NOTEBOOK | U.S. Open

Furyk gets to defend title: Jim Furyk didn't know if he would get the chance to defend his U.S. Open title. In January, an MRI revealed torn cartilage in his left wrist and he decided to have surgery to repair it. His first competitive round of golf since then was Thursday at Shinnecock Hills. He shot a 2-over 72, not good enough to be among the leaders but good enough to make him sound optimistic about the rest of the week. "I just didn't get the ball in the hole and I made some poor decisions out there. That'll happen. It'll come," he said. As defending champion, Furyk played in the traditional group with British Open champion Ben Curtis, who had 68, and U.S. Amateur champion Nick Flanagan, who had an 80.
Different pins: Mark Calcavecchia wasn't making a fashion statement. He was helping his aching back. "I saw Freddie's acupuncture lady last night," Calcavecchia said, referring to fellow pro and back pain sufferer Fred Couples. "My back wasn't as tight." The subject came up because Calcavecchia had two small needles in each ear, not misplaced jewelry but acupuncture pins to help with his lower back problem. "When you hit them it hurts, other than that I don't notice them," he said after shooting a 1-under 71.
Time problem: David Roesch felt rushed in his first round at a U.S. Open and wasn't too happy about it. The 30-year-old mini-tour veteran had a 2-under 68 that came close to being a 69 or worse because of the USGA's pace of play policy. "We were on the fourth, a par 4, I was in between clubs and a guy comes up to me and says 'You've got a bad time. The next one's a shot,' " Roesch said, referring to a USGA official who informed the threesome individually they were behind the accepted pace of play. "I don't know what's going on. I'm tying to play well. I'm a no-name and here comes this guy and tells me I have a bad time and we get to the next tee and we stand there. You tell me what's going on. I was mad. I don't know if I'll get in trouble for this." He won't. USGA rules official Mary Bea Porter-King was with the group. She said they fell behind the pace and were told but it wasn't just Roesch. "The group was behind and they were warned. There was no harm, no foul," she said. "He did rush his first putt and then made the second, which was key, and then we rush to the next tee and had to wait. His group, the one I was officiating, was out of position several times and it wasn't because of David's play. It was a mixture of things. I was concerned for him because he was playing so well and I didn't want him to get out of his rhythm." Under USGA policy, a threesome has to play at a pace that would mean a round of no more than 4 hours and 32 minutes, while a twosome has to play at a pace of no longer than 3:55. Once a group has been warned, a player must play his stroke within 40 seconds. One bad timing is a warning, a second is a one-stroke penalty, a third an additional two strokes and a fourth means disqualification.
Associated Press