Scott Martin's Page - June-July 2006 - Archives

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Los Angeles, Ca.     7-20-06

Not that I'm in any mood to write at this time, but here we go. After
10 straight weeks on the road, I decided to come home for a week to
spend time with my family. Mark was undecided whether he would play at
the BC Open this week or not. But he called me Tuesday to see if I knew
a caddy that was looking for a job for the week. I put a couple of
calls in but couldn't find anyone for him. Obviously he found someone
and it turned out well. I just turned on the computer and saw that Mark
has the lead after round 1. Click here for an update of the BC Open

After having a string of bad luck the last 15 months, it was like being
kicked in the stomach to see that he has the lead and I'm here at home.
I certainly wish him the best of luck this week. If he has a good week,
it could end up costing me my job. Only time will tell. He hasn't won
yet. There's still a long way to go but I hope he plays well. He's a
good boss and besides a couple of incidents, he has treated me well.

After checking scores I felt the need to write Paul's website and fill
people in on what's going on. I already had a few congratulatory emails
 from friends today. Man, I'm at a loss for words so I guess I'll just
leave it at that for the time being. I'll continue to write to let you
know what's going on with Mark and I. I know he hasn't won but with my
luck (or lack thereof) the last 15 months, anything is possible.
 

Chicago, Ill. 7-17-06

I don't think I've written anything since the tour was in Hartford
three weeks ago. I was getting tired of writing about Mark Brooks
spending the week in the trailer, playing Thursday and Friday, missing
the cut and me finishing off the week by taking photos for
insidetheropes.com. It was nice to finally caddy on the weekend at the
John Deere Classic. I not only got to caddy this past but Mark was
actually was in 2nd place at one point on Saturday. That used to happen
a little more often so it was nice to be in position to do something
good in a tournament.

I always have a good vibe going to the John Deere event. It's the site
of my best-ever finish on the PGA Tour, a solo second with Briny Baird
back in 2001. TPC at Deere Run is a good track that as usual, was in
great shape last week. But was it ever hot! Deere Run is a hilly
course, especially the front 9, and it took it's toll on a few guys
last week. And one girl! But that's a whole story in itself.

It was a pretty normal week last week leading up to the first round on
Friday. Except for one thing. Mark played an 18-hole practice round on
Tuesday! Kind of threw me for a loop. But he still found time to build
about 10 new drivers. After Thursday's round, we were on the range late
in the day, hitting a few drivers to see what he could find. He had 5
or 6 of them leaning on the bag at one time with a few more in the
trunk. During a lull in the practice session, Mark was having a chat
with the only other player on the range, Canadian Ian Leggatt. While
they were chatting, the only spectator out there watching these guys,
asked if they would autograph his hat. Mark called the guy onto the
range and the two players signed his hat. As the guy was walking away,
Mark said, "Hey buddy". When the guy turned around, Mark tossed him his
driver that he used that day. The look on the guy's face was priceless.
He was absolutely stunned. I loved it. Mark then called the guy back to
the range and proceeded to give him a 15 minute lesson on the spot. It
was late in the day and there was nobody around. The guy had an
absolute blast. Mark let him try 3 or 4 drivers and told him to pick
his favorite on. The guy kept saying, "I wish I had a camera. Nobody is
going to believe this!" It was probably the best thing I've seen a
player do for a spectator.

Mark shot -3 on Friday and easily made the cut, which was -2. Going
into Saturday at -4 and only 6 shots off the pace with two rounds to
go, wasn't a bad spot to be in. Especially with the start he had on
Saturday. He was -7 for the day through 13 holes and was at -11 total
and in second place. It was good to keep an eye on the scoreboard and
see him creep up towards the top. Unfortunately, he bogeyed 2 of our
last 3 holes and finished the day at -9 which was a tie for 20th place.
Somewhat a bit of a letdown for Mark but he was happy to have had a
chance. It wasn't a great day on Sunday and we ended up finishing
around 30th place. It was great to play on the weekend and even be in
contention for a while. I got a lot of calls of support on Friday and
Saturday night, wishing Mark and I luck for the weekend. My caddy
buddies know it's been a tough 14 months for me and they were behind
Mark and I for a good finish.

I have to get back to Michelle Wie. She is the second female to play on
tour since I've been a caddy. When Annika Sorenstam played at Colonial
back in 2002, I was totally supportive of her being in the field. Not
everybody involved with the tour thought that she should be able to
play. Could she compete with the men? To a degree. I think she missed
the cut by on 3 or 4 shots. Maybe it was even 2, I don't remember. But
she held her own and the crowd loved her, even though she missed the
cut.

Then last year Michelle Wie got an exemption to play at the John Deere
Classic, as she did this year. Last year she missed the cut by 2 shots.
I really thought she would make the cut this year. But she had a bad
start to her round on Thursday and finished at plus 6. Then came
Friday's round. Mark was hitting balls beside her after we had played
our morning round and Michelle was warming up for her afternoon round.
I had heard she was long and I thought I would see something special
with her ball striking. Well, she hits it like a girl. A 16 year old
girl. That's when I really realized she just doesn't belong playing
against men on the PGA Tour. She was there to sell tickets only and she
did. Honestly, it's a freak show. Her mother, is obviously totally
overbearing. She is on the range and in the kid's ear before EVERY
shot. I can tell you this, this kid has NO say in the matter. She is
being totally manipulated by her parents and her management group. I
feel sorry for her. Then she had to play her second round. Or part of
it anyway. She was paired with Jeff Gove, a player I've known from my
days on the Nike Tour back in '98 and '99. A good guy with some serious
leg problems.

I don't know the name of the condition he has and I feel bad writing
about it not knowing all the details of his ailment. But I do know for
a fact that Jeff Gove is in pain almost all day long every day. He has
a slight limp with both legs every step he takes. After the round on
Friday, a local journalist wanted to ask Jeff few questions. His first
question, "Was it scary out there?" Jeff looked stunned. Michelle was
the center of attention, needless to say. As her ailment got worse and
worse during Friday's round, she was bent over holding her stomach
after every shot. The drama was ridiculous. The drama reached it's peak
when the group was on the 9th hole, right near the clubhouse.
Coincidence, I'm sure. I can see her feeling pretty sick, she was plus
8 at the time. And it was a distraction to the two other players in
her group. The photographers were taking photos of Michelle while the
other guys were playing.

Jeff seemed insulted at the question. "Scary! Was it scary out there?
Were you scared? I didn't see anything scary. She has her name on the
bag and needs to start acting like a professional out there." The guy
then asked, "Are you glad she withdrew?" "Ya, I am. She was a
distraction out there and was holding us up all day long." The local
media ripped him. But you know what? These guys don't have a clue what
it's like to compete out there. This kid is already a multi-millionaire
(or should I say her parents are, thanks to her) from endorsements. The
players are trying make a living and compete while Wie gets a spot,
gets a tummy ache and the golfing world is supposed to come to a
standstill.

When Annika played at Colonial, she was the world's best woman golfer,
bar none. She was totally dominant and won almost at will at the time.
If anyone deserved a spot, it was her. Michelle Wie has not won a thing
and she doesn't deserve to play on the PGA Tour. Not until she is the
dominant player Annia Sorenstam was when she had a chance to play with
the men.

I take nothing away from Michelle Wie's ability. She's almost like the
female version of Tiger. She should and will probably be the dominant
player the golfing world and her parents expect her to be. Until then
she has no business playing against the men on the PGA Tour. She has an
exemption to play the Lumber 84 in Pennsylvania in August or September.
My prediction is that she withdraws before embarrassing herself again.

Cromwell, Ct. 6-26-06

Here it is Tuesday morning and the Booz Allen event in Potomac,
Maryland still isn't finished! There are two groups that need to finish
#17 and 18. Hopefully for them, they'll get it done today. I arrived in
Hartford Sunday night after driving up from Washington. After missing
the cut with Mark last week, I stayed in DC Saturday and took photos
for insidetheropes.com. I had a good time doing that on Saturday. There
are some nice backdrops for photos which I happened to be scouting out
while caddying for the first two days. While we were shooting plus 5 on
Thursday, I thought there was a good chance that I would be taking
photos on the weekend, so I found myself looking for good spots to take
take shots from. Not a good attitude, I guess. But it's been a long
stretch since Mark last took a week off and I'm getting a little frazzled.

I realize that we do get a considerable amount of time off each year
but being on the road for a few weeks at a stretch can catch up to you.
I'd have to say that if Mark was playing better, I'd have more
adrenaline each week and would be excited to work. Aside from the
Memorial, the rest of the time has been a grind. Even though we have
had every weekend off we have kept ourselves busy between practicing,
taking photos and travelling. Honestly, it's been wearing me down the
last couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to a week off soon so
I can get home and spend some time with the family. My wife, Sunny,
would be happy to see me come home as well. She keeps telling me that
there are some light bulbs that need to be changed!

After having a tough round on Thursday, Mark bounced back and had a
good round going on Friday. I'll tell you one thing. It's tough playing
a round and shooting plus 5 on Thursday only to keep an eye on the
scoreboard and seeing that the leader is at -9. After one round of play
we were 14 shots off of the lead! And he grinded from start to finish.
Another thing that made it tough for me was to look up at the
scoreboard and see Brett Quigley playing well. He sent me a text
message a couple of days before going to Washington asking me if I was
available for the week. Even though Mark isn't playing well, I can't
leave him to work for Quigley for the week. I have a fulltime job and
can't risk losing it by going to a 1 week job. I hate to say this but I
might be able to make more money in one week with Brett Quigley than I
would with Mark the rest of the year! As some of you may have noticed,
Brett was having a good week and was in second place for most of the
tournament until he faltered a bit during the last round. He still has
two holes to play and finds himself in 9th place.

Getting back to Mark and his second round on Friday. He hit it really
good on the front 9 and managed to shoot -4. He was no further than 20
from the cup on every hole on the front side. A couple were tap-ins and
the rest were close. As we walked off the 9th green, one of our playing
partners, Padraig Harrington, said to me, "He could have shot -9 on the
front!" He really could have. Not that he was threatening the leaders,
but he was getting himself in position to make the cut. After making
pars on 10, 11 and 12, Mark birdied the par 5, 13th hole and was at
even par. At that point, the scoreboard was showing that the cut could
be -1. He needed at least one more birdie to play the weekend. On 15 he
hit it to within three feet to got to -1. He missed the putt. It was
tough to watch after he had played so well over the course of the
round. A bad drive in 16 cost him. He bogeyed the hole and was back to
plus 1. He wasn't able to birdie the last two holes and our week was
done. I haven't seen him that pissed off as we loaded up the trunk of his car.

As I was saying earlier, it has been a grind lately and I'm looking
forward to a week off. I don't know when that will be though. After
playing this week in the Hartford area, we go onto Chicago, Moline,
Ill., the BC Open in Endicott, NY., Milwaukee, Detroit, Denver and so
on. He has no plans to take any of those weeks off or even those that
follow after that. It could be a long summer.

We're at a good course this week, River Highlands in Cromwell,
Connecticut. The final four holes are all good holes with #15 being one
of my favourites on tour. It normally plays about 300 yards and is
reachable by most players. I've seen some numbers on that hole from a 2
to an 8. The green is very undulating and divided into sections for pin
placements, which can be tough. Number 17 is a par 4 that gets pretty
tight on the weekend or even Friday when players are trying to make the
cut. It's a downhill tee shot to a tight fairway with water running the
length of the right side. There is a bunker and a big slope on the
left. From the elevated tee, the fairway looks really narrow.

I remember working for Joel Edwards here back in 2002. Going into
Sunday he was in approximately 35th place. He shot a final round 63 and
finished in 5th place! That was a great day. He just kept rolling in
the birdie putts and making money. It made the drive from Hartford to
Memphis, Tennessee a lot nicer!

As usual, there will be some folks from 2Mo visiting this week. Mike
Goyetche and his wife, Wendy will be coming down to holiday and enjoy
some golf this week. I'm not sure of all the details but Mike and Wendy
have friends in the area so they have been coming down to the Hartford
area for a while now to visit their friends and see some PGA Tour golf.
It's always good to see people from back home when I'm on the road so
I'm looking forward to seeing Mike and Wendy this week.

Another visitor I'm expecting to see this week is Randy Emerson. Randy
is from the Boston area and I believe he has participated in the hockey
tournaments that have been going on between 2Mo and Boston for the last
number of years.* Through this webpage, Randy and I have become friends.
He sent me an email a while back and said that he will be in the area
this week and plans on attending some of the tournament. We have never
met so I am looking forward to getting together with him.

That's it for now. I'll do my best do give you updates on a regular basis.

* Editor's note - Randy does not play hockey but through the Boston
hockey connection has been an integral part of Team USA in the Wyder
Cup. Here is his picture.

Mamaroneck, NY 6-18-06

Not that the play down the stretch was some of the best golf I had seen
in a major, the result is one that makes me very happy. As I have
written in the past, I have had the chance work for Geoff Ogilvy in the
past for a couple of weeks and have been a big fan of his since then.
To see him win a tournament like the US open is great. He'll be a new
Dad soon, as his wife Julie is expecting their first child within the
next few weeks. They're a great couple and he has, obviously, turned
out to be one of the best players in the world. It's not hard to cheer
for the guy.

As they played the last few holes, it seemed as though alot of the
focus was on Mickelson and Montgomery. Monty totally blew it on the
last hole from 171 yards. He couldn't have been hitting more than a 7
iron and it looked to me as though he made a late switch and hit an 8
iron. With all the adrenelin that is flowing, these guys can hit the
ball a long way over the course of the last few holes, especially in a
major. He, like Phil, will have hard time getting over this one. I
would have liked to see Montgomery win his first event in the US while
winning his first major. He has had a couple of chances to win a major
but at worst it looked as though he could at least get into a playoff.
It semed as though Ogilvy slid in the back door after the two players
ahead of him, Phil and Monty, stumbled. Geoff hit a great drive on 18
but ended up in the back of a divot. He still managed to hit a good
shot from his lie and was certainly posing on it, thinking he hit it
tight. He looked shocked when the ball wouldn't bounce up towards the
pin but instead rolled 20 yards off the front of the green. He made a
hell of an up and down to save par and then got to watch Phil deliver
him the US Open title on a silver platter.

I was shocked to see Phil hit driver off of 18. He seemed to have
little control with it all day. All he needed to do was make par to win
and bogey to get into an 18-hole playoff on Monday. He kind of went
back to his old, aggressive ways and lost the Open on 17 and 18, both
holes he could have hit 3 or 4 wood off of and have a better chance to
keep it in play. The driver, or the choice to hit it those last two
holes, cost him his third major title in a row.This guy is so talented
these days and I was suprised to see him collapse. But his game has
been peaking the last couple of years and he'll certainly bounce back.

As for my experience at the Open, the only thing I could have asked for
was to make the cut. And considering how tough the course could play,
Mark wasn't far off from playing on the weekend. He only missed by 4
and it was easy to think back and find four shots he could have saved
and made the cut. But it didn't turn out that way, unfortunately.

When we played a couple of 9-hole practice rounds before the Open, I
didn't find the course to be that special. It's beautiful and was in
great shape but it hadn't hit me yet how great of a track it is. That
happened on Thursday afternoon when we found ourselves 4 over after the
first three holes. And he wasn't playing that bad! He hit the fairway
on one and two but missed the green on both of them. Bogey on one and
double on two. He also bogeyed number three but as we were walking to
the fourth tee, Mark was plus 4 and I thought he was playing OK! It was
then that I really realized what we were in for. There are a couple of
holes on the front nine that you might be able to pick up a stroke or
two but for the rest of the round the course just keeps coming at you.
If you get weak mentally for a moment you could be writing a big number
on your card before you know it. It was a brutal test. It was my third
US Open that I have had a chance to caddy in and I absolutely loved it,
once again. It's a tough and intense week on the course. It has the
feel like no other event. All of the majors are great but the way the
US Open is set up by the USGA always makes for a very interesting week.
How about plus 5 winning the tournament? I love it when it's tough. As
caddies, we have the best seat in the house to watch these players try
to negotiate and think their way around the course. We even get to
experience, first had, how they deal with the mental approach to it.
These guy are REALLY good!

One of my best memories on the course this week involved one of our
playing partners, Ben Crane. Over the course of the two days we played
together, Ben and I had a few chats. I've always known he was a nice
guy but I found myself pulling for him to make the cut. He's a really
good guy. Ben is known for being one of the slowest players on tour and
he demonstrated that a few times. Once he puts the club on the ground,
he'll swing it. But it's the amount of time it takes him to get it
there. Seeing as though we were also playing with one of the fastest
player in the game, Mark Calcavecchia, there was a bit of grumbling
going on out there at times. Calc is like a big, grumpy bear but he's
fun to be paired with. He's usually good for a few laughs.

But back to Ben and one of my favorite moments. He needed to birdie our
last hole of the day, the close to 500 yard par 4, 9th hole. He hit a
good drive and had a clear shot at the green. But he left his second
shot 5 yards short of the green. He needed to make the next shot to
have a shot at making the cut. He decided to putt the ball and
proceeded to roll it into the heart of the cup. Here it was at 12:30
Friday and this guy rolls in a putt to maybe make the cut. He showed
enough emotion to make it look as though he had won the thing instead
of making the cut. It was a very genuine show of emotion.

My #1 favorite moment for me last week was to look over at the ropes
and see my sister Karen, brother-in-law Frank and good buddy Tom
Derouin enjoying the golf. They all came down Thursday night and came
out to see Mark play Friday's round. It's the first time Karen and
Frank have come down to see and event in the US and I'm sure it won't
be their last. We all had a great time together. Even though Mark
didn't make the cut, we still managed to still enjoy ourselves for the
weekend. Not that it's tough to have a good time in the Big Apple.
Frank had never been to New York so we made sure he saw some of the
sights. On Saturday night we headed to a great Italian restaurant in
the Bronx that I had been to in the past, called Dominick's. Great
food. We then drove into the city and took in the sights such as
Central Park, Times Square and the former sight of the World Trade
Center. A good time was had by all.

So to Karen, Frank and Tom. Thank you for making this US Open very
special. You made my week by coming down and spending a few days.

This morning I drive down to Washington, DC for the Booz Allen Classic
at TPC Avenal in Bethesda, Maryland. Mark has a good vibe going in
there this week. It was the sight of one of his 7 tour victories. Let's
hope he can find a little of the magic that he had there that week.

Mamaroneck, NY 6-15-06

I wish I had a lot of stories to share for the first day of the US Open
but not a lot has gone on for us. After playing a practice round on
Sunday and Monday, Mark Brooks hasn't stepped on the course since.
You'll never guess what he spent most of his time doing. Every driver
he builds, honestly, goes just about the same distance with a little
draw. I don't know what it will take for him to be really happy with
one.

Starting at Memorial he hasn't used the same driver two days in a row.
He shoots 66 at Memorial on Sunday and puts a new driver in the bag for
the first round of the US Open qualifier 14 hours later. He shot -4 for
the first round on the tougher course of the two and switches to a
different one for the afternoon round. The two rounds he played at
Westchester were with different drivers. And a new one has been in the
bag every day since. Actually, there were no less than 10 new drivers
tried yesterday. But who am I to doubt the guy? He's won seven times,
including a major. He actually plays well on tough track during majors,
or I should say he has in the past. But the 66 at Memorial on Sunday
says a lot. If he keeps it in play off the tee he will have a good week.
I totally appreciate this guy's work ethic and hope he can have a good
week. At the 2001 US Open at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mark
lost an 18-hole playoff to Reteif Goosen. So it wasn't that long ago he
had a good US Open.

It was good to see Tiger back yesterday. It's the first time I had seen
him this week. He was hammering drivers when I got to the range to
watch him hit some. I had been in the Callaway trailer with Mark when I
looked out the back door of the trailer and saw him on the range. I
went out for a closer look. Wow! This guy is awesome. For 15 yards
either side of him, there was no other player hitting balls. The
photographers kept their distance and the crowd was 20 yards from him
behind the barriers. There was Tiger, his caddy Steve Williams and his
instructor, Hank Haney. It was like they were on a stage. As for the
players, it was like nobody wanted to be close to him. Honestly, Tiger
has that effect on people. He has an aura about him. He's all business
and isn't out there to make friends. Not that he not approachable. He
is. He's a great guy but he does intimidate allot of people. When I had
worked for Notah Begay in the past we would play practice rounds with
Tiger sometimes. For who he is, he's a normal guy. A great sense of
humor, smart and very personable. But on the tour during tournaments,
he's all business. Even more during majors. His intensity is second to
none. I'd love to see him have a great week. Especially with Sunday
being Father's Day.

We tee off in 3 1/2 hours. Before every round I'm a little nervous but
the US Open is a special event. The butterflies are there a little more
today. It's a good nervous, though. It will be fun to get out there in
front of huge crowds and try to do our best.

The best part of this week is that my sister Karen and my
brother-in-law, Frank are coming down for the weekend along with a very
good friend, Tom Derouin. It's the first time Karen and Frank have come
down to an event in the States and we're sure to have a good time.
Enjoy the golf.
 

Mamaroneck, NY 6-11-06

It seems like months that I haven't written anything about the tour.
But it has been weeks and it's about time I tried to catch up on all
that has gone on since I last wrote after the 2nd round at Colonial,
three tour events ago.

Following Colonial, the tour had a stop in Memphis, where Mark missed
the cut. About the only thing exciting about that stop was that
Callaway didn't send it's trailer. Mark was somewhat lost without it
but he did manage to get into a couple of the smaller independent
trailers to work on his clubs.

The week after Memphis was The Memorial at Muirfield Village in Dublin,
Ohio. One of the purest courses on tour. It's always in immaculate
condition. We had an interesting week at Muirfield, where Mark ended up
finishing tied for 18th, easily his best finish in quite some time.
Once again for the second week in a row, the tour trailers were not
there. The event organizers, ie Jack Nicklaus, doesn't allow the
trailers onsite for the week. The players have to deal with the
equipment they brought. While on the range on Wednesday of Memorial, I
got a call from my wife, Sunny. I had received a letter from US
Immigration notifying me of a meeting on Friday of the same week! I had
two days to get to LA to get to this meeting and it was right in the
middle of the tournament. I had no choice, I had to tell Mark what was
going on. As a player is getting ready for a tournament, the last thing
he needs is a distraction. It's tough enough for himself having to deal
with his performance, or lack of, never mind having to listen to a
caddy and his issues. I was concerned that it could cost me my job.

I explained to Mark what was going on and he was very supportive. All
he asked was that I be back for Friday night so I could be there for
the weekend should he make the cut. I had a caddy buddy of mine that
lives in the area and had the week off to fill in for me. I flew to LA
Thursday morning and spent the day with the family. It was good to see
them even though it was only for a few hours. My meeting with
immigration was at 9 am the following morning and my return flight to
Chicago and connecting to Columbus, Ohio was at 2:40 pm Friday
afternoon. I easily made it back to LAX and was off to Chicago on time.
Once in Chicago, there were weather delays on the flights to Columbus.
Even the tournament had been called early on Friday because of bad
weather. After 26 holes of play, Mark was 3 under par and was in a top
10 position!

My flight from Chicago eventually got into Columbus at 1:15 am Saturday
morning. I had to be at the course by 6:30 to meet Mark to finish the
second round. By the time I got back to my hotel and into bed it was
2:30 in the morning. It was going to be a long day. Our first hole of
that morning was #9, where he started things off with a birdie. I was
feeling a little insecure after my buddy caddies Mark to 3 under par
for a round and a half. It was a good feeling to get the start he did
after I came back. But over the next few holes, Mark's attitude started
to deteriorate. He was taking his frustrations out on me and it was
rubbing me the wrong way. I realized where Mark's stress was coming
from. Even though he was playing well, it had been a while since he had
been in that position and the stress was getting the better of him. I
realize as caddies that we need to be able to handle taking their
stress. But there is a fine line between venting and being
disrespectful.

Mark was a bit tough on me for the rest of the second round where he
played well enough to make the cut, the first one since our first week
together in Tucson, back in late February. The third round started and
here he goes again, treating me like his little brother on the course.
One of the things he was doing was, after he would take the head cover
off the driver, he would toss it off to the side, maybe five or ten
yards away so I would have to go get it. He usually would hand it to
me or put it on top of the bag, but not this day. He would also toss
the clubs on the ground instead of handing them to me. On the 9th hole
I told Jerry Kelly's caddy that he was going a bit too far and I was
going to snap if he kept it up. I realize these seem like small things
but when a player does something like tossing a head cover for you to
fetch while a good sized gallery looks on, it can get a little
embarrassing. On the 10th hole he did it for the last time. He had a 3
wood in his hand for his second shot and he decided to switch to a 5
wood. After I handed him the 5 wood, he tossed the 3 wood on the ground
instead of handing it to me. I lost my mind and went off on him. "Are
you f&%#ing kidding me?!", I yelled. He turned and looked at me and
said, "What did you say to me?" I repeated loud and clear, "Are you
f%&$ing kidding me?!" Right away, he backed off when he saw how serious
I was. " I've been taking your shit all day and I've had it!! After
today, you're done!!" I went on and on for a couple of minutes and he
didn't say one word. The last thing I said to him was ,"It's all about
respect!!" I guess I was tired and cranky after all that travelling and
little sleep. But I really was tired of taking his crap and it felt
good letting him know it.

For the next 3 holes I did nothing but carry the bag. No yardage, no
clean clubs and no clean ball. By the time we got to the 13th hole he
apologized for treating me the way he had been. He didn't want me to
quit and asked me to stay on. For the rest of the day it all went well
even though he was on his way to shooting plus 7. In the parking lot
after the round he ,once again, apologized and said it would never
happen again. The next day, Sunday, he treats me like a king and goes
out and shoots the low round of the day, a 66, and finishes tied for
18th.

The following day, Monday, Mark was scheduled to play in a US Open
qualifier. About 120 players playing 36 holes in one day with the top
18 getting into the Open. For some reason, Mark wanted to drive with me
from Columbus to Summit, New Jersey to the qualifier. I didn't mind
giving him a ride but it took 9 hours and we only got in at 1:00 am and
had a 7:00 am tee time Monday morning. Then we had to play our second
round at 1:00 pm. I hadn't had much sleep for a few days and I was
spent when it was all said and done. Once again, Mark played well and
he easily qualified for the US Open which is being held this week at
Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, NY. Winged Foot is no more than five miles
from Westchester CC where this weeks' stop, the Barclay Classic, was
held.

Go figure. Mark doesn't have access to the trailers for two weeks and
has to use the same equipment. He ends up with an 18th place and
qualifies for the Open. He spends most of the week in the trailers at
Westchester and misses the cut. He's addicted to tinkering.

After missing the cut at Westchester, we spent the weekend over at
Winged Foot. Due to all the rain lately the course was closed yesterday
but we did use the range and putting green. The course was open today
so we played a practice round this afternoon. What a monster of a
course. The rough is long and thick and sure to cause some real issues.
I'm predicting that the winning score will be over par. I really can't
see anyone breaking par. Somebody probably will but I'm predicting not.
It's long, tight and tough. I remember my first US Open with Jimmy
Green at Pebble Beach in 2000. Tiger was 12 under par. Second place was
Ernie Els at plus 3. Tiger won by 15 strokes. On Tuesday of that week a
friend called and asked how the course was. I said, " You know, I
thought it would be tougher." Jimmy made the cut on the number and
finished plus 29. My buddy called me back Sunday night and said, " So,
was it tough enough for you?"

These US Opens can be a real test of patience. It's only my third Open
and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.