GOLF / THOMAS BONK : Oakmont to be Rough, Tight and Fast for Open

The U.S. Open is a little more than two weeks away from its shrunken-fairway, roller-coaster-green, ball-eating-rough, four-day joy-ride through Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh. Usually, it’s a blast there, except if you happened to be unlucky enough to lose your ball in rough that is only slightly shorter than every club in your bag.

Oakmont isn’t exactly a place for the faint of heart. The U.S. Golf Assn. has ruled that the rough be no more than four to five inches long, a far cry from 1983, the last time the Open was played there, when six-inch rough was standard and so was the complaining from the players.

The fairways are so narrow, you have to turn sideways to walk them. Actually, they are about 30 yards wide, so driving straight will be at even more of a premium than usual.

If that’s not enough, there are the greens. The only thing faster are the cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which oddly bisects the course and puts holes Nos. 2 through 8 on the other side of the highway.

It’s clear that somebody is going to pay the price for these conditions. It has happened before. The only thing that golf admires more than a great winner is a great loser, and Oakmont has had its share of the latter.

In fact, two of them are playing in this Open--Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.

Palmer, who won his only U.S. Open title in 1960 at Cherry Hills in Denver when his closest challenger was an amateur named Jack Nicklaus, probably could have won two more, in 1962 and 1973, both at Oakmont. On the final day in 1962, Palmer and Nicklaus were tied with five holes to play, and both parred each hole to finish tied, although Palmer could have ended it. He missed birdie putts of less than 15 feet on Nos. 14, 17 and 18.

Nicklaus won the playoff the next day with a 71, three strokes ahead of Palmer. It was Nicklaus’ first Open as a professional.

Palmer was tied for the lead after 54 holes of the 1973 U.S. Open at three under par. His only problem was 26-year-old Johnny Miller, who was three over par and getting ready to shoot an Open-record 63 to deny Palmer again. Palmer’s fourth round included a missed short birdie putt at No. 11 and three consecutive bogeys, after he looked at the scoreboard and was stunned to see Miller leading.

Watson arrived at Oakmont as the defending U.S. Open champion in 1983 and was well aware of what evil the course could conjure up. Watson had lost the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont when he blew a five-shot lead after 54 holes--and a four-shot lead with nine to play. Watson double-bogeyed No. 10, shot a three-over-par 38 on the back nine and lost to John Mahaffey in a playoff.

Then in the ’83 Open, Oakmont’s back nine got to Watson again. He had a three-shot lead with nine holes to go, but came home with another 38 and lost to Larry Nelson by one stroke.

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Abandon ship? The Queen Mary Open has been around for 23 years. It’s the tournament where such players as Fred Couples, Craig Stadler, Scott Simpson and Mark O’Meara made their pro debuts, but chances are it won’t be back in 1995.

Doug Ives, who founded the event and remains the chairman, said the Queen Mary Open might ship out if he can’t find a sponsor for the event, which finished its 1994 run Saturday at Lakewood Country Club.

“This isn’t scare tactics, this is reality,” Ives said. “I’m tired of subsidizing it.”

Other players who made their pro debuts in the Queen Mary Open are Corey Pavin, Bob Tway, Keith Clearwater, Jay Don Blake, Duffy Waldorf, Bill Glasson and Dan Forsman.

Not only does the Queen Mary Open have a rich tradition, it also carries a $100,000 purse. But Ives said sponsor dollars are drying up and county fees are too high.

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Add Queen Mary: Mac O’Grady played in the tournament at various times under three names--Mac O’Grady, Phil McGleno, Phil O’Grady.

Golf Notes

Jamaal Wilkes, Jerry West, Dick Butkus, James Worthy, Doug Christie, Luc Robitaille, Willie Gault, Steve Garvey, Elgin Baylor, Johnny Mathis, Cathy Lee Crosby, Andy Garcia, James Garner, James Woods, Peter Falk and others will play in the fifth Toyota/Jerry Buss celebrity golf tournament Monday at Riviera. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Lakers-YMCA Junior League. Tickets for the dinner and auction are $65. Details: (310) 419-3127 . . . Vince Ferragamo’s 12th celebrity golf tournament to benefit the Orange County Special Olympics will be held Tuesday at Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park. Last year’s event raised $75,000. Details: (714) 633-1099 . . . Andrea Gaston of Canoga Park won the City women’s golf tournament at Rancho Park. Gaston shot rounds of 75-76-75 to finish five shots ahead of Barbara Stephan of Torrance. Gaston was the runner-up last year to Sue Rennie, who did not play. Stephan won the City women’s senior title last year at Rancho Park . . . Deadline to enter the 77th City men’s golf championship and handicap tournament is Saturday. The stroke-play event will be held June 18-19 and 25-26 at Griffith Park and Rancho Park. The event is sponsored by the Department of Recreation and Parks. Scott Gibson of Huntington Beach is the defending champion. . . . The PGA is looking for 2,000 volunteers for next year’s PGA Championship, which will be played Aug. 7-13, 1995, at Riviera. For information, call (310) 573-7780. The last time the PGA Championship was held at Riviera was 1983, when Hal Sutton won by a stroke over Jack Nicklaus.