With just a few holes remaining in his second round on Friday in the 41st U.S. Senior Open, Steve Flesch was sitting close to the cut line and nursing a case of negative attitude. But then he looked at his son, Griffin, who is carrying his bag this week, and knuckled down.
Flesch birdied two of the last three holes to come in with a 1-over 71 at Omaha Country Club, securing a weekend tee time with a few strokes to spare.
“Yesterday I kind of had a bad mood going. I was on the cut number, but I knew how bad he wanted to be here today,” Flesch said of his son. “For him, when I finally tapped in for my par on 18, I just kind of said, ‘That one is for you, pal, because I know how bad you want us to be here on the weekend.’ I'm trying not to get choked up, but I think he wants it more than I do anymore.”
Flesch and his son not only got to hang around for the weekend, but they have made the most of their extended stay. During Saturday’s weather-interrupted third round, Flesch put together an impressive 6-under 64 to give himself a chance to win his first USGA title.
The performance, which equaled the low round of the championship Jim Furyk recorded on Friday, gave Flesch a 2-under 208 total and fourth place alone, six behind Furyk heading into Sunday’s final round.
A four-time PGA Tour winner, Flesch, 54, seeks his second win since turning 50. The left-hander and former Fox Sports golf commentator missed the cut in two of his previous starts in the U.S. Senior Open, but he finished T-18 in the 2017 championship highlighted by a third-round 65. The guy shines on Saturdays when he sticks around, which is why it was important for him to finish strong on Friday.
He also finished strong on Saturday. Flesch, who converted seven birdies against one bogey, was rather pleased with his par save at his last hole, the par-4 ninth, when he got up and down from 85 yards, spinning a wedge back below the hole and sinking a five-footer.
“Really the par on the last was kind of my proudest one of the day, driving it in the rough, which I normally kind of do at U.S. Opens,” the Cincinnati native said. “Maybe why I haven't contended in many. I can hit it straight sometimes but not all the time.”
With his regular caddie sidelined after back surgery, Flesch called on his son Griffin, a one-time college golfer at Xavier University in Cincinnati, to carry his bag the last five weeks. They’ve had a couple of top-20 finishes together, including T-16 at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship two weeks ago in Akron, Ohio, where Steve closed with a 1-under 69 on the difficult South Course at Firestone Country Club.
“Griffin has been a great fill-in,” said his father. “I know he'd love to be able to do it full-time, but he's got to finish up school this coming semester at [the] University of Kentucky. It's been fun. He helped me a lot. He's a great caddie. He knows the game, and he's been a great sidekick for me these past couple weeks when he's helped out.”
Playing among the final few groups Sunday, Flesch is in a bit of uncharted territory in a major championship. He can lean on Griffin, and can lean a bit, too, on his television experience, when he watched the best players in the world hit poor shots under pressure.
“I already knew it, but the pressure obviously adds to the element,” he said. “But I always look at it from the standpoint, why do I get so upset when I hit bad shots? You just go find it and hit it again. And I think it taught me just, hey, give yourself a little bit of a break. Everybody is going to struggle, especially in a U.S. Open or U.S. Senior Open because it's hard.”
“It’s not something I've experienced really,” he added, referring to being in contention after 54 holes. “Like I said, I haven't had much luck in U.S. Opens or U.S. Senior Opens for that matter. But it's fun to contend, and I really have nothing to lose, and that's kind of how I played today, so I imagine I'll kind of play the same way tomorrow and just enjoy it.”
Dave Shedloski is an Ohio-based writer who frequently contributes to USGA websites.
