Golf Not for Meek When He’s Finished

With two days left before the 100th U.S. Open, it’s a good time to check out the most feared man in major championship golf.

No, not John Daly in a bad mood. It’s Tom Meeks, director of rules and competition for the USGA, and the person responsible this week for turning storied Pebble Beach into possibly the most difficult place on earth to get a golf ball to roll into a golf hole.

It’s Meeks’ job to grow the rough into which players lose their golf balls. It’s Meeks who makes sure the sand in the bunkers is raked so it becomes easier for balls to plug. It’s up to Meeks to see that the greens equal the firmness of, oh, slate. And pin placements just this side of You’ve-Got-To-Be-Kidding? Yes, Meeks.

Actually, Meeks isn’t a bad guy, just a guy doing his job. By Monday afternoon, he was waiting for the first player with a question about the course setup, such as “What in the world were you thinking?”

When that happened, Meeks promised, he’d keep his ears open.

“That’s fine,” he said. “I like players to seek me out. We’ll listen. I’m sensitive to the comments. . . . That doesn’t mean we’ll change it, though.”

No, that’s not going to happen. Just as certain as there is water in Monterey Bay, Meeks and the USGA have made sure that Pebble Beach will be--how do they always say it?--a stern test of golf. That’s why the speed of the greens measured at 11.6 on Monday, why it’ll probably be 11.9 by Friday and 12.0 by the weekend, when every ball that drops in the hole gets a checkered flag.

Of course, with rough that tops out at 4 1/2 inches and greens the size of paper napkins, chances are that Pebble Beach will play very difficult. Now, throw in the very real possibility of wind and you’ve got a collision of course setup and weather that could very well put par on the endangered-species list.

For Meeks, it’s a fun week, watching 156 of the greatest players in the world try to identify their golf balls in the bunker when only a dimple or two is above the sand line.

It was Meeks who figured out that the sand in the bunkers at Pebble Beach was too flat, that it needed to be fluffed up, so he had it raked and raked and raked. Meeks is satisfied now because every now and then golf balls get plugged in the newly fluffed sand.

“Traps are hazards,” he said. “It’s supposed to be some kind of a more difficult factor.”

Meeks says the toughest holes are probably the 418-yard par-four No. 8 and the 466-yard par-four No. 9--not that it makes much difference. They’re all tough at this place, especially if the wind comes up, which Meeks expects it to do.

And until it does, Meeks is just going to wait for the players’ comments, then be really glad he has an unlisted number.

Meeks says he is quite pleased with the course setup.

“If after Thursday we’ve got 25 guys at par or better, we’re not going to change anything,” he said. “On the other hand, if four over is the best score, we’re not going to change anything in that case either.”

U.S. Open Notes

Paul Lawrie, the British Open champion, withdrew because of a groin injury. Don Pooley replaced him. Lawrie said he suffered the injury several weeks ago. . . . Tiger Woods tees off Thursday at 8:40 a.m. in a threesome with Jesper Parnevik and Jim Furyk.

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U.S. Open Facts

* What: 100th U.S. Open golf championship.

* Where: Pebble Beach Golf Links.

* When: Thursday-Sunday.

* Television (all times PDT): Thursday--NBC, noon-2 p.m.; ESPN, 2--7:30 p.m.; Friday--NBC, noon-2 p.m.; ESPN, 2-7:30 p.m.; Saturday--NBC, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday--NBC, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

* The Course: Designed by two amateur players, Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, Pebble Beach opened in 1919. The most notorious stretch of holes is No. 8 through No. 10, which hug the cliffs along the Pacific coastline.

* Length: 6,846 yards.

* Par: 35-36--71.

* Cut: Top 60 and ties, and anyone within 10 strokes of the lead after 36 holes.

* Playoff, if necessary: 18 holes Monday.

* Field: 156 (148 pros, 8 amateurs).

* Purse: $4.5 million.

* Winner’s share: $800,000.

* Last year’s champion: Payne Stewart, who died Oct. 25 in a plane crash.