You could almost see the old lady blush. After dealing out a ton of high 70s and low 80s Saturday to great names like Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite and Nick Faldo, Shinnecock Hills watched as Neal Lancaster blitzed his way to a U.S. Open record 29 on the back nine Sunday to tie Chip Beck’s course-record 65.
After getting off to a slow start on the front–he bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9 from the bunker and the rough for a 1-over 36–Lancaster birdied 11, 12, 13 and 14 to get to 3-under for the day, rolling in putts of 8, 40, 65 and 25 feet.
“Up till then my caddie hadn’t said a word,” said Lancaster. “Now all of a sudden, standing on the 15th tee, he’s going, `Do this, do that.’ I go, `I make four birdies in a row and now you’re getting interested?’ “
After a par at 15, Lancaster hit a 6-iron to within a foot at 16 and tapped it in for a birdie, rolled in a 30-footer at 17 for a birdie, and then he parred the 18th, hitting “the greatest chip of my life” and sinking a 3-foot putt.
“When I started the second nine,” said Lancaster, “I said, `Oh, well, let’s shoot 42 and get it over with.’ When I walked off 18, though, all the TV , I knew I must have done something good.”
Lancaster’s super round enabled him to finish at 4-over 284 and earn $66,634.
Dream vanishes: When his chip from the deep rough hit the cup and skidded on by at the 18th green, Pete Jordan’s heart jumped. But when his ensuing putt from five feet above the hole lipped out and rolled three fast past Sunday, Jordan figured his Masters dream went rolling with it.
“I had a lot on my mind before I hit it,” said Jordan, formerly of Bensenville. “Like, I make this I’m playing the Masters. Obviously, I was thinking about making the putt when I was standing over it, but I also didn’t want to knock it 10 feet by.”
When Jordan sank the return putt for a bogey 6 on the 450-yard par-4 18th and the 72nd hole of his second U.S. Open he had a 71 for the day and 7-over total of 287 for the week–good for a tie for 21st place.
“I think I came up one shot short–at least according to the computer,” said Jordan, who has played four Nike Tour events and made six PGA Tour starts this year. In fact, if Jordan had made the putt he would have finished at 286 and would have qualified for the Masters. “The Masters would be a dream. I’ve played in two U.S. Opens and I grew up on Medinah, which is an Open course, so I know what they’re about. But the Masters, you see it on TV, I want to see what it’s all about.”
Jordan said he has had offers to play Augusta National, and knows members there, “but I’ve always said no because I wanted to earn my way there. This would have been my first time, and it would have been fun.”
Aces wild: Gary Hallberg, who aced the seventh hole with a 5-iron Saturday, finished at 8-over-par 288 to earn $13,912. Hallberg said that besides his six career holes-in-one he has had a couple of double eagles, including one in the Mexican Open in 1992.
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“But nobody there knew what that was, so there was no reaction. When I raised my arms in excitement my playing partner came over because he thought I was upset.”
Western horizon: Looking ahead to the July 6-9 Western Open at Cog Hill are Corey Pavin, Paul Azinger and Fred Couples, who all said they “plan to play” in the event, which this year boosted its purse by $800,000. Tom Kite, saying he’s going “to take some time off from golf,” said he won’t be there. After his disastrous 82 Saturday, Kite rallied for a 71 and a 15-over 295 total.