THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606160154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. LENGTH: 61 lines
Oakland Hills's propaganda is that the 16th hole, a 403-yard par 4, is its signature hole, the one visitors remember most.
In 1972, Gary Player's trick shot from behind a willow tree and over the pond that fronts the green enabled the South African star to carve his name onto a PGA championship trophy.
Saturday, however, the 16th hole may become famous as the primary reason Ernie Els and Payne Stewart weren't able to put their name on the 1996 U.S. Open cup.
Stewart made a triple-bogey 7 on the hole to plummet from even-par for the tournament to 3-over. Shaken, he made a bogey on the next hole, finished at 4-over and trails leader Tom Lehman by six shots.
``I brought the monster out all by myself,'' Stewart said, using the nickname by which the South course is traditionally known.
Stewart played the hole so outrageously that he created a rarity. PGA players always keep track of their playing partner's scores. Greg Norman, paired with Stewart, lost count.
``He had to ask me what score I made,'' Stewart said, cracking a smile.
Els was 2-under when he reached 16, even par when he left. He stands 1-over after 54 holes, just three behind Lehmann, but far, far from where he wanted to be.
``Just one of those things,'' Els said with a shrug.
Stewart was more descriptive of his triple bogey, which started with a drive into the left rough, a shank into the water, a pitch short of the green and two putts.
``I hit a little of everything there,'' Stewart said wryly. ``There was a fat, a shank. . . the amateurs would have been proud. I was having a blast until that happened.''
So was Els.
He was leading the tournament. He had his foot on the gas, trying to put some distance between himself and the competition. He had already made up his mind he would not play safe coming in.
``Believe me, I wasn't trying to do what I did,'' he said.
After blasting drivers from the tee Thursday and Friday because of a slight breeze, Els and his caddie found calm conditions on the tee and disagreed over whether to hit a 2-iron or a 3-wood.
The caddie won, at least until Els launched a 3-wood way left of the fairway and into the rough and woods. Still just 162 yards from the pin, Els decided not to play safe and pitch out into the fairway. Instead, he tried to knock his ball onto the green with a 7-iron.
``But I had a limb above me and when I touched it (on my backswing), it was too late (to stop),`` ``The hole was playing really short,'' he said. ``I figured I'd play 2-iron, then 6- or 7-iron.''
He may still play the hole that way - but only in his dreams. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
Ernie Els put his second shot on the 16th hole into the rocks,
settling for a double bogey.
Payne Stewart just missed the rocks, but he'd already found the
water on his way to a triple-bogey 7 and a disastrous round of 76. by CNB