News
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Streelman, Hicks Surprise
Kevin Streelman, playing in his first Open, had a memorable first round. He's tied for the lead with Justin Hicks. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)
By David Shefter, USGA
San Diego – Get out those Players’ Guides. Move that mouse to the Player Bios section of usopen.com. Perhaps Google their names to see what information you can find.
Kevin Streelman and Justin Hicks don’t exactly conjure up the same emotions as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. But through one round of the 2008 U.S. Open, these two unheralded golfers sit atop the leader board.
Each carded 3-under-par 68s on the 7,643-yard, par-71 South Course at Torrey Pines for a one stroke lead over four others, including former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy. Amateur Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Calif., a member of the victorious 2007 USA Walker Cup team, and two-time Open champion Ernie Els were among a group of five players at 1-under 70. In all, 11 golfers broke par on an idyllic mid-June southern California day that featured sunshine and gentle breezes.
The marquee pairing of Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott drew the largest galleries and the trio did not disappoint by posting 71, 72 and 73, respectively. It was the first competitive round for Woods since finishing second at the 2008 Masters. Woods had been idle since arthroscopic knee surgery on April 15. He’s also the last first-round U.S. Open leader to win the title, something he accomplished both in 2000 (Pebble Beach) and 2002 (Bethpage State Park)
Streelman and Hicks, meanwhile, would both love to be in contention on Sunday afternoon. At least Streelman does have some previous experience with weekend pressure, albeit at a PGA Tour event, not a major. Back in January, the 29-year-old Illinois native and Duke University graduate got into the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines as a last-minute alternate, shot rounds of 67-69 on the North and South Courses, respectively, and earned a Saturday grouping with Woods and Stewart Cink, where he proceeded to shoot 75 to fall out of the pack. He wound up tied for 29th, his third-best finish among 16 PGA Tour events in his rookie season.
But nothing can compare to the last two weeks. First, Streelman got married to his fiancée, Courtney, in Marco Island, Fla., and then got a post-wedding present when he finally qualified for the Open after trying since his junior year of high school.
“I’ve gotten through locals quite a bit and I’ve got a couple USGA medals from being medalist,” said Streelman. “But I’ve never played very well at the sectional. So to play the way I did last week in Memphis was definitely encouraging.
“As far as the U.S. Open goes, it’s the biggest tournament in our country. It means everything to a golfer.”
Four years ago, Streelman was flat broke. He had $400 in his bank account when his sponsors back in Chicago abandoned him. The notice came while he was, ironically, in San Diego, and he has since found other financial backing. Then last fall, he was in jeopardy of not advancing from the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School when he birdied four of the last five holes to make the cut on the number.
“I think a lot of it is timing,” said Streelman, “and a lot of it is kind of your journey and your destiny. Fortunately, I’ve been very blessed and it’s been a fun ride.
“There’s definitely a lot of great players that not many know the names of out there. The hard thing with what we do is there’s no long-term contracts, as the NFL or NBA has. You have to perform each year, or else you don’t get to stay here.”
Hicks certainly understands the difficulty of the journey. The 33-year-old is playing in his first-ever PGA Tour-sanctioned event this week. Prior to 2007, the Michigan native who moved to south Florida 11 years ago, had competed on such star-studded circuits as 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. To make ends meet, he even worked in the bag rooms of several country clubs until he found individuals to financially back his PGA Tour dreams.
A year ago, Hicks qualified for the Nationwide Tour and finished 80th on the money list, but only the top 25 immediately graduate to the PGA Tour. So in 2008, he’s back on the Nationwide circuit, where he’s made three of six cuts. But even though he missed the cut last week at the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., the course set-up proved to be ideal preparation for the firm and fast conditions at Torrey Pines.
“Being 33, I think I’ve seen situations – maybe not necessarily like this, although I hope to see more of them,” said Hicks, who played college golf at the University of Michigan. “I know the one thing I am going to take away from this … is this is a marathon, not a sprint. Just because you played well one day in the Open doesn’t really get you anywhere in golf. It’s a four-day tournament.
“There’s no, ‘Hey, I led the Open one year, what’s that get me?’ It doesn’t get you anything.”
What leading the Open might do is clear up any confusion over his name. Earlier this year, another Justin Hicks, a teaching pro from San Diego, qualified for the Buick Invitational. Tour officials thought it was the Florida Hicks and withdrew his name from the Nationwide Tour’s stop in Panama, where he hoped to compete. By the time he tried to clear things up, it was too late.
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.”
Then again, Hicks, who qualified for the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock, is fortunate to even be playing Torrey Pines. At his local qualifier in Seneca, S.C., he lost a grueling seven-hole playoff to amateur Phillip Mollica for the final spot. 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 2008 AT&T Classic champion became fully exempt via the 2008 money list. In Columbus, Hicks again found himself in a playoff, with 11 players vying for seven spots, only this time he birdied the first hole to qualify for his second U.S. Open. His first-round 68 was seven shots better than his opener at Shinnecock.
“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, who posted seven birdies against four bogeys. “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.”
Three more challenging days of golf will determine that.
David Shefter is a USGA New Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.
