A list of the locals in the U.S. Open at Merion:

WINNER: Justin Rose (+1) 

Keegan Bradley
Residence: Jupiter
Result +12 after 2 rounds -- MISSED CUT

Luke Donald 
Residence: Jupiter
Result: +6 (T-8) 

Ernie Els 
Residence: West Palm Beach
Result: +5 (T-4) 

Rickie Fowler
Residence: Jupiter
Result: +7 (T-10) 

Justin Hicks
Residence: Royal Palm Beach
Result: +9 after 2 rounds -- MISSED CUT 

Fredrik Jacobsen
Residence: Hobe Sound
Result: +9 after 2 rounds -- MISSED CUT

Dustin Johnson 
Residence: Jupiter
Result: +17 (55th)

Rory McIlory 
Residence: Palm Beach Gardens
Result: +14 (T-41) 

John Nieporte
Residence: West Palm Beach
Result: +22 after 2 rounds -- MISSED CUT 

Louie Oosthuizen
Residence: Palm Beach Gardens
Result: WITHDREW

Charl Schwartzel 
Residence: Palm Beach Gardens
Result: +8 (14th) 

Lee Westwood 
Residence: Palm Beach Gardens
Result: +9 (T-15) 

Tiger Woods 
Residence: Jupiter Island
Result: +13 (T-32) 

By: Emerson Lotzia
ESPN 106.3 on WPTV NewsChannel 5
elotzia@espnwestpalm.com
Twitter: @Emerson1063

JUPITER - Former NHL star and Jupiter resident Dan Quinn will be caddying for Ernie Els at the U.S. Open this week.

Quinn has been a part-time caddy for Els, a four-time major champion, since 2009.

They met in 2008, the same year Els won the Honda Classic.

Quinn, who retired in 1996 after 14 seasons in the NHL, is a pretty good golfer himself.

Last July, several hours after Els hoisted the Claret Jug for the second time, Quinn won the American Century Championship -- a celebrity tournament -- for the 5th time.

By Russ Evans

I’ve always been intrigued by the contrasting styles of the U.S. and British Opens. After the Masters, the respective Open Championships on either side of the pond are my two favorite tournaments each year. And they are very different.

The British Open, or The Open Championship as the Brits insist it be called, started way back in 1860. Early winners included both Tom Morris’s (Old & Young), both Willie Parks (Sr. & Jr.), and Harry Vardon. The U.S. Open is a relative youngster compared to its older counterpart, beginning in 1895. Early winners included Willie Anderson, Willie Smith, Alex Smith, and Harry Vardon.

Bobby Jones won the British Open three times, and the U.S. Open four times. Perhaps his most famous victories in each championship came in 1930, the year he also won both the British and U.S. Amateurs to become the first and only player ever to capture all four of golf’s majors (the Grand Slam) in the same year.

Jack Nicklaus also won the British Open three times and the U.S. Open four times. When naming his masterpiece home club in Ohio, he called it Muirfield Village, after the site of his first British Open victory, and included the Claret Jug in the club’s logo. But when asked what was the single greatest shot he hit in championship golf, he often lists the 2-iron he stuffed to tap-in range at Pebble Beach in the 1972 U.S. Open as the medalist.

The British Open has been played primarily in small European cities like Prestwick, Turnberry, Musselburgh, Hoylake, and Muirfield. The U.S Open has been played primarily in big American cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and St. Louis.

The British Open has been played in Ireland only once. Florida has never hosted The U.S. Open.

British Open venues look brown and dead, with few trees. U.S. Open venues look green and lush, with tree-lined fairways.

The British Open has iconic holes with memorable stories: the “Road Hole” at St. Andrews, where Seve Ballesteros played a ball off the wall in 1984; the “Postage Stamp” at Troon, where a 71-year-old Gene Sarazen made a hole-in-one in 1973; and the “Barry Burn Hole” at Carnoustie, which Jean Van de Velde butchered in 1999.

The U.S Open also has iconic holes with memorable stories: the 1st at Cherry Hills, where Arnold Palmer drove the green in 1960; the 17th at Pebble Beach, where Tom Watson chipped in for birdie in 1982; and the 18th at Torrey Pines, where Tiger Woods holed that famous putt in 2008.

63 is the best round ever shot at both championships. Players who’ve carded 63s in the British Open include Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Payne Stewart, and Rory McIlroy. Players who’ve shot 63 at the U.S. Open include Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf, Jack Nicklaus, and Vijay Singh.

The U.S. Open always concludes on Father’s Day, the third Sunday in June. The British Open takes place exactly one month later, always concluding on the third Sunday in July. No matter which championship you favor, both offer fabulous drama and tend to crown cream-of-the-crop champions. There’s a very good chance the next notable chapter in these respective championships’ histories will be written in 2013.

Listen to Russ Evans every Sunday morning from 9-11am on Golf Exchange presented by The Honda Classic. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RusEvans. You can email him at revans@thehondaclassic.com.

By Russ Evans

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you know by now that I’m an advocate of making golf fun. As my good friend Dr. Gary Wiren told me many years ago, “Golf is a game, and as such, it is meant to be enjoyed.” So anything that makes the game of golf more enjoyable, less difficult, and less time-consuming is okay by me. With that being said, I was thrilled to learn of a new initiative called ‘Time for Nine’, which is a joint venture by The PGA of America and the USGA, along with Golf Digest. The ‘Time for Nine’ initiative will be spreading the word that a little golf is better than no golf at all.

Golf Digest contributing editor Bob Carney joined me on the Golf Exchange radio show recently to discuss the idea.

“Today’s Americans are spending on average 500 more hours at the office than their parents did,” said Carney. “Most people have seen their leisure time shrink to 1-2 hours per day. A lot of us have put off playing golf because we couldn’t play 18 holes. But most of the things we do today, whether it’s going to a movie or watching a kid’s soccer game, are a couple of hours, not five hours. This idea that you have to spend half the day on the golf course just doesn’t ring true. So we decided to start promoting this: find time in your schedule for nine holes of golf. Playing nine holes is better than not playing at all.”

Golf courses are slowly getting better at offering nine-hole rates. Some courses are even promoting nine-hole rates on weekends, when traditionally only full 18-hole rounds were accepted. And for the skeptical traditionalists in the crowd who might be on the fence, you can submit a nine-hole round as an official score for a USGA handicap index. The USGA can also issue nine-hole handicaps for players competing in nine-hole leagues.

This acceptance of nine-hole rounds is a reaction to the changing face of golf. The game isn’t the same game your father played. Total rounds played have been declining each year in this country over the past decade. There are fewer private clubs today than there were 10 years ago. Many formerly private clubs are now semi-private, opening their doors to the public in order to survive. Along with courses offering more nine-hole rounds, many facilities are now allowing players on the course without collared shirts, and some are even allowing denim. There are also more opportunities for parents to play with their children, as the golf industry is finally realizing today’s junior golfers will be their bread-and-butter 10-20 years from now.

“The golf industry has struggled recently because of the down economy, but it has also struggled partly because of its own policies,” said Carney. “The industry got high and mighty there for a while, thinking every golf course had to be a championship layout that was very difficult, and in doing that drove some players away by making the game appear harder than it needs to be. Now courses are saying, ‘We want you to come out and play. We want you to bring your kids, we want you to have a good time. You don’t have to play by every single rule if you don’t want to. You don’t have to wear special golf clothes necessarily. Just get out and play. Whether it’s 18 holes or nine holes or six holes or less, we just want you to participate.’ And that is a great message, and it’s a message that will bring a lot more people to the game.”

Find time in your schedule to get out on the course more often for nine holes. For more information on the ‘Tine for Nine’ initiative, log onto www.usga.org/playnine.

Listen to Russ Evans every Sunday morning from 9-11am on Golf Exchange presented by The Honda Classic. You can follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/RusEvanswww.twitter.com/RusEvans. You can email him at revans@thehondaclassic.com.

 

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