Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

First day is wet, slow, filled with bogeys for Jensen

By Jeff Morrow, Herald sports editor

Thursday was a day of frustration for former Richland resident Clint Jensen.

The 34-year-old got out on the course at Bethpage Black for the first day of the U.S. Open.

But he got in just five holes -- those took 2 hours and 15 minutes to play -- before rain postponed the rest of the round.

"It's a little bit frustrating," Jensen said. "But you get kind of used to it playing professional golf. On a course this difficult, trying to keep your focus for five hours, let alone seven hours, is tough."

Jensen started on No. 10, bogeying the par-4. He bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12 -- also par-4s -- and came up with a fourth straight bogey on the par-5 13th.

"(The course) is playing pretty long," Jensen said. "It's hard to make up for any mistakes. You miss the fairway, you have to chip out. I drove it into the rough on the first two holes, and then I had to try to get it up and down.

"I had a good drive on 12, then I hit a 5-wood to the front of the green," he said. "But then I three-putted. Tim Clark, who is in my group, had a long drive on 12, then hit his 5-wood into the bunker."

Pasco's Ryan LaVoie, who is caddying for Jensen, said the length of the holes, coupled with the bad weather, made it extremely challenging.

"There are some pretty manly holes back there on the back nine," LaVoie said. "It's like 60 degrees out and there's wind and rain. I felt like Clint hit good tee shots, but if you miss the fairways by two yards it might as well be 25 yards. You can judge the wind, but what you thought was a perfect shot isn't. The holes are so long you have to hit a 3-wood into a par-4."

Jensen finally picked up a par on the par-3 14th, but that's when officials stopped the tournament. So he left the course at 4-over after five holes.

"After about four holes I was wondering if I would ever make a par," Jensen said. "That last one settled me down. I think if I could just fight off the back nine, I'll be all right because the front nine plays easier."

The hard part is staying mentally in it when the pace of play is so slow. Jensen's group got done at 10, then approached the 11th tee box with two groups still waiting to tee off.

"It's the difficulty of the course," said Jensen. "Everybody's got an umbrella, they've got rain gear, and they're trying to keep everything dry. But I don't think the pace of play would be quick on that course if the weather is good."

While Jensen downplayed the slow pace, LaVoie said it is bothersome.

"You can't get in a groove," LaVoie said. "You're getting rained on and you hit a shot every 20 minutes. The hard part is (tournament officials) want you to play as much golf as possible. They don't want to send you home, then it clears up and they look stupid. They've got guys busting their hump out here trying to keep the water off the greens."

What both Jensen and LaVoie believe is that Jensen will get his first round in today, but there won't be enough time for him to even start his second round.

"More than likely, we play our second round Saturday," said LaVoie.

Notes: University of Washington standout Nick Taylor and Gig Harbor amateur Kyle Stanley never got to tee off Thursday. ... Puyallup's Ryan Moore and Ben Crane of Beaverton, Ore., are each 1-over through six holes.