Goosen Plays Fast and Loose

He was odd man out and the first man out.

With 63 players advancing to Saturday’s third round, South Africa’s Retief Goosen chose to walk alone, shooting a lonesome one-over-par 72 in two hours 55 minutes.

“I think the crowd was very supportive considering I was the first one out there,” Goosen said. “They were sitting in the stands for hours waiting for something to happen.”

Goosen had the option of playing with a nonparticipating partner, known as a marker, but he elected to walk the round by himself.

“It was the first time I’ve ever played by myself, so it feels kind of funny, you know,” he said. “But I enjoyed the walk out there.”

At least Goosen couldn’t blame anyone but himself for slow play.

“I took my time around the greens,” he said. “ I suppose if I wanted to play fast I could have played in 2 1/2 [hours].”

For comparison, Tiger Woods and Thomas Bjorn, in the day’s final pairing, played in about four hours and 15 minutes.

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John Daly’s record is safe. For a moment, Daly’s infamous 14 on No. 18 Thursday appeared to have been shattered when the computer handling statistics for the media posted a 19 on the same hole Friday by Clark Renner.

Turns out the 19 was a computer glitch. Renner actually made par five.

More on Renner: The 34-year-old Carlsbad resident had failed in 14 previous attempts at U.S. Open qualifying before landing a spot in this year’s field by winning a playoff June 5 in sectional qualifying at Lake Merced Golf and Country Club in Daly City.

In April, Renner quit his job as a club specialist for Callaway Golf to devote himself full time to golf.

Renner finished 19 over for two rounds and missed the cut.

Sorry, that was no computer glitch.

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The cut ended up at seven-over 149, which eliminated the likes of 1995 U.S. Open champion Corey Pavin (151), Davis Love III (154), Jesper Parnevik (153), four-time champion Jack Nicklaus (155), Greg Norman (159) and two-time winner Curtis Strange (162).

Maybe they were the lucky ones. Here are some scores from the third round: Colin Montgomerie 79, Mark O’Meara 78, Hale Irwin and Sergio Garcia 81, Hal Sutton 83, and Jim Furyk 84.

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Todd Fischer scored a hole in one Saturday on the 106-yard seventh hole. It was the 29th ace in the U.S. Open history, but it wasn’t enough for Fischer to advance. Despite a second-round 72, he finished at eight-over 150 and missed the cut by a stroke.

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Kyle Blackman was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard, violating Rule 6-6D. Blackman signed for a five on the 18th hole when he actually shot a bogey six.

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The second round began at 9:30 a.m. Friday and ended at 10:25 a.m. Saturday.

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From Angel Cabrera, after his tee shot at No. 12 ended up in a trash can: “Three points!”