US Open is wide open

There’s no clear-cut favorite for the 111th Open tourney at Congressional

Associated Press

BETHESDA, Md.

Fred Funk felt as if he had won the U.S. Open, his voice cracking when he tried to speak, the tears flowing moments later. He didn’t earn a trophy that day, only a tee time.

That’s how much this major championship means to him. That’s why he made the effort to go through 36 holes of qualifying when there are plenty of signs that he should sit this one out.

Funk turns 55 today. He had knee replacement surgery more than a year ago, and now is dealing with tissue that connects the hip to the knee and is causing him great pain. That explains why he hasn’t made it to the final two rounds in any of the six PGA Tour events he has played this year, and why he only had two top 10s on the 50-and-older Champions Tour.

So why punish himself in a U.S. Open qualifier against kids half his age?

For starters, Funk grew up not far from Congressional, a course that at one time in life he could only dream of playing. He was the college golf coach at Maryland. He wound up playing his first PGA Tour event at Congressional. And this surely would have been his last chance playing in the U.S. Open before a hometown crowd.

That explains his reaction when he narrowly qualified.

“The first question I get is, ‘What does this mean to you?’ And I broke down,” Funk said. “I didn’t really expect that because I didn’t know I had that kind of feelings, or emotion, in me for that. But I think it was a combination of things — how I’ve been playing the last few months, and then making it here, my hometown.”

No other major has so many dreamers, from the 13 amateurs in the 156-man field to the 28 players who had to go through 18-hole local and 36-hole sectional qualifying. The last player to win the U.S. Open after going through both stages of qualifying was Orville Moody in 1969 in Houston.

Monday was the first full day of practice. The range was filled with mostly amateurs and local qualifiers wanting to soak up the experience.

Ten players have won the last 10 majors, suggesting parity is greater than ever in golf, especially with Tiger Woods no longer on top of his game — and not even at Congressional for the U.S. Open as he tries to mend his left leg.

Even so, PGA champion Martin Kaymer figures only 30 or 40 players have a realistic chance of winning. He didn’t mention names, although Funk was probably not on that short list.