golf australia | AUGUST 2019 31PHOTOS:USGA/DARREN CARROLL (LEF T) & USGA/CHRIS KEANE (RIGHT)samenomatterhowyoungoroldweare.It
was pretty special, especially as the weather
was stunning.
I sometimes get a bit jaded having played golf
all around the world, but days like that are why I
took up the game in the fi rst place and why I still
play now. It was a privilege to be there.
My group was me, Steve Jones (1996
champion), Michael Campbell (2005) and
Angel Cabrera (2007). Michael and I took on
the other two and won the money. Which was
nice. It was a comfortable group because I
had played so much with all of them over the
years. I know them all really well. It would
have been nice to play with one or more of the
real legends, but we all probably had more of a
comfortable day because we played with more
direct contemporaries. It was great fun and
reminded me how great it can be to play golf
on a great course with your mates. It ticked
every box.
In passing, I have to say I did hit the green
on the iconic par-3 16th. My hybrid – my
between 3-wood and 3-iron club – tee-shot
fi nished maybe 15-feet. But I missed the putt.
The most fun though was watching Michael
play. It was his fi rst time at Cypress and he was
enjoying it so much he couldn’t believe we had
played six holes already when we got to the
7th tee. He was genuinely shocked. His day
was disappearing way too fast, which is a great
gauge of how much you are enjoying a round.
Afterwards we had a casual lunch in the
clubhouse. Again, the banter was fl ying and a
lotofoldstoriesweretold.Andthefoodwas
outrageously good.
That evening we had dinner in the Beach
Club at Pebble Beach. If you have ever been to
the course or watched an event on television,
it is the building you see left of the 17th tee,
just to the right of the 4th fairway. Which is not
a bad spot, looking out over Stillwater Bay.
All of the signifi cant others were there too,
so we maybe had 60 people
in total. Jack got up and
spoke a little, stopping to
chat with one guy at every
table about their US Open
win and experiences. He
tended to choose the older
guys, which was fi ne. They
are way more interesting
than we are.
What struck me is that,
while we might get a little
blasé at times about things
like yet another dinner, this
was not one of those. I think I speak for every
past champion there when I say that we all
appreciate more than we can say how much
we enjoy being part of this little “team”. It was
so nice to know that we are all “into” being US
Open champions that much.
I sat next to Lou Graham, who won in 1975
at Medinah. Steve Jones and his wife, Bonnie
were there too. I’ve known both of them for
a long time. Steve is an interesting story. His
whole career was plagued by illness and injurybuthegotthejobdonewhenit mattered.As
an aside, we discovered that the week he won
at Oakland Hills, I won the German Amateur. I
think that made him feel old.
Scott Simpson, who won at the Olympic
Club in 1987, was also seated near me. My
biggest memory of Scott, however, is of Payne
Stewart beating him to the title at Hazeltine
in 1991. His metronome practice swing also
sticks in my mind. The last
member of our group was
Retief Goosen. He was
talking about the shit show
he and Stewart Cink had on
the last green at Southern
Hills in 2001. Both of them
missed from under two feet.
To sum up, I must admit
I did spend a few minutes
contemplating just what I
achieved at Winged Foot
in 2006. But I spent more
time thinking about what
everyone else had done. It’s nice to know that,
when you’ve won a major, no one can ever
take that away from you. Plus, the passing
of time makes it all seem more important. I
knew winning was a big deal at the time. But it
seems bigger now. It certainly means more to
me now, both emotionally and commercially.
Being a US Open champion has opened so
many doors for me.
And yes, I’ll be back for the nextreunion in
fi ve years time. Wouldn’t miss it.WE ALL
APPRECIATE
MORE THAN WE
CAN SAY HOW
MUCH WE ENJOY
BEING PART
OF THIS LITTLE
“TEAM”.