Jones content to let Tiger be the favorite
By JOSEPH WHITE / AP Sports Writer
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - Even as the defending champion, Steve
Jones doesn't mind being an underdog again at the U.S. Open.
He has no choice, really. That's because all eyes will be on
Tiger Woods on June 12-15 at the Congressional Country Club as
the 21-year-old phenom tries to win back-to-back majors.
And Jones, whose idea of a good time is fly fishing away from
civilization in Montana, is more than happy to give away the spotlight.
"Will Tiger's appearance in this year's U.S. Open take
pressure off me? Most definitely," Jones said Monday during
a visit to Congressional. "And I'm grateful for it."
Jones won't be able to avoid the Tiger Show altogether. He,
Woods and British Open champion Tom Lehman will share a threesome
for the first two rounds, leaving the defending champion to deal
with the bustle of a huge gallery focused almost entirely on another
player. At other tournaments, Woods' fans have broken golf etiquette
by departing for the next tee while other golfers are still on
the green.
"I'll just have to play good enough so that I'm not hitting
last all the time," said Jones, who last year became the
first qualifier in 20 years to win the Open. "I'm thinking
about wearing headphones; maybe that will help."
More seriously, Jones said such distractions have become part
of the game.
"There's always noise," he said. "There's always
movement. I've hit when trains are going by. Normally, I try not
to make a big deal out of the noise, because the more you make
a big deal out of it, the bigger your ears get. It can be tough
sometimes if there's a marquee player."
Woods should find Congressional a greater challenge than Augusta.
The 7,213-yard, par-70 course has the usual features of a U.S.
Open: treacherous rough and a layout designed to reward the consistent
player ahead of the aggressive one.
"I guarantee you every Open course does not reward aggressive
play," said Buzz Taylor, a U.S. Golf Association executive
committee member. "If you play aggressively, you're going
to need a hell of a lot of luck. Anybody who's behind trying to
catch up will tell you that. You have to hit the ball to a certain
position on the green to have a chance to make a birdie."
That doesn't mean, however, that Congressional has been designed
to stop Woods - or anyone else, for that matter.
"There's a difference between great tests of a player's
shot-making ability and the ridiculous," Taylor said. "Would
we fundamentally alter the setup of the golf course? No. This
course was fundamentally set up two years ago."
This year's tournament, for the first time since 1909 at a
U.S. Open, will have a par-3 finish. The downhill final hole was
played as No. 10 when the Open was at this venue in 1964 and again
when Congressional staged the U.S. Senior Open two years ago.
The tee has been moved back to 190 yards, and the steeper slopes
around the green mean the water will swallow up anything short
or left.
"It's going to be a harder hole than people realize,"
Jones said. "It's going to make things very interesting.
It's going to be like Tiger and Tom on the first hole of the playoff
at the Mercedes this year. It's going to be one shot - boom -
and it's over with."
The change means the pros will play the course in the same
order as the club's members do every day. The club also has removed
some trees between Nos. 17 and 18, so as many as 7,000 fans will
be able to watch both holes without moving. Needless to say, the
view from the 18th tee will be daunting.
"There'll be some butterflies when they stand over that
one, if the Open hangs on it," Taylor said.
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