U.S. Open notebook Dilemma: complete hole, or mark it

One group was divided over what to do.

Ricky Barnes, Matt Kuchar and Billy Mayfair were in the fairway on No. 18, their ninth hole of the round, when the horn sounded. Mayfair, who was four over for the tournament at that point, marked his ball in the fairway and headed in.

Barnes, one stroke out of the lead at five under, and Kuchar, who was three over, both hit into the green.

Barnes two-putted for a par, while Kuchar three-putted for a bogey.

OR ELS: Two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els had an opening-round 78 and was 12 over through 11 holes when play was suspended.

Els, who won the Open in 1994 and 1997, has only missed the cut twice in his 16 appearances -- 1995 and 1999.

After finishing 14th last year at Torrey Pines, Els missed the cut in the Masters in April, and this would be the first time since 1995 he has missed the cut in the year's first two majors.

AMATEUR HOUR: Three of the 14 amateurs in the field bettered or matched par and two of them completed their rounds in the morning when good scores were much tougher to come by.

Drew Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur champion and a junior at Virginia Tech, shot a 1-under 69, one stroke better than Cameron Tringale, who played at Georgia Tech, and Kyle Stanley, who played at Clemson.

Weaver and Tringale both completed their first rounds Friday morning when the course was still drying out from Thursday's daylong rain, while Stanley played his round under sunny skies.

Ben Martin, who also played at Clemson, was at 72, a shot better than Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., who played at the University of Washington.

Rickie Fowler, who just finished his sophomore season at Oklahoma State, was one of the amateurs who made the cut last year at Torrey Pines. He shot an opening 78 at Bethpage.

"It's definitely a lot easier playing with a caddie in the rain," he said. "In college golf you have an umbrella, bag and rain gear. It gets tough just doing that let alone playing in the rain, but this course is definitely a million times better than a college golf course."

David Erdy, the youngest player in the field at 19, qualified as an alternate and was paired with 2007 Masters champion Zack Johnson and Lee Westwood, who finished third in last year's U.S. Open.

"They were two great guys," he said after shooting a 78, "I talked to them the whole round. Lee was cracking jokes and Zach was just a great guy to be around."

YO, ROCCO: Rocco Mediate became a fan favourite in last year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines when he lost to Tiger Woods in a 19-hole playoff. He may be on the other side of the country this year, but his popularity was still evident as he shot a first-round 68.

He was asked how many times he heard his name yelled out at Bethpage.

"About four million," he said. "Unbelievable out there today. It was great, absolutely fantastic."

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 20, 2009 $sourceSection0