Champion Simpson Is No Prophet : Despite Predictions, He Finds Himself on Top After Shooting 66

The day before the U.S. Open began, defending champion Scott Simpson virtually guaranteed that he would not repeat, which means his only similarity to Pat Riley is that they both have nice hair.

After Simpson had shot a 69 in the first round, he again ruled himself out.

But when his 5-under-par 66 gave Simpson a 135 total and a one-stroke lead at the midway point of the tournament Friday, he realized he had not only played a round of golf, he had just undergone an attitude adjustment.

“It’s definitely changing,” Simpson said. “I didn’t think it was very likely. Now, I guess it’s a little more likely.”

On a cool, cloudy day at The Country Club, Simpson tied the Open record with a 30 on the front nine, survived an ugly double bogey at No. 11 and then calmly announced: “It’s my last few days as Open champion unless something weird happens,” he said.

Well, maybe it already has. For starters, there was Mac O’Grady. The day began early for him when he visited the home of 1913 Open champion Francis Ouimet before dawn, rubbed his hands on the house and broke off some twigs from a tree in the front yard. These he carried with him during his round, trying to get in touch with Ouimet’s spirit.

Unfortunately for him, the tactic failed, as had the seance O’Grady conducted Thursday night, when he attempted to reach Ouimet’s spirit. He said he got Harry Houdini’s instead, which is probably the seance equivalent of hitting beyond the green. O’Grady shot a 72 and missed the cut of 146 by one shot, as did Jack Nicklaus, whose spirit was willing but whose game was weak.

There was more apparent weirdness. The two top scores belonged to Simpson and Larry Mize, who combined to win half of the major tournaments in 1987, then dropped into the bunker of obscurity.

Mize, with a 67 and an 18-hole total of 136, said he is playing confidently, maybe the same as when he won the Masters last year.

“I’m not shaking in my boots,” he said.

According to Bob Gilder, who shot a 69 and lurks just two shots off the lead at 137 with Curtis Strange, Simpson’s original assessment of his chances was accurate. Gilder said he expects everybody else to begin experiencing sudden throat problems the next two days.

“I think the choke factor is going to get to some people,” Gilder said. “It’s going to be tougher on Scott than it is on me. He’s in the lead now. It’s a different psych when you’re up front. There’s no way to go but down.”

Simpson said there is another way.

‘I could go farther ahead, too,” he said.

If he had let it, Simpson’s score could have shifted into reverse as he played the 11th hole. His second shot, a 2-iron, clunked a tree and dropped into the water. Simpson hit a wedge to 10 feet, but missed the putt for a double-bogey 6.

Simpson recovered nicely with birdies on 14 and 16, however, then closed with a bogey on 18 when he hit a 5-iron over the green and two-putted.

Simpson said he is not at all rattled. Each time he reaches into his bag he finds something besides a club: “Inner contentment and peace.”

Whereas Simpson left the course with the lead in his back pocket, Greg Norman left with his arm in a sling. Norman, one of the favorites, withdrew because of a possible torn ligament in his left wrist. He hurt himself when he swung and hit a rock on the ninth hole.

Norman would probably just as soon avoid playing with Mize again. Every time he does, something bad happens. Last year, Norman watched Mize chip in from 140 feet to beat him in the Masters.

This time, playing in the same threesome with Mize, the hurt moved from Norman’s heart to his wrist.

“I hit straight down and I hit the rock and the ball at the same time,” Norman said. “Something had to give. I guess it was going to be me and not the rock.”

Said Mize: “When he hit that shot, it sounded like he hit a boulder.”

Norman winced with pain but finished the hole. When he hit a 6-iron from the rough on 10, though, he knew he had to quit.

“I wasn’t going to try and persevere on and hurt the rest of the year,” he said.

Norman was treated at the medical tent, then he caught an afternoon flight to Orlando, Fla., to check with Dr. Norton Baker, his orthopedic surgeon.

Norman was four over par for the tournament and one over after the front nine when he withdrew, but even if he was having trouble negotiating his trip through the rolling fairways and the elevated greens, others did not.

Mize said he received a greeting early in his round, at No. 8, when he birdied from 60 feet.

“It was a kind of ‘Hello,’ ” Mize said.

But Mize said goodby for the day with a bogey on 18, which took some of the gloss off birdies on 14, 15 and 17, and prevented him from tying Simpson for the lead.

Actually, Mize was lucky to get away with only a bogey. His drive hit a fairway bunker. He skulled the ball from there with what he called a “yucko” 5-iron and put it in the deep rough. Then he hit a trap in front of the green and two-putted.

Strange completed his round shortly before play was called because of darkness at 7:39 p.m., nearly 13 hours after the first tee time, with two groups still on the course.

Strange began the day two shots back but kept pace with a 4-under 67 to remain two strokes off the pace. When Strange birdied 14, he had matched Mize at six under for the tournament, but gave it back after he drove behind a tree on 15 and bogeyed.

Gilder also missed a chance at tying Simpson when he misread a putt on 18. It was an “erratic,” round of six birdies and four bogeys for Gilder, who not surprisingly had a mixed reaction to his play.

At least Gilder was more fortunate than Sandy Lyle and Mike Nicolette, with whom he had shared the first-round lead. Lyle, 6 under through 11 holes, had three bogeys the rest of the way and finished his round at par for a two-day total of 139.

“A 71 is disappointing, but I’m still in the hunt,” Lyle said. “That’s the main thing.”

Lyle is tied with Fred Couples, who shot 67, Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo, who also shot 67. D. A. Weibring and Jay Haas are another stroke back at 140.

Nicolette, caught by darkness with one hole to play, was two over par for the day and one under for the tournament.

But at least he made the cut, which cannot be said for Nicklaus, Bernhard Langer, Dan Pooley, Gary Koch, Gil Morgan, Andy North, Mike Reid and Gary Player.

Open Notes

The United States Golf Assn., which runs the tournament, somehow figured the cut and announced pairings for today’s third round even though the second round had not been completed. The USGA put both Mike Nicolette and Steve Bowman, who hadn’t finished by dark, in the pairings, assuming that each will par his last hole early this morning before the third round begins.

If that’s the case, it will put Bowman at 142 and Nicolette at 141, safely within the 146 cut. . . . However, Richard Cromwell got left out. Cromwell was six over with four holes to play. Four pars would have given him 148. But if he had birdied twice, Cromwell would have made the cut. He didn’t get the chance to find out.