
UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio -- U.S. captain
Davis Love III won't have to watch potential Ryder Cup players on
television at the U.S. Open on television. He'll be playing
alongside them. Love qualified for the U.S. Open for the third time
in the last six years with a 2-under 139 at Scioto Country Club and
Ohio State's Scarlet Course. Love, who finished tied for 16th at
the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance on
Sunday, said it never crossed his mind to just bag it and go home
rather than extend an already long week by playing 36 more holes.
"No. Like last year, statistically I hit the ball well enough at
the U.S. and the British to win," he said. "I definitely want to
play." The 48-year-old Love has won 20 tournaments around the
world, including the 1997 PGA Championship. He continues to play
well, despite fighting off injuries, family obligations and an
entire generation of younger players. He was among 16 players to
qualify from the biggest of the 11 sectional qualifying sites
across the country on Monday.
One of them won't even get started until Tuesday. There was so
much rain in Memphis, Tenn., that no one played more than a few
minutes. USGA officials hope the course is dry enough to squeeze in
36 holes. The U.S. Open is June 14-17 at The Olympic Club in San
Francisco, and the 48-year-old Love will be making his 23rd
appearance in his national open. Others who qualified from Scioto
and Scarlet included medalist Charlie Wi, Kevin Streelman, D.A.
Points, Rod Pampling and Steve Marino, who only last week returned
from a four-month break to recovery from a bad shoulder. Love still
hasn't forgotten the details from a year ago, however, when he
three-putted the last hole he played at the Crowne Plaza
Invitational at Colonial that cost him an automatic spot in the
Open at Congressional. He had to go through qualifying to get in
the field. "I seem to play well in the qualifying because I don't
have a scoreboard to look at," he said. "You just play." Love has
been in captain mode off and on since being selected for the
matches this fall. He has been assessing potential players for the
American side and has played with several. One of them, former
British Open champ Ben Curtis, was in his threesome on Monday,
although Curtis faded on his second 18 and failed to make the Open
field. Perhaps the biggest cheer of the day came as darkness was
falling at Scioto Country Club. On the fourth playoff hole to
decide the last qualifiers, 42-year-old Youngstown, Ohio, teaching
pro Dennis Miller's 20-foot putt from the fringe stopped on the lip
of the cup. After the gallery of a few hundred groaned and Miller
slowly started to walk to his ball, if fell -- touching off a huge
celebration. Now Miller, a third alternate whose name did not even
appear on the tee sheet, will be playing in his first U.S. Open --
and will likely have to get someone to fill in for him back at the
course at Mill Creek Metroparks in Youngstown. "I can't believe
what just happened," Miller said. "That was pretty incredible."
Most of the rest of the field in the qualifier in suburban
Columbus, Ohio, was filled with PGA TOUR pros who had just competed
in the nearby Memorial. Among those who did not qualify were two of
the contenders at Jack Nicklaus' tournament. Rory Sabbatini had the
lead with four holes left on Sunday but was overtaken when Tiger
Woods birdied three holes, including the 16th on an improbable
50-foot chip-in from thick grass behind the green. Spencer Levin
led going into the final round at Muirfield Village and was still
atop the leaderboard with nine holes left but fell apart on the
back nine with three bogeys and a double-bogey in a 75. Sabbatini
shot a 70 in his first 18 at Scarlet, but sagged to a 76 in the
afternoon to fall short. Levin, who could have earned an automatic
berth in the Open had he finished in the top two instead of tying
for fourth at the Memorial, followed a 72 at Scioto with a 74 at
Scarlet. Levin still has a chance to make the U.S. Open if he can
crack the top 60 in the world after this week. Wi was the medalist
by three strokes. He opened with a 7-under-par 65 at Scarlet and
followed up with a 67 at Scioto. "This is only my second one. It's
not easy to get in," said Wi, a California native whose only
previous appearance was at Bethpage Black three years ago. "I
always flew home Sunday night because if I missed (in the
qualifier) I was already home. This worked out better. I took the
strategy that if I missed I'd be home for two weeks. That's
probably not a good strategy." But it worked out fine.