News
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Hicks Surprise Leader
By David Shefter, USGA
San Diego – Your first-round leader of the 2008 U.S. Open is a golfer who has played such popular circuits as the now-defunct South Florida Golf Tour, the Golden Bear Tour, Minor League Tour, Montgomery Sports Tour and the Maverick Tour, where the solvency was such that the owner once bounced him a $25,000 first-place check. He even spent time working in bag rooms at south Florida country clubs to make ends meet.
And even though Justin Hicks now competes on the more recognizable Nationwide Tour, people still confuse him with a local San Diego teaching pro with the same name who qualified for this year’s PGA Tour Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.
But in a five-hour span Thursday at Torrey Pines, Hicks suddenly didn’t need a driver’s license for proof of identity. With his name prominently displayed on the leader board, people had reason to shout his name from behind the ropes. Shooting a 3-under-par 68 on a challenging U.S. Open venue will instantly upgrade your identity.
“I heard somebody out there on about the sixth hole as I was walking by say something about you're leading the U.S. Open, or that’s Justin, he’s leading the U.S. Open,” said Hicks.
The 11-year pro from Michigan, who now resides in Royal Palm Beach, Fla., vaulted up the leader board by registering seven birdies against four bogeys to take a one-stroke lead over Rocco Mediate, Stuart Appleby and Eric Axley at the midway point of the first round. Seventy-eight other golfers had afternoon starting times.
Amateur Rickie Fowler, of Murrieta, Calif., and a member of the 2007 USA Walker Cup team, was in a group of three golfers at 1-under 70.
Even with almost perfect weather conditions – the morning marine layer made way for bright sunshine and gentle breezes – only seven players broke par on the 7,643-yard layout, and none of them were named Tiger or Phil.
The marquee grouping of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott attracted a massive gallery, but the best they could do was an even-par 71 from Mickelson. Woods had a pair of double bogeys en route to a 72 and Scott shot 73.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the course, Hicks competed in relative obscurity. It wasn’t until after he signed his scorecard that he attracted a crowd of reporters seeking comments and background. In fact, the 33-year-old Hicks was so focused on his round that he was unaware he had seven birdies or didn’t record a single par over his first nine holes (he started on 10).
Then again, Hicks is fortunate to even be in the U.S. Open. At his local qualifying site in Seneca, S.C., he lost a seven-hole playoff to amateur Phillip Mollica. A week later, Hicks received a phone call from the USGA that Ryuji Imada’s sectional qualifying spot in Columbus, Ohio, had become available after the PGA Tour player became fully exempt via the 2008 money list. Hicks again found himself in a playoff, with 11 players vying for seven slots, only this time he birdied the first hole to qualify for his second U.S. Open. In 2004, he missed the cut at Shinnecock Hills, shooting 75-71.
“For me, it’s a great round, and it’s a U.S. Open, and I’ve never been able to say that I’ve been under par at a U.S. Open before, which is a great accomplishment,” said Hicks. “But at the same time, I know there’s three days left here, and I don’t just want to be another guy that shows up and disappears.”
Nothing in Hicks’s recent history suggests such a round was in him. In six Nationwide Tour events this season, he’s only made three cuts, with his best showing coming at Livermore Valley (28th). He had hoped to play in Panama in January, but Nationwide Tour officials withdrew his name when they saw a Justin Hicks entered in the Buick Invitational the same week. Hicks informed the Nationwide Tour that it was another Justin Hicks. But it was too late to make the change.
In a curious turnabout, the other Justin Hicks followed Hicks during a practice round this week and the competing Hicks showed off by holing his approach at the par-4 second for an unofficial eagle.
“Companies got us mixed up,” said Hicks. “Checks were going to my place; checks were going to his place. The Tour got us mixed up. There was all kinds of fun stuff going on there.”
Amazingly enough, Hicks’ first par didn’t come until his 10th hole of the day. The roller-coaster first nine included an approach shot at No. 14 that glanced off a sprinkler head and into the hazard behind and left of the green. It started a two-hole stretch of bogeys that was followed by three consecutive birdies to close his opening nine.
“I was able to say … it’s a U.S. Open and some crazy stuff is going to happen,” said Hicks, who hit 12 of 14 fairways. “I know it’s a marathon and not a sprint, and our goal is to keep playing good, steady golf, and try to be standing here on Sunday night.”
Before qualifying for the Nationwide Tour in 2007, Hicks bounced around every conceivable mini-tour in Florida. When he first moved to the Sunshine State, he didn’t have the funds to compete on a regular basis so he took jobs at country clubs before finally meeting some people who were willing to back him financially. Perhaps now, some 11 years removed from his collegiate playing days at the University of Michigan, Hicks is beginning to realize his potential.
“My career has progressed fairly nicely,” said Hicks. “I like to think things are moving in a good direction and I’m learning a lot, and hopefully I can get out there [PGA Tour] sooner than later.”
Mediate, who has battled a bad back for many years on the PGA Tour, and Appleby each got to three under par before giving a stroke back late in their rounds. Appleby bogeyed the par-3 eighth – his 17th of the day – while Mediate suffered a bogey at No. 7 (his 16th of the round).
“I’m ecstatic,” said Mediate, who like Hicks, made the field via the 11-for-7 playoff at the Columbus, Ohio, sectional. “Anywhere around par for three or four days is going to be fine. Believe me, I don’t know what the winning score is going to be, but when it all comes to the end, it will be around par.”
Axley, a left-hander who won the 2006 Valero Open, highlighted his 69 with an eagle-3 at the 18th hole, the only eagle recorded on the hole among the morning wave. And for an added twist, he also came out of that 11-for-7 playoff in Columbus. He also has failed to make the cut in his three previous U.S. Open starts. After his start Thursday, that trend likely will come to an end.
"In previous Opens, I think I would say I got a little jittery and a little out of my game," said the 34-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn. "But I feel real comfortable over the ball right now. I'm just swinging better."
David Shefter is a USGA New Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.
