PINEHURST, N.C. — World Cup soccer is about to begin and, with golf being such a global sport, it has the attention of a lot of players at this week’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
The English players in the field, such as defending champion Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Luke Donald, will have a keen eye on Saturday’s England-Italy match.
Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez will be rooting for Spain, Aussies Adam Scott, Jason Day, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby and John Senden will be supporting Australia, Martin Kaymer Germany, Nicolas Colsaerts Belgium, Angel Cabrera Argentina.
“I haven’t got a [World Cup] pool, but blind faith that England will get far in the tournament prevails,’’ Rose said Tuesday. “So we’ll see. I thought it could be a little bit of a national hero if I’m leading the U.S. Open, and I swerve my press conference to go watch the game.’’
Rose recalled the English team sabotaging him in the 2010 Traveler’s Championship, when he shot 75 in the final round and lost.
“I was leading by three I think going into Sunday and England were playing in a big I don’t know if it was a quarterfinal — we always seem to lose quarterfinals — but it was a big game, Germany, and it was an emotional football match and then I never really calmed down because that was pre my tee-off time,’’ Rose said. “I think I watched it about 10 in the morning, we were playing at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and I ended up going out and losing the golf tournament. So maybe I’ll be a little bit more careful about my emotions watching the football.’’
Day said he will have an eye on the Australia-Chile match on Friday.
“I think anything kind of to distract yourself from this is huge,’’ Day said. “I think the biggest thing is just when you’re sitting at home, just kind of thinking about a lot of stuff, it’s a good distraction. But obviously I’m kind of pumped to see how Australia does in the World Cup. It’s going to be an exciting World Cup. I haven’t read too much into it, but it should be fun to watch.’’
Matt Kuchar, bringing up the fact that 2005 U.S. Open winner at Pinehurst, Michael Campbell, is not in the field this week, used his press conference forum Tuesday to stump for past champions to
be invited back to the venue at which they won.
“I think that a U.S. Open should include the last year’s champion at that site,’’ Kuchar said. “How cool would it be for Michael Campbell to be playing this event? I remember thinking it at Olympic Club, I thought Lee Janzen should be there at Olympic Club.
“I know that you know it’s a cycle and that he didn’t qualify. I think it should be an exemption and maybe there’s some sort of cut off if you’re 80 years old, I don’t know who won last at Merion, but the guy could have been 80 years old and you could say that that doesn’t qualify. But I think for the most part, it would make the tournament better. It would be a great story to see
Michael Campbell here; to see Lee Janzen play at Olympic Club. I think that would be a great addition to a U.S. Open.’’
There are eight players in the U.S. Open field who went to the University of Georgia, which is believed to be a record, but the USGA does not keep such records. When Thursday’s opening round begins, Bubba Watson, Harris English, Erik Compton, Hudson Swafford, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Brendon Todd, and Kevin Kisner will represent the Bulldogs.
Weather is expected to be a factor this week, with scorching temperatures and possible thunderstorms in the forecast. Hot and humid weather will set the stage for storms that may cause disruptions on a daily basis throughout the tournament, according to AccuWeather.
While most of Thursday’s morning rounds should be rain-free, a storm system moving through the area could jeopardize afternoon play. Thunderstorms could cause problems all four days of the tournament. In 2013, rain interrupted play at the U.S. Open at Merion.