(UPI)
SAN FRANCISCO — When the USGA announced it was pairing Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson for the first and second rounds of the 112th U.S. Open, it gave itself a collective pat on the back as if it had reinvented the wheel.
Tom O’Toole, the vice president of the USGA and chairman of the championship committee, took bows on Wednesday, as did Mike Davis, the USGA executive director.
“We’re trying to create excitement, trying to create fan buzz for those people here in San Francisco that will spectate here personally and those who will either stream on-line at U.S. Open.com or catch the telecast of ESPN [Thursday] and Friday too,” O’Toole said. “We think this enhances our championship. We’re excited about it. And then after the fact, interesting to note that both camps weighed in and were positive about it. So I guess we didn’t stub our toe on that one.”
Turns out it was much ado about nothing. If anything, it was a poorly conceived publicity stunt that failed to deliver an ounce of competitive excitement among the threesome.
The marquee pairing, as it was trumpeted, was anything but marquee except for a steady performance by Woods, who put himself in contention for his 15th major championship after posting an opening round 1-under-par 69.
Watson, meanwhile, looked out of his element, shooting a woeful 8-over-par 78, while Mickelson played like a man with his fingernails on the edge of cliff. He spent the day desperately trying to hang onto a round that was in peril from the opening tee-shot when he lost a ball in the trees.
Mickelson finished with a 6-over 76. It was the worst opening round in his 22 U.S. Open appearances, while Watson’s tied for the second worst opening round at a U.S. Open by the reigning Masters champion. So much for all the hype. “I just couldn’t get anything going,” Watson said. “Never got any rhythm, everything was just a little bit off.”
Mickelson didn’t think much of his game either. “If you play like I did and you start missing it off the tee and 3-putting, you’re going to shoot a high number like I did,” he said.
If not for Woods, whose back-to-back birdies at the par-4 fourth hole and the par-4 fifth highlighted his round, the pairing would have been a colossal bust. Instead, what we got was the Tiger Woods show, which is what we would have gotten regardless of whom he had played with.
Instead of putting Mickelson and Watson in different groups and spreading the interest throughout the field, the USGA went for ratings and website hits. Their starting time of 10:33 a.m. EDT, 7:33 locally, was like putting the main event before the undercard, eliminating much of the buzz around the Olympic Club before most in attendance had finished their lunch.
All the attention, spotlight and camera time the trio received overshadowed every other player during the opening round, including leader Michael Thompson, who was barely seen en route to an impressive 4-under par 66. He posted a remarkable seven birdies against one bogey, but you got only glimpses of his day.
Golf is always a Tiger heavy production especially when he’s playing well. But during his struggles over the last two years, the PGA Tour worked hard to promote its other players such as Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, and Matt Kuchar. They remain largely unfamiliar to the casual golf fan, and that won’t change when so much focus is placed on one group in an event as big as the U.S. Open.
Woods is always going to attract attention no matter whom he plays with, especially when he plays the way he did yesterday. All the “marquee” pairing did was render the other 152 players irrelevant before the tournament began.