WHILE local experts here looked for signals, however obscure, to explain the remarkable triumph by Steve Jones in the 96th US Open a Oakland Hills last Sunday they could find none. An unlikely winner in every sense Jones triumphed simply because he was inspired by the importance of the event on a golf course of unrelenting difficulty.
His success emphasised the extent to which desire and the ability to compete can totally outweigh current form in the quest of a major sporting prize. For instance, though Jones had four victories to his credit on the USPGA Tour, they dated back to the 1988 and 1989 seasons. In fact he came to Oakland Hills having missed the cut in his previous two events, the Kemper Open and the Memorial Tournament.
As for US Open form Jones's previous appearance was at Hazeltine in 1991, when he shot two rounds of 76 to miss the cut by five strokes, having suffered the same fate in the US Masters, two months previously. Indeed he also missed the cut in his last appearance in the USPGA Championship in August 1990 and when he last played in the British Open in 1991, his reward was a modest share of 64th place at Royal Birkdale.
Four months after that Birkdale appearance, he was out in the desert in Arizona on a so called dirt bike we call them trial bikes here in Europe when a friend had a crash in front of him. "So as not to run over him, I tried to stop," he recalled. "The next thing I remembered was waking up and seeing him over there against a ditch with a broken collarbone. I had sprained my ankle and separated my left shoulder and my finger (the ring finger of his left hand) hurt real bad."
He went on. "I didn't realise my finger was hurt that bad because I had dislocated it before but it was a shock when it happened. It was still bad 10 months later when I decided to go to a specialist in Palm Springs. He suggested that I wrap the two middle fingers (of his left hand) together and to call him in three months.
"It improved from 45 per cent to 85 per cent, so I knew I was on the right track." But it was still 2% years before he returned to competitive golf. There were a few aborted comeback attempts and on each occasion he reinjured the damaged finger, with painful consequences. . .
Eventually, at the end of 1993, Jones was feeling fit enough to do some work on a synthetic putting green in his back garden. But in setting things up, he strained his left index finger. "I couldn't believe it," he said. Finally, with a new grip involving the left index finger sitting over the right little finger, he returned for two tournaments in 1994.
Last season, the comeback was complete. Competing in 24 events, he made 16 cuts to earn $234,749. He was on his way. Meanwhile, through his four tour victories, in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 1988, the Tournament of Champions, Bob Hope Classic and Canadian Open the following, year, Jones hadn't forgotten how to win when the opportunity presented itself.
By his own estimation, a key factor in his US Open success was a book on Ben Hogan which he was given last week. "I read how he won here (at Oakland Hills) in 1951 and it really helped me," he said. "He (Hogan) talked about just focusing on the shots, not anything else. I didn't look at the scoreboard during the final round and when we came to the 18th tee, I asked my brother (who was caddying for him) how we were doing. He said we were tied for the lead and I knew then I just had to (play) golf against Tom (Lehman)."
At a time when European players had become increasingly prominent in major championships on this side of the Atlantic, this was a particularly disappointing exercise. Given that nine out of the 14 challengers made the one would certainly have anticipated a better outcome than the share of 10th place by Europe's leading challenger, Colin Montgomerie. Nick Faldo was next best in a tie for 16th.
It is interesting to note that over the four rounds, Philip Walton carded nine birdies two more than Faldo. In fact Walton was one of only four players to have two twos on his card in Sunday's final round. But there was a heavy price to be paid for any visit to the rough which, on average, cost players .422 strokes per hole.
Putting difficulties also prompted much weeping and gnashing of teeth among the Europeans. Certainly, some of them had serious problems on the greens but it is revealing that David Gilford (average of 29 putts) and Sam Torrance (29.7), both extracted a better return than the winner, Jones (30.2). And in this context, Walton (31) had the same return as Frank Nobilo who finished in a share of 13th place.
Consistency was the key as far as Jones was concerned. Out of the 108 competitors who made. the cut, he was 16th in fairways hit, eighth in greens in regulation, 29th in putting, 24th in birdies and eighth in driving distance. By comparison, Walton was 16th in fairways hit, 67th in greens in regulation, 57th in putting, 57th in birdies and 63rd in driving distance (260 yards).
Perhaps the most revealing of all statistics, however, is that Jones had only nine bogeys over the four days. And it is fascinating to note that seven of them were on the par threes. He had no double bogeys, whereas all of the Europeans came to grief in this regard, including Walton who had three.
There is no doubt though that the term Monster can still be applied with justification to Oakland Hills as a championship test.
From those players who made the cut, the average score was 72.51 against a par of 70. As wash expected, the 465 yard 18th remained the most difficult hole over the four days, returning an average score of 4.474 strokes. In fact Jones was the only one of the four leading finishers to get a par there.
Now that he has a major title to his credit, would the new champion be tempted to rekindle his passion for motorcycles? "A couple of years after the accident, I was trying to tune it up and I took it for a little ride," he replied. "I was going about five m.p.h and I actually flipped it and rolled in a little cul-de-sac. That's when I said enough.
In terms of revelations it was interesting to note the explanation of Greg Norman for his non appearance at press interviews after a turbulent third round of Saturday. "My frustrations showed ... the way I left," he said. "I haven't done that in many, many years. I feel very down right now, to tell you the truth.
As a footnote to the weekend's proceedings, Jumbo Ozaki gave a fresh dimension to the notion of oriental inscrutability. Asked through an interpreter how was his Open (he was tied 67th), the 49 year old Japanese replied. "Not so good." Did he have any plans to go on the US Seniors Tour? "No." What makes him so popular? "Thank you."
