COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Chris Evert could handle the pressure of playing in a Wimbledon final. Watching the U.S. Senior Open, however, gives her fits.
Evert won 18 Grand Slam titles in her storied tennis career, but as she watched her new husband, Greg Norman, play The Broadmoor East Course on Friday, she got nervous.
“It’s easier to play because you can get your nerves under control. But when you’re watching, you have no control,” she said. “Like watching your kid, watching your spouse, watching someone you love, you feel useless and your heart goes out to them. At the same time, when he’s playing well it’s pretty exciting. It’s interesting being on the other end.”
Evert and Norman were married on June 28, and his golf schedule has kept them busy. In July, Norman held the third-round lead at the British Open before finishing in a tie for third. A week later he finished tied for fifth at the Senior British Open.
Through all of those rounds, Evert said Norman has been relaxed and at peace with himself. After bogeying the last two holes Friday, Norman was 3-over and nine shots behind second-round leader Fred Funk.
“This is actually the first day he wasn’t as relaxed as he has been,” Evert said. “For the most part, the last month he’s been very relaxed and has not put pressure on himself and has played very, very well.”
Evert walked all 18 holes Friday, moving seamlessly through the gallery as she watched Norman play. She went mostly unnoticed, but when she was recognized, she was friendly, giving two autographs behind the 15th green and one along the 17th fairway.
“People are great,” she said. “I would like the anonymity, but I can’t complain because people are so nice. I would never complain. They appreciated my tennis, so I’m complimented. It’s never a nuisance, it’s not a bother at all. At the same time, I want to watch him. When he’s hitting a shot I don’t want somebody coming up to me.”
While the nerves increase when she’s watching, she said walking the course helps keep her calm.
“I love it. It’s the only spectator sport where you can get exercise,” she said. “And that keeps the nerves in check, too. He hits a shot, you walk on to the next shot. I really love it. It’s exhilarating.”
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PERILOUS PIN PLACEMENTS:@ All the groaning over the greens isn’t going to change things.
Several golfers griped about the difficult pin placements on Friday, especially on holes 4 and 8, short par-3s.
Jim Hyler, chairman of the USGA’s championship committee, said that while the course will be watered overnight and as needed Saturday, it won’t play much different over the weekend.
“We want the golf course as much as we possibly can to play the same on Sunday as it did on Monday,” Hyler said. “And keeping these greens watered throughout the day, and plus here the extreme heat we’re experiencing, the dryness, adds a lot of pressure on these greens. It stresses these greens, and so you have to give them a drink of water. So, we are very aggressive about doing that.”
Hyler said the course was too wet Monday, so they dialed back the water. However, the heat wave sucked the moisture out of the course.
“Today, the wind picked up and added a great element of difficulty,” Hyler said.
“So, we have communicated this to the players in a memorandum that we’re trying to keep it the same. We’re not going to speed up the greens any, we cut the rough every day, so we’re going to try to keep it right where it is.”
What about moving the pin on No. 8?
“It is a tough green. No matter where you put it, it’s hard,” Hyler said. “So, we felt like we made some compensation this morning by moving that tee up 16 yards and giving them a much shorter club to hit.”
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HOME COURSE BLUES:@ Dave Delich was the last player cut from the U.S. Olympic hockey team 28 years ago, a team that shocked the Russians and won gold at Lake Placid.
Friday, there was no nailbiting at the U.S. Senior Open. Despite playing on his home course, Delich, an amateur, shot 76 for the second straight day and missed the cut.
“I thought the cut would be 146, 147, and that’s very doable for me because I know these greens,” Delich said. “A couple of 73s or 74s didn’t seem outrageous even though I hadn’t played. I let it get away from me yesterday, put a little pressure on the game today and frankly had to be perfect.”
Delich felt he had a realistic shot to make the cut after the first round, but he double-bogeyed his first hole and never recovered.
Still, he was felt he had a respectable showing against some of golf’s legendary players.
“There’s a sense of relief that I didn’t come out here and totally disintegrate in terms of golf,” he said. “There are a lot of guys out here who had it worse and struggled more. I feel bad for all of those who supported me. They supported me hard and I didn’t make the cut. When you have 156 players and 90-plus goes home, that’s what happens.”
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FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS:@ Hale Irwin was victimized by the chimes from the Will Rogers Shrine to the Sun, which have rung continuously since 1936 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the hour and each quarter hour. The chimes rang out just as he began his downswing on his tee shot at No. 1. His ball dribbled 20 feet forward and by rules, the stroke counted. Irwin went on to par the 429-yard, par-4 hole.
DIVOTS:@ Larry Laoretti, 69, of Palm City, Fla., was disqualified for signing an incorrect score card after the second round. Laoretti signed for a 4 on the par-5 ninth hole, when he actually scored 6.
