For a while, Martin Kaymer appeared hell bent on throwing away this year's Players Championship. Pootling along the back nine serenely with a healthy three-shot lead over Jim Furyk, his progress was halted by a storm. And when he returned, it soon became clear his equilibrium had been knocked out of whack by the wait. With Furyk already in the clubhouse, feet up and waiting, Kaymer double bogeyed 15. Then at the famous island green at 17, he only just stayed dry with his tee shot, before fluffing a chip from the fringe. He was left with a 30-foot par putt, and only a one-shot lead. Not only because the lightness was fading fast did it start looking grim. But no matter. Kaymer dug into the old reserves. He drained the par putt, then played 18 in the solid style to prevail by one stroke. He'd battled to come through, and had the unofficial 'fifth major' in his bag, alongside the PGA Championship he'd already won back in 2010.
Of course we already knew he had der Hoden, because he'd sunk the winning putt at the Miracle of Medinah in 2012, when his game and his confidence were in tatters.But the former world number one really is back now, as yesterday's near-faultless 65, an opening round of steely-eyed wonder around a stunning (and stunningly difficult) golf course, proved. Field, watch out! Give this man a three-shot head start at your peril!
Cosmic Kaymer, on his way to an out-of-this-world 65
Still three days and 54 holes left, of course, so plenty of time for everyone to catch Kaymer up. Or wait for him to drop back into the field, this is the US Open after all, at the treacherous Pinehurst No2, with its epic fairways, sandy scrubland, and greens like VW Beetles. There's quite a cast of players from the top drawer who also shot sub-par rounds yesterday waiting to pounce: former major champions in Graeme McDowell and Keegan Bradley, major champions in waiting such as Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, Harris English and Jordan Spieth.
And the field is gloriously bunched, with plenty of big names a further shot or two back, but still within striking distance, especially if Kaymer stumbles today: Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, Paul Casey, Jason Dufner, Justin Rose,
-5: Kaymer-2: Na, McDowell, De Jonge, Quinn-1: Snedeker, Stenson, Kuchar, Todd, Spieth, Matsuyama, D Johnson, English, Bradley, Molinari
Phil Mickelson, escaping from stuff, which is what he does
That's an awfully long-winded way of saying anything could happen. But it could! It really could. Gotta love golf. Gotta love the US Open. Gotta love Pinehurst No2. This is on! TODAY'S TEE TIMES
Starting at the 1st in the morning... 6.45am (11.45am BST): Alex Cejka, Graeme Storm, David Oh6.56am (11.56am BST): Oliver Fisher, Casey Wittenberg, Andres Echavarria7.07am (12.07pm BST): Joe Ogilvie, Mark Wilson, Ken Duke7.18am (12.18pm BST): Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas7.29am (12.29pm BST): Brendon de Jonge, Kevin Stadler, Shane Lowry7.40am (12.40pm BST): Luke Donald, Harris English, Paul Casey7.51am (12.51pm BST): J.B. Holmes, Gary Woodland, Graham DeLaet8.02am (1.02pm BST): Retief Goosen, Geoff Ogilvy, Lucas Glover8.13am (1.13pm BST): Bernd Wiesberger, Hyung-Sung Kim, Toru Taniguchi8.24am (1.24pm BST): Ryan Palmer, Rod Pampling, Kevin Streelman8.35am (1.35pm BST): Azuma Yano, Ryan Blaum, David Gossett8.46am (1.46pm BST): Simon Griffiths, Fran Quinn, Donald Constable8.57am (1.57pm BST): Hunter Stewart (a), Sam Love (a), Zac BlairStarting at the 10th in the morning... 6.45am (11.45am BST): Garth Mulroy, Steven Alker, Bobby Gates6.56am (11.56am BST): Niclas Fasth, Kiyoshi Miyazato, Hudson Swafford7.07am (12.07pm BST): John Senden, Nicolas Colsaerts, Brooks Koepka7.18am (12.18pm BST): Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Victor Dubuisson7.29am (12.29pm BST): Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard, Y.E. Yang7.40am (12.40pm BST): Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel7.51am (12.51pm BST): Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen8.02am (1.02pm BST): Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer8.13am (1.13pm BST): Hunter Mahan, Francesco Molinari, Jamie Donaldson8.24am (1.24pm BST): Bo Van Pelt, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Seung-yul Noh8.35am (1.35pm BST): Danny Willett, Cory Whitsett (a), Luke Guthrie8.46am (1.46pm BST): Kevin Tway, Jim Renner, Chris Doak8.57am (1.57pm BST): Cody Gribble, Chris Thompson, Andrew Dorn (a)Starting at the 1st in the afternoon... 12.30pm (5.30pm BST): Henrik Norlander, Lucas Bjerregaard, Rob Oppenheim12.41pm (5.41pm BST): Chad Collins, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Kevin Kisner12.52pm (5.52pm BST): Erik Compton, Pablo Larrazabal, Scott Langley1.03pm (6.03pm BST): Patrick Reed, Ryan Moore, Kevin Na1.14pm (6.14pm BST): Boo Weekley, D.A. Points, Stephen Gallacher1.25pm (6.25pm BST): Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera, David Toms1.36pm (6.36pm BST): Justin Rose, Matthew Fitzpatrick (a), Phil Mickelson1.47pm (6.47pm BST): Chris Kirk, Russell Henley, Brendon Todd1.58pm (6.58pm BST): Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler2.09pm (7.09pm BST): Kenny Perry, Jeff Maggert, Kevin Sutherland2.20pm (7.20pm BST): Wen-Chong Liang, Maximilian Kieffer, Shiv Kapur2.31pm (7.31pm BST): Smylie Kaufman, Maverick McNealy (a), Brandon McIver (a)2.42pm (7.42pm BST): Anthony Broussard, Will Grimmer (a), Nicholas LindheimStarting at the 10th in the afternoon... 12.30pm (5.30pm BST): Daniel Berger, Brett Stegmaier, Cameron Wilson (a)12.41pm (5.41pm BST): Marcel Siem, Brian Stuard, Andrea Pavan12.52pm (5.52pm BST): Matt Every, Roberto Castro, Matt Jones1.03pm (6.03pm BST): Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Brandt Snedeker1.14pm (6.14pm BST): Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar, Lee Westwood1.25pm (6.25pm BST): Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell1.36pm (6.36pm BST): Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thongchai Jaidee1.47pm (6.47pm BST): Nick Watney, Jonas Blixt, Joost Luiten1.58pm (6.58pm BST): Billy Horschel, Billy Hurley III, Robert Allenby2.09pm (7.09pm BST): Aaron Baddeley, Oliver Goss (a), Aron Price2.20pm (7.20pm BST): Tom Lewis, Craig Barlow, Justin Thomas2.31pm (7.31pm BST): Robby Shelton (a), Matthew Dobyns, Brady Watt2.42pm (7.42pm BST): Clayton Rask, Brian Campbell (a), Nicholas Mason
Post By http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/13/us-open-2014-second-round-live-report
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