Rory, Rory, Halleluja

U.S. Open at Congressional on Friday. What initially seemed like a work chore, turned into a pretty incredible experience. Armed with a rundown of who's who by the Seedling, I was at least going to have something to say. 6:30am Gaithersburg bus parking lot, a well oiled machine I have to say. Marched through the gates at 7:00, quick brekkie, and off to the sixth hole, waiting for Rory, right across the water hazard by the green, front row. First group comes through... A guy named Gonzales stands out, not because of his play, but because he looks like a Metallica roadie. Then an hour later Rory comes round the bend, along with Phil, the old warhorse stomping down the fairway. Rory birdies, records are being smashed. 30 feet away, he looks composed, relaxed, almost like some dude who wandered on the course. Not having ever been much into professional golf before (kind of a stuffy, white and nonathletic set ... and Tiger) this is new for me: the breed of young, confident, humble, yet supremely skilled players out there... Makes me think that the current generation of kids in general seems to be just years ahead compared to us (or me anyway) when we were that age. We tag along with Rory for a fee holes but it gets too crowded so we move to the first hole where Fowler and Mahan are feeing off. Later to the 15th to see Day, Els and Funk. It's awesome how freely you can move around. 4pm, Rory double bogies the 18th (a nasty hole, 523 yard Par 4, downhill fairway to a peninsula-like green, yikes), three Heinekens later, I call it a day. Would have liked to see Bubba bomb one out there, but alas, time to get on the bus and take a nap. Speculation about whether Rory can keep it together is rampant, turns out he's just fine. More than that, he finishes something like 8 up. Can't wait to see more of him, Day and Fowler in the months ahead...

This was posted using the new Blogger+ and my tiny iPhone keyboard... That's why it took me 2 weeks.