RANK outsider Olin Browne was thanking his lucky stars yesterday after a three-underpar 67 gave him a share of the early lead with fellowAmerican Rocco Mediate at the US Open.
The 46-year-old had been within minutes of withdrawing when he had a 73 in the first round of final qualifying at Woodmont, but thankfully decided to give it nine holes more just in case.
He did them in 30 and the remainder in 29 for a magical 59 that claimed his berth in this week's 156-strong field.
"I was probably five minutes from not being here, but I'm glad to be continuing, " he said and rated his 67 yesterday as the better round over a course that Phil Mickelson reckons could bring in the winner on Sunday at over par.
"The greens are in wonderful condition, there are some extremely challenging hole locations and the course epitomises what the USGA wants in their championship."
His inward three-under 32 set the course alight and the highlight came at the difficult 468-yard 14th, where he hit the green that has severe fall-offs then holed the 20-foot putt.
Mediate, another veteran at 42, switched from the broomhandle putter to a regular one a fortnight ago and he hasn't looked back.
"I kind of threw it on the fire, " he said. "I've used a long putter since 1991, so it's a long time. My back is good enough now and I wanted to get two hands on it again. It's working well and I had maybe one of my best putting rounds ever today [27 putts total]."
With Lee Westwood and Luke Donald flying high on the leaderboard, it was a fair day for another two Englishmen, Jonathan Lomas and Nick Dougherty, who had 72s on their US Open debuts. Lomas has strong Scottish connections. He is married to a Scot, Sally, lives in Alloway, and regards his son, Jon, as Scottish.
Like Browne he and Dougherty both had to qualify and they did so at the first international qualifier held at Walton Heath.
Lomas was out in the dawn patrol at 7am and began his day in his hotel room with a 5.30am rise. "My wife got me up. I wanted to sleep on, " he said half-jokingly, and he was three over par after eight holes before he fully woke up.
Birdies ensued with a 20-foot putt for a 2 at the ninth, from 10 feet for a 3 at the 11th and a tap-in for a 3 after a sand wedge approach at the 13th.
There were two more dropped shots before he finished. "If you play any loose shots the course jumps and bites you, " he lamented, but he was pleased with two over and another of the same today could keep him in for the weekend.
Although out first, their round took nearly five hours because of the two-tee start.
His threesome played the first nine holes in two hours then had a long wait until all the players due off the 10th had started, and it took nearly three hours for the next nine.
Dougherty, is playing not just in his first US Open but also his first major championship, and the Liverpudlian came off with a wide smile after holing a bunker shot for a birdie 2 at the ninth, his last, from 20 yards.
"There are so many times that things don't go your way on a course like this, " he said.
"It's the nature of US golf, I think. You just have to accept it, and it was a real nice feeling to get that break. It feels like my patience paid off.
"This is my first major. It's the toughest course I've ever played and I'm trying to enjoy it. My hopes are high and I'm learning about myself mentally.
If you can do it round here you can do it anywhere.
"The crowds were fantastic and there was a real buzz. They were very appreciative and they made it for me."
The two Scots in the field, Colin Montgomerie and Stephen Gallacher, were among the late starters as the wind picked up and the greens dried out. They were left with ground to make up, Montgomerie three over after 10 holes and Gallacher faring worse going five over after seven.
Completed scores
PINEHURST RESORT & CC, NO.2 COURSE (7214 yards. Par 70) PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA
(US unless stated. *denotes amateur) 67 O Browne, R Mediate 68R Goosen (SA), L Westwood (GB) 69 S Jones, L Donald (GB), KJ Choi (Kor) 70 D Toms, T Woods 71 E Els (SA), S Maruyama (Jpn), C DiMarco, B Tway, P Lonard (Aus), J Cook, J Gore, M Hensby (Aus) 72 J Lomas (GB), R Sabbatini (SA), N Price (Zim), N Dougherty (GB), J Maggert, P Jacobsen, S Allan (Aus), P Claxton 73 C Pavin, JJ Henry, M Allen, J McCumber 74 B Glasson, Yong Eun-yang (Kor), T Pernice, B Langer (Ger), G McDowell (GB), DJ Brigman, J Mallinger, R Rashell, K Fukabori (Jpn), F Langham 75 T Levet (Fra), J Rollins, *R Moore, T Hamilton, K Perry, *M Every, M Kuchar, E Meichtry, K Willmann, O Uresti 76 L Mattiace, J Leonard, D Duval, S Verplank, J Kelly, J Driscoll, A Oberholser, *M Putnam, L Rinker, S Parel, T Clark (SA), S McCarron 77 C Parry (Aus), C Campbell, I Poulter (GB), S Conran (Aus), *D Denham 78 S Lowery 79 B Snedeker,
*L Williams, S Dyson (GB), P Damron OTHERS 80 R Pampling (Aus) 85 P Casey (GB)
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