Phil blew a golden opportunity to have a chance at the Grand Slam of golf.  He won the Masters and for a moment at least had the lead in the Opne with just two holes to play.  Then he put it in trouble on the 17th and lost to Reteif Goosen by two strokes.

The tradition for the U.S. Open for many years now has been to complete the final round on Father's Day.  Maybe the USGA figures that it is one day that wives really don't mind their husbands sitting on the sofa watching sports.

I receive my traditional Father's Day gift of a golf pass to the local muni courses in the area.  I am a simple guy to buy for.  Give something golf-related and I am a happy camper.

So, I sat around on the sofa watching the pros play the U.S. Open just as poorly as I play muni courses.  I think the USGA does that purposely, too.  Maybe they want the average player to stay interested in the sport.  After all, who wants to watch a bunch of guys shoot 20 under par as they often at regular tour events?  It gets disheartening when the announcer says Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, or nearly everyone else on the tour is 175 yards from the hole and hitting an 8 iron when on a good day I'm hitting a 4 or 5 iron.  I found myself kind of rooting for Mickelson yesterday if only because he had a chance to go for the Grand Slam in golf this year.  But he blew it by three putting from five feet on one hole.  That's my kind of golf, not a pro's.  My reaction was simple.  "Hell," I yelled at the television.  "Even I could do that."

That's part of the attraction of golf.  I know I can't hit 500 homeruns like Ken Griffey Jr.  Heck, I'd be lucky to hit a ground ball to the wall.  I know that if I got hit by a linebacker in the NFL, I'd be on the injured reserved list for the rest of my life.  I'm white and sure as hell can't dunk.  But, on a good day, I have have driven a golf ball  300 yards.  I have chipped in from a bunker and from out in the middle of a fairway.  I have putted less than 30 times for 18 holes.  I have birdied every hole on the course I regularly play, at least once.  I have stiffed a shot, shaped a shot, put the ball exactly where I planned to.  The difference between the pros and me is simply that they can do it almost at any time they want.  For me, then, the attraction is just that.  That for just one moment I can be as good as Woods, Els, and the others on tour.  Hell, yes, even I could do that.

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