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It’s US Open week at Winged Foot ... which stirs up a lot of memories from 2006, when I somehow managed to qualify from sectionals at Canoebrook in New Jersey. That was the one with Michelle Wie...so naturally the media was out in full force. (Thread)
I played a solid first round in qualifying, and had my sportswriter buddies from Ottawa ( @CJ_Stevenson and @SunDoniB) all excited as they watched me birdie the 34th or 35th hole (can’t remember) to get to -6 for the day. But then.....
...I topped my 3 wood off the 9th tee. Like, cold topped it where it got past the ladies tees but didn’t even get close to the fairway. I think I hit 9 iron, then PW onto the green and two-putted for bogey. And then began an agonizing walk back to the clubhouse.
There was a massive crowd milling around, including Wie’s father (who was saying “gather round, gather round” to the golf writers, to recap his daughter’s rounds). I tried to do the math quickly, and as the final groups came in, I realized there was going to be a playoff at -5.
There were 5 for 1 spot. Greattttttt. That momentary yet gargantuan choke job on the 9th tee could cost me. We headed for (I think) the 12th hole, a par 5 that came back to the clubhouse. Myself, Vaughn Taylor, Kris Cox, Trevor/Travis something, and a guy whose name I forget.
We all hit decent drives and we all laid up around the same spot. No one hit good shots before me, and I was last to hit. 95 yards to a pin tucked over a bunker ... kinda skanky and to the right, just covered the fringe, and hopped to within 6 feet of the hole.
A couple of guys hit good lag putts ... and then the Trevor/Travis fellow made a bomb from probably 40 feet ... greatttttt, part II. My putt had probably a cup of break and somehow, some way, I made it. I remember giving a pretty vicious fist pump as the crowd acknowledged it.
Trevor/Travis and I headed to the 10th tee, a pretty innocuous par 4. Jaclyn (my good friend and caddy) asked what club I was going to hit (it was 3 wood in regulation), and I said there was ZERO chance it was 3 wood this time: “you can’t top a driver,” I recall saying.
By that point, I was terribly nervous, sick to my stomach nervous. I’m a middling Canadian Tour player, never won anything, no idea of what I was doing or where the ball was going. I swung about as hard as I could, and the ball went right, almost into a bunker on another hole.
Trevor/Travis hit less club into the first cut. I was checking out my shot when he hit his ball clear over the green (which was weird because it was a front pin). I had about 90 yards , but I had to keep it under some branches, and there was thick rough all up to the green.
With what my buddy David Mathis said was a full swing (with a 4 iron), I hit EXACTLY the shot I envisioned - a low punch that hopped twice in the rough, then trickled onto the green...to about 12 feet (!!!). I mean, it was lucky...but one of the best executions I’ve ever done.
Side note - Mathis told me later that as I swung, he yelled out “OH NO!” because it was such a short shot and a full swing. I think he was thinking of the out of bounds fence and road on the other side of the green. 
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My opponent played first, and he missed his par putt before I had to putt for birdie. My intention was to tap in for par, but somehow I wiggled it in for birdie - and I was on my way to my first major championship. I really couldn’t believe what had happened in the previous hour.
I think @SunDoniB still refers to it as “one of the best sporting events I’ve ever been to.” It certainly ranks as one of the more memorable moments in my career...and the Open being back at Winged Foot this week reminds me of some vivid memories. Good luck to all the players.
