ok, nevermind....onto the next hole.

#9 is a short par 4, but it is uphill.....drastically uphill. Normally hit a 5 iron off the tee to a 6/7 into the uphill green. Decided that I was going to try to get it deeper in the fairway so I could play 8/9/PW/AW into the green for fear it would just hit and skip off the green.

Hit a crappy 3 wood off the tee. Goes 50 yards MAYBE. So, I'm 200 out, trying to hit through trees. I hit a solid 3 wood.....hits a leaf and DISAFREAKINPPEARS. So, now I'm dropping 3, hitting 4. Hit an 8 iron into the green.....too far. Goes over the green into the shit. Never to be found. So, now I'm dropping 5, hitting 6. Chip.....short.......hitting 7. Chip on......putting 8. Missed first putt......putting 9. Barely made that freaking put for a 9.

I dropped 7 freaking strokes on 2 holes. Fuggin stupid ass little white ball. I will kill you.

That sucks, almost amazing how one hole can reach up and bite ya when your playing good.

I took today off but shot a 76 from the tips yesterday in the noon game. Pissed me off though, we have a skins game along with the normal game. I had 4 birdies and not one of them paid off, they were all covered grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

One thing I did do tonight was make a make shift green in the back yard and tee blocks at 100, 150, and 190. I got a flag and cup from the golf course, and borrowed there hole tool. Pretty sweet I must say. I will get some picks of it on here soon.

Have a tournament all weekend.

Saw tiger swing the driver and he showed that he was in some pretty good pain.

Phil with no driver and Tiger playing hurt........who knows how this will turn out.

What time does the Open come on? What channel?

Not sure time - but probably either ESPN or ABC. Does coverage switch to NBC tomorrow/Sunday?

on espn right now. course is getting tougher, can't wait to see what it will play like on sunday

Hey smittysbar!

I hope your having a great day! I know how much you love golf. Just stopped in to say hi.

Check out the ASSCAR thread in a few minutes. I'm going to add the video of Juan Pablo Montoya getting burned to a crisp last Sunday. You see the firemen standing around probably saying to each other, "You go. I'm not getting near that ball of flames." Gawd forgive me, but its hysterical.

Cup is qualifying. Rain delay. This is your boy's track!

Tiger 1 over today. Bogey on 10.

Live feed starting to lag a bit - probably quite a few online watching.

Fuggin' stupid ass "GET IN THE HOLE" idiots. I'd love to punch them in the back of the head and run really fast.

Phil still with no driver.

Not sure what he's thinking. Carrying 5 wedges.

Tiger with the nice Eagle to climb back up the leaderboard.

Tiger back to 1. 3 back now.

That is what people said when he was carrying two drivers, but he won a Major that way.

Tiger back to even now.

Tiger tearing it up with his 4th birdie in 5 holes on the second nine. -1 and 1 back. Incredible to watch.

Holy Chit, Tiger just hit a 3 wood 270 in the air, about 290 total to reach the par 5 9th in two.

That shot was freaking ridiculous. Eagle is possible, but birdie to tie the lead seems likely.:clap:

I don't get it. They show the Open on both ESPN and NBC yesterday for about 10 hours. No coverage until 3:00 today? Am I missing something?

This rather sucks!!

Tiger's second 9 yesterday was the most fun round I've ever watched. He shot a 30 at the US Open, unbelievable.

No doubt. When he had that run of 3's I thought breaking 30 was possible.

If it was anyone other than Phil, I'd think they were nuts.

But if you saw the shots he made yesterday to save par/bogey in several instances, you'd understand. Dude has the best short game in golf, might as well take advantage.

If the guy would hit the fairway with that 11* 3-wood, it wouldn't be an issue. Finesse around the greens is more important than distance off the tee in a US Open, IMO.

Hitting fairways is Phil's problem.

And he has no drivers in his bag either, He def hasn't been accurate in this tourney.

Apparently he's carrying a driver today.

Lefty having a meltdown.

A similar hole at the course I play at. I usually drive to about 30 yards, and the chip shot is about 20 feet up hill. I've had two come back to my feet, but never 4 come back.

Phil took a NINE there, and IIRC, Rich Beem took an ELEVEN at #8.

Wow.

I have never seen a top Pro repeat the same mistake (on a not so difficult in the fairway shot) over and over like that. It was like he was Tin Cup and determined to make that exact shot work.:doh!:

Especially that mistake by someone who is as skilled with a wedge as Phil.

Tiger is not human. No ****ing way he just made that.

quick question: is every shot Tiger Woods hits the greatest shot in golf?

he just made eagle on the easiest hole on the course...ftr, it was a nice putt.

Not every one, but most are.

no, I think they all are.

If he misses a shot, it's because of someone making noise or taking pictures

They probably fawn too much over Tiger sometimes, but stuff like that last hole is why. That was incredible. To hit it out of that rough, almost put it in the cup, then make that putt, most mortal golfers couldn't dream of doing either of those.

fawn? no more like fellate from the booth. It's a 539yd par 5...I can get home in 2 on that short of a hole. The course I played today has a hole about that long...Ive had shorter putts for eagle and Im a 20+ handicap player.

You should go on the tour.

Tiger gives one back. Guess the mortal can only make 70 footers.

No, I'll stick with being an expert NFL talent evaluator. I cant putt for sh*t.

Rocco going to play his way out of the final group.