(Editor's Note: Russ Holden is a PGA Professional and the caddie for World Golf Hall of Fame member and 2004 European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer. He also is CEO of the charitable organization, Caddy For a Cure. Holden's tour diary appears regularly on About.com Golf.)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times at The Memorial. We got to play Jack Nicklaus' tournament on his golf course, Muirfield Village, but we missed the cut by two shots after bogeying the final two holes of the second round. Yuck. We were 3-under after 11 holes and on the leaderboard, but we just sort of went into a fog and got some very bad breaks coming home to finish at 2-over.
Bernhard continues to drive the ball immense distances. We missed the cut here two years ago and the course seemed to be miles long. The 17th hole is 492 yards long and we hit driver, 8-iron to a middle pin position. Wow, that is long.
We have extended our driver to 44 3/4 inches over the last year and the distance is really starting to come. We play the Callaway HX Tour ball and for our swing path and trajectory, this ball goes a long way.
It was quite interesting for me to come to this city (Columbus, Ohio). I am from Michigan and a Wolverine at heart, and all you see here is Ohio State stuff. I considered buying my daughter an OSU cheerleader outfit for a gift, but could not bring myself to buy something with those OSU colors. I got a real kick out of asking everyone I could to say "Let's go BLUE" all week. I got some strange looks!
We have to qualify for the U.S. Open here in Columbus on Monday. To me, this is a joke. Here is a guy ranked 72nd in the world and he has to qualify for the U.S. Open? Why would a major championship NOT want the top 100 ranked players in the world to play, to truly have the best event? A guy could play well through some rinky-dink qualifier where anything can happen for a day, and he beats out a guy with a career of high finishes in majors. It was hot topic of conversation, to say the least, this week. I spoke with one Tour player who recently won, and who, if he finished second this week, would be 11th on the Tour money list and 52nd best in the world rankings, and he would still have to qualify for the U.S. Open. Baloney!
Caddy for a Cure is in full swing with players Vijay Singh, Justin Leonard, Peter Jacobsen, Alex Cejka and Lee Janzen all up for bid. Go to www.caddyforacure.com to see the Westchester auctions.
