LA JOLLA, Calif. — There may be some question as to whom exactly Torrey Pines Golf Course belongs.
Sure, Tiger Woods has his six victories in the PGA Tour’s Buick Invitational, but Kevin Streelman isn’t doing too badly for himself either.
A tour rookie, Streelman first made his way into golf’s consciousness by shooting 67-69 in the opening rounds of the Buick, leading to a third-round pairing with Woods. Although he faltered under that spotlight and faded to a tie for 29th, Streelman came back strong Thursday, shooting a 3-under 68 to tie Justin Hicks for the lead after the opening round of the U.S. Open.
“You almost feel a lot less nervous after playing with him,” Streelman said of his outing with Woods. “It was definitely an eye-opening experience.”
Streelman was the last alternate to get into the Buick field, “six minutes before my tee time,” he added. “There’s so much attention from the media and everything else that it just drains energy from you. The biggest thing I took away from it was the necessity of rest, which is something I’ll take into account tonight.”
Missed opportunity.
With nearly everyone focused on the Woods-Phil Mickelson pairing, Steve Stricker burst out of the gates early, at one point going as low as 4-under-par before fading to a 2-over 73. Afterwards, Stricker, who has fallen from third to eighth in the world rankings since the beginning of the year, admitted that he’s possibly suffering from burnout.
“I’ve been playing at so high a level for so long that I think I’ve kind of hit a wall,” Stricker said of his rise from the 300s a few years ago.
Admitting he’s lost confidence over the last couple of months, Stricker felt he was in good position to return to the top of the leaderboard, saying, “I’ve had worse opening rounds than 73.”
Nonetheless, Stricker added that when the Open’s over, he’ll take an extended break, spending part of his hiatus caddying for his wife Nicki in a local tournament in Wisconsin.
Hanging in.
Former Denver resident Brandt Jobe shot an opening-round 73. . . . Giving up smoking may have added to Angel Cabrera’s health, but it’s done nothing for his golf game. The defending champion made birdies on his last two holes to finish with a 79.
Anthony Cotton, The Denver Post
