Cink Gets Sidetracked on No. 11

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. -- You’ve heard about fans being ejected for making too much noise at a golf tournament, but has anyone ever tossed a train?

As Stewart Cink was about to hit his tee shot at the 11th hole on Friday, he was stopped midswing by the shriek of a nearby locomotive.

“It was definitely one of those diesel-electrics that got me,” Cink said.

“Then I had to back off and I went back to the ball and it got me again. I decided just to wait a minute until it took off. I missed the fairway.”

Cink bogeyed the hole but still managed to shoot 68 for the round and is at two-under 138 after 36 holes.

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Tom Gillis didn’t fare as well Friday as he did on Thursday, following his opening-round 68 with a 76, but playing in his second U.S. Open sure beats his long stint in the minor leagues.

Gillis, 34, played seven years on the mini-tour and five in Europe before finally getting his PGA tour card this year. He made the U.S. Open field by qualifying at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill.

Gillis said the strangest golf of his vagabond career was played in South Africa.

“We were going down the fairways and there was three or four packs of monkeys walking out in front of you,” Gillis said. “It was a little bit eerie.”

At Olympia Fields, golfers have to worry only about Bear fans.

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You’ve heard golf is a funny game? Woody Austin can tell you why.

After shooting four-over 74 Thursday, he fired a six-under 64 in the second round. Instead of missing the cut, Austin is two-under at 138 and is only five shots off the lead.

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Brett Quigley, who shared the first-round lead after shooting a 65, followed up with a 74 to leave him at 139.

“I three-putted the first hole and it got to my nerves a little bit,” Quigley said. “I was gunshy the rest of the day, and I certainly struggled after that.”

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Two amateurs -- Trip Kuehne and Ricky Barnes -- made it, but neither Jay Haas nor his son Bill made the cut. A total of 68 players made it at three-over-par 143.

Among those who failed were Davis Love (76-75), Nick Faldo (75-75), David Duval (78-72), Corey Pavin (72-76), Jose Maria Olazabal (74-70), Jeff Sluman (74-71) and Gillis.

It was the first missed cut this year by Love, who has won three times. For Duval, it was his 10th missed cut in 14 tournaments.

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Tiger Woods says he and Tom Watson’s caddie, Bruce Edwards, go back a long way. Woods says he was about 10 years old watching Watson play the Los Angeles Open at Riviera when he ran into Edwards.

“Tom hit one left of the green, I’m standing next to the ball and he says, ‘Get out of the way, kid.’ And pushed me out of the way.”

Woods says he told Edwards the story years later and, “He got a big kick out of it.”