90 gd | us open 2019
“Always, Jim. I can tell you
there’s a massive front moving
in from the east; looks like we’re
in for nasty weather. Speaking
of bad luck, I’m still unhappy
that Tiger beat me in the sec-
ond round.”
They heard an ominous
clank, and Norman’s chopper
wobbled for a moment.
“What was that, Greg?”
“No worries, Jim—guess
I got a little too close—Stevie
just dinged my fuselage with a
rock. Just gonna ease ’er back
up—all good fun; Stevie used
to work for me, you know—ah,
too bad, Tiger’s knocked his ap-
proach into that back-left bun-
ker, which explains the rock,
but Jack’s hit a cracking shot,
middle of the green.”
The chopper continued
swaying at the higher altitude.
“Greg, it looks like you’re still
having difficulty.”
“Good eye, Jim; seems that
rock punctured my fuel line.
Heading back to the pad, but
I’ll be airborne again soon as we
get this sorted. Shark One, over
and out.”
The chopper peeled away.
Tiger’s shot from the bunker,
on a downhill lie to a back-left
flag on a severely sloped green,
ran 20 feet past, and he missed
the comebacker. Jack eased his
birdie attempt to six inches,
and Tiger conceded the hole.
“And with that, Jack takes
his first lead of the day!” said
Nantz, cranking up the volume.
“As they continue on three of
the toughest par 4s anywhere,
we’re joined in the booth by our
good friend Johnny Miller.”
“That’s OK, Nick, I don’t
mind standing,” said Johnny.
Nick covered his mic and
said to the crew: “Can we get
another chair in here for ‘Mr.’
Miller please?”
“How do you see the match
so far, Johnny?” asked Nantz.
“Not very well if I can’t get
a chair,” said Johnny. “Actu-
ally it’s kind of a funny deal.
I said I’d come out of retire-
ment if Jack and Tiger ended
up in the final—by the way,
I totally believe Tiger beat me
in the first round; I played so
bad I got a get-well card from
the IRS—though that drive
he just hit on 9’s not his best
work, and I’m disappointed
Jack pulled his left there, butthat’s golf—which, as you know,
Nick, is just another name for
choking.”
“Why’s he saying this to me?”
Faldo whispered to Nantz.
“That’s just weird.”
Tiger’s second shot landed
short of the green, and Jack’s
approach released to 12 feet.
Tiger ran his chip dead at the
hole, and it creased the lip but
spun out. Jack conceded the par,
then bent over his birdie putt.
“I see Jack’s caddie Angelo’s
signing autographs in the gal-
lery,” said Miller. “Jack doesn’t
need any help reading this one... but he slides it by on the
right. Kinda surprising; that’s
an opportunity lost—Cheez
Whiz, Nick?”
“Straight from the can?
No thanks, Johnny, but knock
yourself out.”
“So as they halve the ninth
and make the turn,” said Nantz,
“the wind’s picking up and that
storm Greg Norman mentioned
is heading our way—Johnny, are
we in for some of that infamous
Pebble weather?”
“Could be, but you should
probably ask Jack ’cause you’ll
never hear him say, ‘I don’t
know’ about anything. I’m not
trying to be critical here, folks.”
“Well you’re doing a bang-
up job,” muttered Faldo.
Jack and Tiger crushed
their drives at 10 just off the
left bunker, then striped long
irons pin high. Tiger, grind-
ing over the line, slammed
his 15-footer dead center for
birdie and pumped his fist.
Jack, matching Tiger’s inten-
sity, watched his curl right to
the lip, where a gust of wind
stopped it one roll short.
“All square after 10!”
shouted Nantz. “Now let’s send
it over to Jack Whitaker, in the
Invitational’s media center.”
“Jim, golf has enjoyed an
eternal love affair with the
written word, and we’re blessed
to have here today all the
heavyweights from history.”
He passed two men in tweed
sharing gin and tonics:
“Englishmen Bernard Darwin
and British humorist P.G.
Wodehouse, creator of Bertie
and Jeeves.... L.A. Times
great Jim Murray, and the pride
of Texas, Golf Digest’s Dan Jen-
kins, with Ben Hogan,” while
the next pair enjoyed martinis:GI
SE
T’
S
★
TEST
OFALL
★
IN
IV
AT
IT
bracket 1
ben hogan
b. koepka
b. langer
b. nelson
billy casper
a. palmer
mickey wright
bobby locke
jimmy demaret
p. mickelson
walter hagen
c. middlecoff
nick faldo
greg norman
tiger woods
j. miller
follow the match play at golfdigest.com/go/goatwoods vs nicklausballesterosnicklauswoodspalmerwoods nicklauswatsonsneadtrevinoballesterosplayerjonesmcilroynicklauswoodsnormanhagenmickelsonwrightpalmernelsonhogansneadballesterosjonesnicklauswoodsmickelsonpalmerhogan2 And 1^2 And 11 uP3 And 21 uP2 uP4 And 31 uP1 uP3 And 11 uP2 And 13 And 12 And 11 uP2 And 11 uP1 uP3 And 14 And 21 uP2 And 12 And 12 uP2 And 12 uP3 And 11 uP2 And 12 And 1goat!match-play results leading to the finalbracket 2jack nicklaus
harry vardonrory mcilroy
gene sarazenjordan spieth
bobby jonesgary player
ernie elss. ballesteros
hale irwinlee trevino
r. floydd. johnson
sam sneadp. thomson
tom watson