US Open farce as seventh hole becomes unplayable

THE US OPEN was almost reduced to farce yesterday as the infamous par-three seventh became all but unplayable.

After the first two groups went through, officials quickly decided to water the green between every group to make it playable.

The strong winds and sunshine had dried the green to near concrete and a lottery for the players.

Kevin Stadler was the first to play the hole and he could only look in horror as his two foot putt slid past the hole, kept rolling, and finally vanished off the green. Stadler staggered off with a triple.

Playing partner J.J. Henry had no better luck. He too had a triple bogey. In the second group, Cliff Kresge also carded a triple. Playing partner Billy Mayfair managed a bogey. Enough was enough.

The hoses were ordered and play delayed for 10 minutes as water was poured onto the putting surface.

Ernie Els, looking for his third US Open title, had warned that the course risked becoming unplayable because of the wind and sun.

"Seven is unplayable," complained the world number two. "The majority of the field is going to make four there, which is ridiculous."

Fred Funk, only three off the lead, was equally upset about the hole. "It's all but unplayable. I just don't know how you play it," said Funk.

After the watering, Padraig Harrington and K.J. Choi, the second group through, both parred the hole.

The decision to water the green brought howls of protest from the New York golf fans crowded ground the green relishing the disasters striking the players.

Open officials admitted making mistakes in the set-up at Shinnecock's controversial seventh green but denied they had deliberately made it unfair.

The seventh was modelled after North Berwick's famous Redan hole in Scotland with the green sloping from right to left and from front to back. Saturday's pin position was on the left which meant it was virtually impossible to get the ball to stop near the hole.

Walter Driver, the chairman of the USGA's championship committee admitted that a member of the Shinnecock Hills grounds crew had mistakenly rolled the green on Saturday morning.

"The instructions were not to roll it," Driver said. "I don't know how much difference that one rolling made but obviously we would not have rolled it."