Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 50

8 Section 3 Chicago Tribune, Saturday, June 20, 1992 U.S. OPEN BOXING T7 Faldo and his Open hopes go up a tree 0- S. I A- i By Reid Hanley Chicago Tribune PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. Pebble Beach Golf Links literally drove Nick Faldo up a tree Friday during the second round of the U.S. Open.

The dour Englishman saw his chances for a championship virtually disappear when his ball vanished on the 14th hole and he wound up with a triple-bogey 8. He finished with a 76 for a 2-over-par 146. Faldo, who shot a 2-under 70 in the first round, arrived at the difficult par-5 at 2 under. Describing his second shot on the 565-yard hole, the Masters and British Open champion said: "I just hit it up a tree. I just lost it.

I've never done that before, never in my whole career." Faldo hit a provisional ball into bunker and then realized he would be penalized two shots for a lost ball, while an unplayable lie in the tree would be just one stroke. In an all-out effort to save a shot, he made like a Monty Python lumberjack, took a running start and scaled the tree. Under Rule 18-2a27, he was allowed to shake the tree in an effort to dislodge the ball. Risking fierhaps not life but certainly imb his and the tree's he shook and shook, but nothing dropped except his standing on the leader board. "I was wondering, how do I get down, and where is Jane?" said "Tarzan" Faldo, who had been planning to build a treehouse at his Wentworth estate in England.

"Climbing trees used to be my favorite game." His provisional was his fifth shot, and he failed to get up and down from the bunker, taking a triple bogey. Faldo also bogeyed the 17th to finish with a 39 on the back nine. "After that, my arms were aching," he said, "and my clubs felt like toothpicks." Holyfield Continued from page 1 Holmes no more than Holyfield. In fact, Holmes won the final two rounds on two of the judges' cards. But, "I didn't run out of gas," insisted Holyfield.

"I was being careful." Both fighters were so careful in the 10th the crowd booed for the only time, but Holmes won them back in the 11th when he tagged Holyfield with a right that rocked him back but only momentarily. One judge, Hamada, gave Holy-field the first seven rounds, although many ringside observers felt Holmes had won the second, even though he spent almost the entire three minutes backed into Holyfield's corner. Counterpun-ching beautifully, Holmes landed some of his best punches of the fight. "I knew coming here I had to fight a cautious fight," said Holy-field, who ran his record to 28-0. "I fought a smart fight.

I didn't get reckless. "He had more than I thought he had. He fought a good defensive fight. I didn't have a chance to hit him with clean shots." Holyfield said it was Holmes' plan to lure him into a corner, but the champion would have none of it. He fought a tactical fight and it paid off.

"He fought like he was the said Holyfield. "He wanted me to take the fight to him. But I realized I wasn hur ting him in the corner. A lot of my punches were landing on elbows and they hurt my hands; When I hit him in the body my shots glanced off. "I really don't need to go in there and fight his fight and get careless.

I was trying to figure a way to get him in the center of the ring where I could hit him a counter shot." Holmes gave Holyfield credit for putting that plan into effect; Asked why he did not continue to fight off the ropes, Holmes said, "because he wouldn't come after me. The people paid to see a fight so I had to go after him." Neither Holmes nor his promoter, Bob Arum, disputed the decision. Holmes said if he could do anything differently, "I would have fought him in 1980." Arum pointed out that in seven of the 12 rounds, Holmes had won the nod from at least one judge and "that shows how close the fight was." Holmes embraced Holyfield afterward and said, "I wish him the best of luck whatever he does. I think he can be champion as long as he wants. "Fighters don't let you do everything you want to do.

A lot of times I wanted to pull the trigger but by the time I did he was gone. Hallberg gives Chicago il hope in last 2 rounds AP Laawptnto finished with a 70 for a 36-hole shots off the pace. Hale Irwin gets a kick out of his birdie putt on the ninth hole during Friday's second round of the AP Lawphoto A U.S. Open spectator uses his head to advertise the tickets he's selling for the final round. out there to watch me finish." Hallberg got himself into contention with four straight birdies on the front nine.

He paired the second hole after pushing a drive far right and into an arch that held a banner welcoming the 92nd Open. He got a drop from the ar-tifical obstruction and made par, then birdied Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7. "If you're going to do it, those this course, but that still doesn't get the ball in the hole. Nicklaus, 52, hasn't played well all year, and only in spurts did he excel the last couple of days.

He butchered the back nine in Round with 41, and Friday's 39 wasn't improvement enough. Watson, 42, was worried about his putting when he arrived at Pebble Beach, but his irons weren't particularly crisp here. "I'm always disappointed when I don't play well," said Watson, who used to drive down to Pebble Beach from Stanford for dawn patrol before returning to campus for classes. "I've played a lot of golf, a lot of golf here. I've had my share of victories, so they all even out.

Walking up the 18th fairway, I realized this is probably the last I i U.S. Open. He total of 143, eight By Reid Hanley Chicago Tribune PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. Gary Hallberg will be the Chicago area's only representative in the final two rounds of the U.S. Open.

The Barrington golfer shot a second round of 2-under-par 70 and is at 3-under 141, six shots behind leader Gil Morgan. "I wasn't thinking of much except just trying to hit each shot the best I could," said Hallberg, who was tied for the 36-hole lead at last year's British Open. "I think that's why I've played well this week. One shot at a time if it's a good or a bad one, don't be too concerned about it." Highland Park's Chip Beck had a 79 and missed the cut with a 149. Lemont's Rick Dalpos eagled the second hole but finished with a 74 for 149.

Chicago's Lance Ten Broeck shot an 80 for 157. Fred Couples shot a 2-under 70 Friday and still has a chance to keep the Grand Slam alive. The Masters champion is seven shots behind Morgan. "I'm not going to catch up in one day," said Couples. "Come Sunday, I just want to give myself a chance to burn up the course and maybe shoot 67 or 63." So what did playing partner Mark Calcavecchia think of Nick Faldo climbing a tree on the 14th hole and taking a triple-bogey "It would have been funny if he fell out," said Calcavecchia, half-kidding.

"I saw him climb up the tree and thought, 'Oh, no, he's gonna really put up a Then his bunker shot was about a quarter-inch from rolling back off the front of the green, and I thought he was going to make 10." Calcavecchia came off the 18th green and threw his ball into Car-mcl Bay, then flung his scorecard into the parking lot. He bogeyed seven of the last 12 holes for a 73, leaving him eight shots back at 143. "I won't say I panicked," he said, "but maybe that was the problem. I'm just not good at playing conservative." Three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin rallied with a 2-under 70 after finishing with a double bogey Thursday.

Irwin did U.S. Open leader cards Round 2 i are the holes you're going to do it on," said Hallberg, who birdied the tough 17th to salvage his back nine. "I've been driving it fairly well, hitting my irons fairly well and thinking well. "Last year, I led the British Open after two rounds, and the last time the Open was out here, I had a chance with one round to go. "A few times I've had chances in majors and I haven't done well coming in.

I'm not getting excited. I just go out there and try to be low-key." Masters winner Fred Couples is at 2 under par and Davis Love III, the leading money winner on the PGA Tour, isn't out of it at 1 under. Love, defending champion Payne Stewart, Tom Kite, three-time Open champion Hale Irwin, Nick Price and former British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia are also at 1 under. "This is 36 holes, the halfway point," said Floyd. "It means nothing.

If I'm at 4 under with 25 players between me and 9 under, I'd be concerned. But there is only one player at nine. That tells you what the course is doing to the field. If Gil continues to play like this, how many records would be broken? He can do it, but it's not likely." time we'll see Jack and maybe me in a U.S. Open here." Watson might need a special exemption for next year's U.S.

Open at Baltusrol, N.J. He won't stoop to qualifying. He deserves a special exemption, as Irwin received in 1990. Nicklaus wants to try Baltusrol and Oakmont (Pa.) in 1994 because he's won at both. "But who knows?" said the Golden Bear.

"I don't get very nostalgic. This always has been my favorite course, and the way I played it today wont dim my enthusiasm for it. What it does is dim my enthusiasm for my golf game. If they hold the U.S. Open here in 2002, maybe I'll be at the top of my game.

Bye, now." Ah, yes. And Gil Morgan still leads. Open Continued from page 1 numerous injuries in his 20 years as a professional. He had six PGA Tour victories before a rotator-cuff injury in the mid-'80s and subsequent surgery on his left shoulder in the fall of 1986. He missed nine months during recovery.

He won the 1990 Kemper Open to signal the completion of his comeback. "I really feel like I missed the best part of my career," said Morgan, who has won $125,000 this season. "In 1983-84, 1 played really well. I felt like I could be on a higher level. If I could have played the next five years like that, I could have done a lot better." A U.S.

Open victory would make up for the aches and pains of those years of taking divots. While he increased his lead by two strokes Friday, there are still 36 holes to play. With two rounds left, a lot of layers are still in the running, lillard birdied the 14th and birdied the last hole as darkness was falling to close the gap. "They have to be serious golf fans to be out here at this time of night," said Dillard, who finished at 8 p.m. "I wanted to make the birdie for the people who stayed Verdi Continued from page 1 never for going to the bathroom." Then Jack dipped into his golf bag for a high-energy snack, baked every evening by wife Barbara.

"Raisins, whole wheat, egg whites," she said from outside the ropes. "Isn't this fun?" It was and it wasn't. "How has Barbara done it all these years?" wondered Linda Watson, Tom's bride. "I thought I'd been through a lot of tension until I started counting up all the years that she and Jack have been out here." Jack and Tom, Tom and Jack. They know every blade of grass on "I thought I had him hurt every time I got a good shot, but he has tremendous recuperative powers and that comes from being well-conditioned." Lou Duva, Holfyield's trainer, said the cut, which was opened when Holmes inadvertently gored the champion just seconds before the end of the sixth round, was his biggest concern.

Referee Mills Lane told Duva he had not seen the incident and thus, by Nevada rules, had the fight later been stopped because of the cut, Holmes would have been declared the winner. "Evander's got ice water in his said Duva. "All he ever asked was 'Am I I said and it was never mentioned again." Holyfield-Holmes stats The round-by-round breakdown ot punches thrown Friday in the heavyweight championship fight between challenger Larry Holmes and champion Evander Holyfield, as provided by Com- Open notes bogey the 1 8th Friday but stands at 1 -under 143. "I'm encouraged going into the weekend," he said. "They are not so far away that I can't see them.

The conditions won't stay the same as they have been. I have to go out and not make the mistakes I have on the last hole." Morgan and second-place Andy Dillard play out of Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla. The two will be paired Saturday, and it will be one of the rare times they've played together. "Surprisingly, Gil never plays golf when he home, so we don't play very much," said Dillard. "I see him on the practice tee every now and then.

It will be nice playing with Gil." Wayne Grady started the day just trying to make the cut of 3-over 147 and ended up tying Morgan for the low U.S. Open round at Pebble Beach with a 6-under 66. He had three birdies and an eagle on the front nine for a 5-under 31 and birdied the 14th. "My only score over four was on the last hole a par 5," said Grady. "I only missed the last fairway in the short rough, and that was the key to my round.

And I putted well. Phil Mickelson's introduction to pro golf hit a speed bump Friday when he shot an 81 and missed the cut. After an opening round of 68, he started the second round by missing a 3-foot putt on the first hole and 3-putting the third hole for a triple bogey. "I've had tough days like this before, but it was kind of discouraging after yesterday," he said. I learned what not to do.

The toughest thing is to accept it." Defending Western Open champion Russ Cochran just made the cut of 147, shooting a 74. He is looking forward to defending his first title at Cog Hill, but said: "There will be distractions that take you away from concentrating. It's a tough course, similar to a U.S. Open course, and when I peg it up on the first hole Thursday, I'D have to get in a world of my own." Hard to Find SC 400 SC 300 COUPES IN-STOCK for Immediate Delivery (708)614-8700 Holmes Holyfield Total punches 413 538 Punches connected 207 247 Pet, connected 50 46 Jabs thrown 221 235 Jabs connected 94 100 Pet, connected 43 43 Power punch, thrown 192 303 Power connected 113 147 Pet, connected 59 49 Knockdowns 0 0 Par Par Hole 123456769 out101112131415161718 In Tot Overall Par 4 5 4 4 3 5 3 4 4 36 4 4 3 4 5 4 43536 72 144 Morgan 3 5 4 4 3 4 2 5 5 35 4 5 3 3 4 4 3 3 5 34 69 135 Dillard 5 4 5 3 3 3 4 4 4 35 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 35 70 138 Floyd 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 34 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 4 4 35 69 140 Grady 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 31 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 35 66 140 Montgomerie 4 5 4 4 2 4 4 5 4 36 3 5 3 4 5 4 4 3 4 35 71 141 Forsbrand 3 5 3 3 4 4 2 4 5 33 4 4 4 5 5 4 3 3 5 37 70 141 Hallberg 4 5 5 3 2 4 2 4 4 33 4 4 4 4 6 4 4 2 5 37 70 141 Holyfield retains the undisputed heavyweight championship with 12-round unanimous decision. Chicagoland's Finest Selection of Pre Price Increase LS 400 Models Now Available for Immediate Delivery 8485 W.

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