Sports
The Battalion
Page 5 • Wednesday, June 13, 2002
Defending champ ready for repeat at Open
1 0 2 N D
Farmingdale, N.Y. • June 13-16
Bethpage State Park
Basic Black
F or the first time in history, the U.S. Open will be played
at a daily-fee public course that is accessible to the
average golfer. The Black Course at Bethpage State Park
is a par 70 at 7,214 yards, the longest in U.S. Open history.
The U.S. Open is widely regarded as the toughest test in
golf, and for good reason. No other tournament puts such
a premium on par. Only 12 players have finished a
U.S. Open under par dating to 1995, the last time
it was held on Long Island at Shinnecock Hills /
A hole-by-hole
look at pJ y
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Television schedule (all times EDT)
•Thursday. June 13 and Friday. June 14.
11 a.m.-3 p m., 5p.m.-7p.m., ESPN; 3 p.m.-
5 p.m., NBC
• Saturday, June 15.12:30 p.m.-7 p.m., NBC
•Sunday. June 16, l:30p.m.-8 p.m., NBC
• Playoff (if necessary), Monday, June 17.
noon-2 p.m., ESPN; 2 p.m. to conclusion, NBC
, P
Xi®i
3*7
the course.
ra;
Past five U.S. Open winners
2001 Retlef Goosen
2000 Tiger Woods
1999 Payne Stewart
1998 Lee Janzen
1997 Ernie Els
HOLE 1 2 \ 3 ; 4 5 6 ^7 8 9 OUT
YARDS I430 389 20S) 517 451 408 489 210 418 3,517
PAR L *. 1.4 i..» i.*. J. 4 j_4 I 4 * . .4 I L.3S j
HOLE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN TOTAL
YARDS j 492 435 499:554 161 459 479 207 411 3,697 7.214
PAR 44 453 4 4 34 35 70
SOURCES USGA; Associated Pro,
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP)
— Relief Goosen wouldn’t
mind going through it all again
to keep his U.S. Open title.
Well, maybe he could do
without the 2-foot miss.
Goosen turned one of golf’s
greatest gaffes into a stirring tri
umph at last year’s Open, recov
ering from his botched gimme
on the 72nd hole to win a play
off with Mark Brooks the fol
lowing day.
The steely resolve Goosen
displayed during that ordeal pro
pelled him to new heights over
the year that followed.
The 33-year-old South
African won three times on the
European Tour, along with the
BellSouth Classic in Atlanta this
year. He Finished second to
Tiger Woods at the Masters,
falling apart on the final day, but
showed the kind of game that
should make him a regular con
tender in the majors.
“It’s been a great experi
ence,” Goosen said. “I’ve
enjoyed every minute of it. It
was tiring at times, but that
comes with winning the U.S.
Open. I wouldn’t mind winning
another one and going through
it again.”
After winning at Southern
Hills, Goosen was a bit over
whelmed by the whole experi
ence. It didn’t really sink in
until he was introduced as the
U.S. Open champion at his next
tournament.
Now, he is much more com
fortable in the role.
“I feel like a defending
champion,” he said. “People are
recognizing me a lot more than
they did in the past.”
Goosen is not likely to
extend his title for another year,
and not just because he has
slumped a bit in the last couple
of months.
The Open has not had a
defending champion repeat
since Curtis Strange in 1988-89,
and before that there was Ben
Hogan in 1950-51. Opens are
tough enough to win once, much
less twice in a row.
Even so, Goosen at least
plans to savor the next few days
of his reign.
“I’m still going to be intro
duced that way until Sunday,” he
said. “I think I’m really keen
and going to be determined out
there to try to do my best and
see if I can hang onto the title.
It’s going to be a tough one. But
they are all tough to win.”
Clearly, he’s not conceding
anything to Tiger Woods, David
Duval, Phil Mickelson or any of
the other favorites. Goosen
thrived in the stifling heat at
Southern Hills a year ago, strik
ing the ball brilliantly until he
got the putter in his hand at the
final hole on Sunday.
Goosen knocked his
approach just 12 feet from the
cup, on the low side of the green
— perfect position to take two
putts, pick up the trophy and
join an elite club.
Inexplicably, he powered the
first putt past the hole a couple
of feet, leaving him a testy
downhiller on the’slick greens.
He missed that one, too, staring
at the ball in disbelief while the
crowd gasped.
“It was a little bit of a
shock,” Goosen said. “You
stand there thinking you’ve got
two putts to win, then suddenly
you’re thinking, ’Two putts and
I’m out of here.’”
Goosen pulled himself
together, making a 3-footer to
force the playoff. Then he kept
reminding himself he still had
a chance to win his first major.
He slept well that night, awoke
in a refreshed state of mind
and cruised to a two-stroke
victory over Brooks in the 18-
hole playoff.
Would things have been dif
ferent if he didn’t beat Brooks?
How would Goosen have coped
with being another Jean van de
Velde, the Frenchman who blew
the 1999 British Open?
“I don’t know,” the South
African replied. “I’m here now. I
won that event and things have
gone great for me.”
He had a chance to win
another major at Augusta
National, going to the final day
tied with Woods. Goosen faded
to a 74, but insists that he would
See Goosen on page 6
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Aggies schedule
Miami, Air Force
The Texas A&M football team
will play a home-and-home
series with Miami and Air
Force in the future, A&M
Athletic Director Wally Groff
and head coach R.C. Slocum
announced Wednesday.
The series with the
Hurricanes begins when A&M
visits Miami on Sept. 15, 2007.
Miami will come to Kyle Field
in 2008. A&M and Miami's lone
meeting came in 1944 when
the Aggies pounded the
Hurricanes, 70-14, to give
Miami its worst loss in school
history.
A&M's series with Air Force
will start in College Station in
2008 and move to Colorado
Springs in 2009. A&M and Air
Force have never met on the
football field.
"I'm excited about playing
Miami and Air Force, and 1
think our players and fans will
enjoy those games," Slocum
said. "We have never shied
away from playing anyone. I
think our non-conference
schedules are as attractive as
you'll find anywhere."
Sweden advances with tie
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — First defend
ing champion France, now Argentina.
Two teams originally thought likely to win
the World Cup have made very early exits, and
the final barriers for both were
surprisingly strong Scandinavian
teams.
Anders Svensson sent a free
kick over a defensive wall and
past the goalkeeper in the 59th
minute. Then Sweden held on for a 1-1 tie
against the Argentines on Wednesday — all it
needed to advance to the second round.
When England tied 0-0 with Nigeria, it also
moved on. And Argentina joined France in
first-round humiliation — the French were
beaten by Denmark on Tuesday.
Also advancing, in dramatic fashion, was
Paraguay, which scored three times in the sec
ond half to take second place in Group B with
a 3-1 win over Slovenia. Spain, already into the
second round, beat South Africa
3-2, giving Paraguay the edge
over South Africa on goals
scored, 6-5.
Argentina had not such good
fortune.
“This is going to be very difficult for me to
forget,” said Argentina’s Juan Veron. “We’re
going to face a lot of criticism, but we gave all
we had on the field.”
It was not enough, mainly because of a 1-0
See Cup on page 6
2002 WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Naxt game* - Thursday, June 13 K-cHocfwd spot
Brazil vs. Costa Rica at Suwon. South Korea ' n second round
Turkey vs, China at Seoul. South Koroo
Italy vs. Mexico at Otta. Japan
Ecuador vs, Croatia at Yokohama. Japan
Group A
W
L
T
GF
OA
Pts
Group E
W
L
T
GF
GA
Pts
x-Denmark
2
0
1
5
2
7
x-Germany
2
0
1
11
1
7
x-Senogal
1
0
2
5
4
5
x-lmtand
1
0
2
5
?
5
Uruguay
0
1
2
4
5
2
Cameroon
1
1
1
2
3
4
France
0
2
1
0
3
1
Saudi Arabia
0
3
0
0
12
0
Group B
w
L
T
GF
GA
Pfct
Group F
w
L
T
GF
GA
Pt:i
x-Sps*n
3
<J
0
»
4
9
x-Sweden
1
0
2
4
3
5
xPamgcay
1
1
1
6
6
4
x-England
1
0
2
2
I
5
South Africa
1
\
1
5
S
4
Argorttina
1
1
1
2
2
4
Slovenia
0
3
0
2
7
0
Nigeria
0
2
1
1
3
1
Group C
w
L
T
GF
GA
Pts
Group G
w
L
T
GF
GA
Pts
x-Brn-n!
2
l?
0
t>
1
6
N^exico
2
0
0
3
1
6
Costa R»ca
1
Q
1
3
1
4
Italy
1
1
0
3
2
3
Turkoy
0
1
i
2
3
1
Croatia
1
1
0
2
2
3
Chira*
0
2
0
0
S
0
Ecuador
0
2
0
1
4
O
Group 0
vv
L
T
GF
GA
Pt*
Group H
w
L
T
GF
GA
Pts
South Korea 1
0
1
3
1
4
Japan
1
0
1
3
2
4
Unrtodi States
1
0
t
4
3
4
Russia
1
1
0
2
1
3
Portugal
1
1
0
6
3
3
Bctigfcum
0
0
2
3
3
2
Poland
0
2
0
0
6
0
Tlmlsla
0
1
1
1
3
1
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