USGA Champs Ogilvy, Flanagan, O'Meara Among Players Getting Early Glimpse Of 2008 U.S. Open Venue


By Ken Klavon, USGA

San Diego — All three are former champions, their careers illuminated at various times by winning USGA national titles.

They are here this week at Torrey Pines Golf Club for dissimilar reasons, yet each is tangentially tied to the U.S. Open, which will be played on the South Course this June. One and all, Mark O'Meara, Geoff Ogilvy and Nick Flanagan, are representatives of the past, present and future.

But no matter where they currently stand in their careers, the lure of competing in the 2008 Open weighed heavily on their minds Tuesday as they prepared for Thursday's start of the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational.

"Yeah, sure," said Australia's Ogilvy, 30, winner of the U.S. Open two years ago at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y. "It's a scouting trip."

PGA Tour rookie Nick Flanagan, the 2003 U.S. Amateur champion, is hoping to return to Torrey Pines this June for the 2008 U.S. Open. (USGA Photo Archives)

That wasn't an intended swipe at the Buick Invitational. It is just that golf success seems to be measured by major victories.

Or any wins at all.

The 23-year-old Flanagan, more than four years removed from his U.S. Amateur win at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, has captained a pro career that sputtered out of the gate until he rediscovered his game on the Nationwide Tour last year. En route to winning player of the year honors, the Australian became just the eighth player in the Nationwide Tour's history to earn an immediate three-victory promotion to the PGA Tour.

"I really haven't changed much at all," said Flanagan, alluding to the technique that carried him past current Nationwide Tour player Casey Wittenberg in the 2004 Amateur final.

His rookie PGA Tour campaign has started a bit rocky with missed cuts at the Sony Open in Hawaii and last week's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. Mentioning a U.S. Open that is almost five months away doesn't quite register, although Flanagan is well aware of its location. "I'm not thinking about the majors," he said, adding that his most gnawing issue is finding consistency on a weekly basis.

For the 51-year-old O'Meara, who grew up in southern California and attended Long Beach State, 2008 is a last hurrah of sorts. The 1979 U.S. Amateur champion received a sponsor's exemption this week with one eye on the U.S. Open. The two-time major winner (1998 Masters and British Open) had a seamless transformation last year to the 50-and-over Champions Tour, making 16 starts. But his golf interest has noticeably waned this decade, as he has immersed himself in other interests like fly-fishing and snowmobiling.

"I don't know where I belong in golf now," said O'Meara. "But, I thought this year since the Open is going to be here this summer . I'm going to try and qualify maybe one more time. I said last year after I tried to qualify maybe that was it."

With the 2008 U.S. Open coming to Torrey Pines, 1979 U.S. Amateur champion and two-time major winner Mark O'Meara hopes to qualify one last time. (USGA Photo Archives)

It is uncommon that a venue hosts two professional events - one of those a major - in the same calendar year. A few courses including Pebble Beach have done it, but most don't want the stress and strain. Ten years ago, Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., had the PGA Tour move its regularly-scheduled event to Valencia Country Club because it had the 1998 U.S. Senior Open.

The benefit for Ogilvy is that he won't have to make a separate trip to see the South Course. Last year, having never been to Oakmont, he paid the club a special visit a few weeks prior to the Open to get a feel for what to expect. That said, players clearly know that the South Course they see this week will play diametrically different than the one in June. This week, soft conditions will be prevalent; in June, with a heavy dose of constant sun, the course will firm up and green speeds are expected to be around 13 on the Stimpmeter. This week, the greens will roll around 9 to 10 feet on the Stimpmeter.

In addition, the pars and yardages will be different. For the Buick, the South Course will play 7,568 yards and to a par of 72. According to Mike Davis, the USGA's Senior Director of Rules and Competitions, the South will be set up as a 7,643-yard par-71 layout for the Open, with the par-5 sixth converted to a long par 4.

O'Meara is here to at least make mental notes - just of the South Course since the neighboring and shorter North Course (it is utilized for the first two days of the Buick) won't be used during the Open.

With a major win that represents 33 percent of his career victories (three), Ogilvy plans on absorbing as much as possible. Sure he'll be trying to win this week, but that elusive second major stands as the annoying bee that won't go away, maybe even more so than the first time it circled his head.

"I'll tell you later on," said Ogilvy chuckling, "after I win my second."

Ken Klavon is the USGA's Editor in New Media. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.