Friday was our first day at the U.S. Open. The USGA did a great job carting people in from Qualcomm Stadium with over 200 chartered buses. We got there fairly early and watched some good golfers go by… Davis Love III, Ernie Els, Rory Sabbatini, Justin Leonard, David Toms, Colin Montgomerie… a whole bunch of guys. We ended up walking the entire back 9 backwards. Later that day we followed a high school friend of mine who plays on tour, Nick Watney, as he carded a 75. Nick came over to say hello at 14 tee, which pretty much made my day.
Tiger and Phil played together that day and we heard some good roars out of that group, but for the most part, we stayed away from the crowds. 50,000 people at the course and probably 25,000 following that one group.
At the end of the day, we had walked over 27 holes (about the equivalent of 6.5 miles), and had seen some great golfers real close up. It’s amazing how their effortless swings make the ball go so far.
A bonus highlight for the day, which led to Friday’s quote of the day, was the bus ride back to Qualcomm. After waiting only a few minutes in line, we boarded a bus sitting a few rows in front of a drunk lady. We heard her whole life story on that 30 minute ride. Everything from how old she was (35) to her job (she’s a lawyer) and to how she is dating some guy, “Mr. Right Now” she said, that just had brain surgery. She admitted, “He’s pretty dumb sometimes.” I didn’t catch if that was a result of the brain surgery or if she just doesn’t have much respect for the guy. Either way, poor guy, and if you’re reading this and think you are dating this woman, I would get out now.
Stay tuned for Part III and our tales of the weekend and the Final Round of the U.S. Open.
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