
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 17, 1990                   TAG: 9006170157
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MEDINAH, ILL.                                LENGTH: Medium

DEFENDING CHAMP CHARGES

He watched his putt bend to the left as if it had been swept up by a whirlpool. It fell in the hole, and Curtis Strange was back in the U.S. Open.

Trying to become the first man in 85 years to win three straight U.S. Opens, Strange was worried about making the cut a day earlier. On Saturday, he shot a 4-under-par 68 that put him at 211, 5-under for the tournament and two off the lead shared by Mike Donald and Billy Ray Brown.

"When I made that putt at the 17th, I was back at the U.S. Open," he said. "Winning that trophy and being the reigning Open champion, you just don't want to let go. At least, you don't want to let go easily. I feel like I've got a chance now."

Strange's putt, which he estimated at 20 feet, gave him the last of his four birdies in a bogey-free third round.

"I must have started the ball eight feet left of the hole," Strange said. "It was going sideways, but it went in."

He watched the ball drop, took six steps to the hole, retrieved the ball and waved to the crowd. He shook hands with his playing partner, Mike Reid, and walked off the green.

"The atmosphere - making three birdies in five holes, feeling good about things, and having all those people pulling for me - that's what made it like the U.S. Open again," he said. "I realized I was back in the golf tournament."

Once again, he is in hot pursuit of the Open title. Last year at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., he became the first man since Ben Hogan in 1950-51 to win consecutive Opens. The only man to win three in a row was Willie Anderson in 1903-05.

"Now, I'm anxious to get going again tomorrow," Strange said.

Keywords:
GOLF

by CNB