Avoiding the warning sign would be a good start for Appleby and Scott
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday June 17, 2009
THE sign on the first tee reads: "WARNING The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Golf Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers." A cemetery is just a good one wood from the clubhouse, but it's not known if those buried there are casualties of the course.Adam Scott and Stuart Appleby's golf games have been in poor health this year, but are far from terminal. Even so, Bethpage Black, measuring 7426 yards (6790 metres) for the US Open starting on Thursday, is not the ideal layout for those struggling with their games and the resultant lack of confidence.Appleby on Monday put his form slump more colourfully than Scott, saying: "I said to Joe [his caddie, Joe Damiano] just the other day, 'I've made more cuts shaving in the morning this year than I have on the golf course'."A slight exaggeration, perhaps, unless his hand has been particularly shaky some mornings. The count actually is five missed cuts from 14 tournaments with a best finish of tied eighth in the Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida. Next best is tied 30th in the Masters, so you get the drift.He's played every Presidents Cup since Royal Melbourne in 1998, but he won't be later in the year if the big dipper continues. Or maybe International captain Greg Norman will give him the nod as a captain's choice just for old time's sake."I'm close, but so far I'm just not getting results. A lot of good things are going on, but nothing I can put pen to paper and write a good score down," said the man who has eight PGA Tour victories.Appleby has an enviable record in majors. This week it is No.50 in a row, starting with the US Masters in 1997. He's just part of the furniture come major weeks."I'm happy to be here, but I wouldn't think this week is when things might turn around because my form has been so indifferent. I wouldn't make any predictions. I've just got to get over this hump and this US Open presents its own humps to those you've already got," Appleby said. "It's not like I'm swinging horrendously, but I am finding it difficult. I can't be in the wrong shed. I'm in the right shed with the right tools, and I'm just trying to start the old battery to crank the whole thing over."Scott flew into New York on Sunday after practising at the Queenwood club, in the stockbroker belt just outside London, for the past week, attempting to reconstruct the swing that took him to world No.3 a couple of years.Now ranked 42nd, it's time to forget the tweak. He worked on the practice range on Monday morning with coach Butch Harmon and then went out on course with Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and young Irish whiz Rory McIlroy in the afternoon, with Harmon in tow observing."I think I've got it sorted," said Scott, whose year began promisingly when he made the first four cuts on the PGA Tour and finishing tied second in the Hawaiian Open, but has since been mediocre with seven missed cuts in eight tournaments. "It should be a fun week. This is a helluva golf course, and a helluva crowd."Scott's right there on both counts. The last time the US Open was played here in 2002, the champion, Tiger Woods, was the only player under par and 25,000 or so golf fans were here yesterday and it was only Monday."It's been a shocking year, I've played woefully and it's been extremely disappointing to work so hard and get nothing out of my game," Scott said.Golf history is littered with those who've tried to take the game to a higher plane, only to see it all disintegrate. Look no further than Ian Baker-Finch.Another Australian, Geoff Ogilvy, has nearly picked up writer's cramp this week signing the many items thrust his way for autograph. He won the US Open in New York in 2006, at Winged Foot to the north of New York City, and now he is south on Long Island. Some of the items he signed were gate tickets from Winged Foot. They just wanted the champion's signature to add to the fact they'd been there."It's the same people, the same vibes. It's really cool," Ogilvy said. "They're vocal, they're loud and it's great. They're going to attach themselves to Phil [Mickelson, whose wife, Amy, is beginning her battle with breast cancer] this week."The USGA has lengthened Bethpage 212 yards since 2002, but the rumour is that officials may consider bringing forward some of the tees because of the recent long wet. Ogilvy's assessment of the course is "a normal PGA Tour layout, but on steroids".Rookie Jones unfazed Page 33
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald