On the Road at the US Open - Day 2

By Eric Yaillen, OGA Director of Marketing & Communications

PHOTO GALLERY

For the second day of my trip to the 110th U.S. Open I decided to do something different.  It was now the weekend and 83 players had survived the cut, among them were two of our three qualifiers... Matthew Richardson from England, and Oregon's own Jason Allred.

I've never really been one to just be a spectator at a golf tournament.  The live experience is just not as great as watching it at home as you are limited to watching a very limited part of the tournament.  You have only two options.  Camp out and see every one once...or pick a group and follow them around the course.  Following a group just isn't a great option at the US Open.  They sell out of the 37,500 available tickets, so while you might get to the hole...you rarely get close enough to see anything.  At least finding a spot ensures you get to see something. 

That said, the USGA and its partners have create a phenomenal experience for fans.  American Express sponsors a radio and television broadcast that is delivered to portable devices available at the course (free to cardholders, of course!).  You can choose to get the radio broadcast from ESPN or a tv feed from NBC, so wherever you are on the course you always know what the other players are doing.  When you hear the roar of the crowd...you know for whom and why!

Prior to leaving for Pebble Beach, I asked Ryan Wyckoff, the superintendent of the OGA Golf Course if he had any recommendations on where to go.  If anyone would know it would be Ryan.  He was an assistant superintendent at Pebble in 2000 when Tiger Woods had his historic win at the US Open. Ryan said I should camp out between 6 and 7.  THe 6th hole is a short, uphill par 5 that is very reachable in two for these guys that can yield eagles.  The 7th hole is the signature par three (playing at 99-yards for the day) jutting out on a point on the Monterbay Bay.  But, by the time I  got there...the prime locations on the bleachers that would allow a view of both holes were taken.

So instead we settled for Plan B, and a location by the 7th green and 8th tee box.  There were prime locations available to sit on the ground with views unobstructed by the throngs of fans.  We saw everyone from Ty Tryon, who was the odd man out playing alone starting at 9am, all the way to the 36-hole leaders Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell, who didn't tee off until 3:50pm.  That's just short of 7-hours of tee times!

When the leaders were on the way down the 8th fairway, we made a beeline back to 18 getting there in time to be bear witness to the final putt from Tiger Woods to finish at 66 for the day and 1-under par after 54-holes and just 1 of 3 players to post a total that was under par. As soon as Tiger was done, the crowds thinned tremendously and prime seats on the 18th grandstand opened up.  It was a great opportunity to watch some more groups come in, and I wanted to catch up again with Jason.

Despite a triple bogey on the 17th hole yesterday, Allred still startied the day tied for 16th and in a position to make a run up the leaderboard on what is typically referred to as moving day.  Unfortunately, I had no clue as to how he was doing.  I didn't have the portable tv...just the radio broadcast, and there was nary a mention of him all day.   The last I knew, from my position on the 7th hole, he was 1-over par for the day (he bogeyed 7).  unfortunately, he dropped another 4-strokes during the rest of his round, finishing the day T30. 

I spoke with him briefly after the round.

So that was it for my trip to the U.S. Open.  I can't stay for the final round, as I need to head back to Portland so that I can be at the Oregon Amateur which starts Monday. 

In all, it was a great trip.  It was great to experience this major firsthand, especially since we [the Oregon Golf Association] play a role in it.  We started the process administering one of the local sites where more than 9,000 golfers applied for the opportunity to play for the title,  Then we ran the Sectional qualifier where three people actually advanced to the big stage.  And there, one of Oregon's great junior champions made his first cut at a major and possibly one of his biggest paychecks as a pro.  Being able to share in that experience is what great memories are made of.

Click Here to Read the Day One Blog