LA JOLLA, Calif. — To look at his slight frame and bespectacled face, it would be easy to peg Mike Davis as some sort of academic who sits in his ivory tower thinking deep thoughts or espousing some outre philosophy.
You certainly wouldn’t expect the wicked sense of humor that clearly lurks somewhere in Davis’ mind. Besides bedeviling the field with oft-diabolical course set-ups, the director of rules and competition for the United States Golf Association has put together the groupings for the U.S. Open.
It was Davis who, for this year’s event at Torrey Pines Golf Club, decided to send the top 12 players in the World Golf Rankings off together in four threesomes.
Of course, the primary attraction is the matchup of No. 1 Tiger Woods along with Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott.
“I think that’s awesome. I wish we had it more,” Mickelson said Tuesday.
“We are all looking forward to it,” added Woods. “Everyone I’ve talked to, just being at home and practicing, is looking forward to seeing all those guys grouped together because we really don’t get that. We’re usually spread out and you don’t get pairings like that until maybe Saturday or Sunday.”
For Mickelson, part of the allure is that he and Woods will play the course under the same conditions. They are usually placed in opposite ends of the draw, with one of the two megastars playing in the morning in the first round, the other in the afternoon. Depending on weather conditions, Mickelson said, that could lead to one player gaining an advantage on the other.
“For us to be on the same end, I think, makes it a fair championship,” Mickelson said.
There are some, however, who might suspect a bit of impishness at play. With Woods playing in his first event following knee surgery after the Masters, and Mickelson coming off a win in his last tournament, the left-hander had been regarded by some as the overwhelming favorite. That status might be mitigated, however, by playing alongside Woods.
Mickelson is quick to point out that he did pretty well the last time he and Woods played together in a tournament’s opening two days, when he won the second leg of the 2007 FedEx Cup playoffs, the Deutsche Bank Championship. But on Tuesday, all anyone else wanted to talk about was the 2006 PGA Championship, which Woods won in a walk when paired with Mickelson.
The buzz surrounding the marquee grouping has, in a sense, detracted from some of the other playful pairings usually found in the Open. For example, for the second consecutive year, Pat Perez and Woody Austin, both considered a bit tempestuous, are paired together. Because there isn’t a player from Switzerland in the field, the USGA chose Thomas Levet from neighboring France to play the role of peacemaker between them.
Last year, Boo Weekley and Bubba Watson, high school teammates, were paired together. This year, Watson, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance, averaging 312.3 yards off the tee, is grouped with J.B. Holmes (second, 308.2 yards) and Brett Wetterich (fifth, 304.1 yards).
And Weekley? The self-proclaimed redneck from rural Florida will be spending his first two days playing alongside Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and Shingo Katayama of Japan in a group that seems to have more than a little trouble with the King’s English.
“I don’t know if they’re goofing on me or not, but it don’t matter,” Weekley said. “You gotta take it as a positive. It’s just two more guys who I get to know and who’ll get to know a little bit more about me.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
Three-for-all
Anthony Cotton looks at some of the more intriguing groupings in this year’s U.S. Open:
Power players
Top 12 players in world when groupings were made:
•Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott
•Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy, Justin Rose
•Sergio Garcia, Stewart Cink, Vijay Singh
•Jim Furyk, K.J. Choi, Steve Stricker
English Tee
•Englishmen Ian Poulter, Luke Donald and Paul Casey
Young guns
•2008 first-time winners Anthony Kim, Andres Romero and Ryuji Imada
