It Was Best Of Times, Worst Of Times For 2 Unknowns

In 1898, an unfortunate soul named J.D. Tucker took 157 shots to complete his first round of the U.S. Open.

Tucker’s folly is an Open record. But that was little consolation for Scott Tyson.

Dispirited, the 31-year-old Texas club pro ignored the polite applause after he chipped his third shot onto the 18th green. After putting out, the tall stalk of a fellow with blond slick-backed hair hurriedly retreated to a tent. He added the numbers on his score card and signed it, confirming the experience was as nightmarish as he remembered, if not more so.

Tyson shot the day’s worst score, 86, 16 over par.

His round at Shinnecock Hills, played in bright sunshine and near-perfect conditions, included nine bogeys, one double bogey and a horrifying quintuple-bogey nine on the third hole.

After signing his card, Tyson disappeared. Vanished. No one recalled seeing him return to the ancient clubhouse to change his shoes.

The round was embarrassing. His disappointment may have been compounded by the temporary brilliant shotmaking by a member of his threesome. After 11 holes, William Murchison looked up at the leader board and saw his name at the top, in giant capital letters.

Murchison is a former club pro who travels the Nike Tour in a van with wife and eight children, ages 2 to 14.

Murchison is one of those one-day wonders who adds to the U.S. Open’s charm.

After 11 holes, Murchison was 2 under and the story of the tournament. He shared the Open lead with Nick Price, the No. 1-ranked player in the world.

Murchison was living a dream. Walking the fairways with his 14-year-old daughter - his caddie - he smiled and waved at the cheering gallery. Between holes, the golfer distributed leaflets that pictured himself and his family along with his Christian testimony.

Then, the wheels fell off. Murchison double-bogeyed the 13th hole, faded and finished in the worst way.

On the final hole, Murchison’s approach shot landed in thigh-high grass guarding the green. He drew back his wedge and took a mighty cut, like a man with a swing blade whacking weeds. The ball didn’t move. He swung again. The ball popped out, short of the green. On in 5, he 3-putted for an 8 - matching his tax deductions.

“I’m not upset. And I’m not angry,” Murchison said with patience and good cheer after finishing at 76, 10 shots off the lead.

Norman conquers his round

Thursday’s round of 68 was veteran Greg Norman’s best first round in 15 Opens.

“I’m very happy with it,” said Norman, whose best Open performance was as a runner-up to Fuzzy Zoeller in the 1984 playoff at Winged Foot. “You can go out there and play yourself out of the tournament with a bad first round, but you can’t win the tournament in the first round. I played some very good iron shots - some crisp iron shots.”

At 40 years old, an athlete is always looking for edges, and for Norman it has been a 45-minute workout prior to his rounds. He worked out every morning before winning the Memorial two weeks ago, and he did it again yesterday. The routine gets his heart rate up and has a calming effect as he goes to the first tee, he said.

Woods leaves powerful impression

He shot a round of 74, four over par, not bad for an amateur in his first U.S. Open. Tiger Woods blamed his putting, and he did putt poorly, but he displayed enough other shots to awe his playing partners.

Woods hit drives that soared past those of Ernie Els and Nick Price, often by 50 yards or more. He hit irons from the fairway where they hit woods. He crushed a 4-iron 25 feet past the hole from 205 yards away on the ridiculously hard 12th hole, a par-4 of 472 yards that was playing into a stiff wind.

“I can’t see where he gets all his power from,” Price said. “But the ball just takes off like a rocket.”