VICTORY AT OAKLAND HILLS WOULD PLACE FALDO IN ELITE COMPANY.Byline: Ron Sirak Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. A capsule look at the top players in the 1996 U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
NICK FALDO Nicholas "Nick" Alexander Faldo MBE (born 18 July 1957) is an English golfer on the European Tour, and one of Europe's most successful players of all time. Over his career, he has won three Open Championship titles and three US Masters titles. He was ranked the World No. Best finish in Open: Lost in playoff to Curtis Strange For other uses, see Strange (disambiguation). Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American golfer. College Strange was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a graduate of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. in '88; missed playoff by one stroke in '90; fourth in '92. Is coming off his six-stroke come-from-behind victory at the Masters over Greg Norman Noun 1. Greg Norman - Australian golfer (born in 1955) Gregory John Norman, Norman . Has won three Masters and three British Opens. A U.S. Open victory would stamp him as one of the greats of all-time - tying him with Snead, Sarazen, Vardon and Palmer with seven professional major championships. Played brilliantly at the Masters, especially in his final-round 67 when he didn't hit a single poor shot. At 38, he realizes he is flirting with history. He has been obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with being the best golfer of his era and an Open victory would remove all doubts. He's straight off the tee, accurate with irons and had only one three-putt at Augusta. He wants this badly. He gets it and goes home to England in July trying to become the only person aside from Hogan to win three professional majors in one year. Odds: 10-1. COLIN MONTGOMERIE Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE (born June 23, 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer often referred to by his nickname 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles including a streak of seven consecutively Best finish in Open: Lost playoff to Els in '94; finished third at Pebble Beach in '92. A perfect U.S. Open-type game. Lost more than 30 pounds in part to be able to deal with the draining heat and humidity usually found at the Open and PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the U.S. PGA Championship outside of North America) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers Association of America as part of the PGA Tour. . Weight loss has also given him new confidence. Wants a major championship very much and will make a great run at it here. Could be a wonderful final-round battle with Ryder Cup Ryder Cup Biennial team golf event first held in 1927. It was originally played between teams of golfers from the U.S. and Britain; since 1979 players opposing the U.S. have been chosen from all of Europe. The trophy was donated by the British seed merchant Samuel Ryder. partner Faldo. Odds: 12-1. FRANK NOBILO Frank Ivan Joseph Nobilo (born on May 14, 1960) is a professional golfer and current analyst for The Golf Channel's Champions Tour coverage. He is of Croat origin. Nobilo was born in Auckland, New Zealand. Best finish in Open: Ninth in '94; 10th in '95. A calm, intelligent New Zealander with a controlled swing and plenty of patience. Defeated Montgomerie in a final-round duel in Germany earlier this month, closing with a 64. He could be a real surprise. Odds: 15-1. COREY PAVIN Corey Allen Pavin (born November 16, 1959) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. Pavin was born in Oxnard, California. He attended UCLA and turned professional in 1982. Best finish in Open: Winner last year; eighth in '91 and ninth at same Oakland Hills Oakland Hills is a common informal name for that section of the Berkeley Hills which extends along the eastern side of Oakland, California. In recent decades, it has become the more common popular term although it remains "officially" incorrect among geographers and gazetteers. course in '85. Has the kind of control game to win the Open and is wonderful around the greens. Victory last year has him brimming with confidence and the patience needed to win an Open is his strong suit. But this is a longer-than-usual course and the short-hitting Pavin will be hitting too many long irons into the greens to catch Faldo. Odds: 18-1. MARK O`MEARA Best finish in Open: Third in '88, then five consecutive missed cuts. When he is on, he is as accurate as anyone. Has won twice this year and 12 times on tour in his career. One of a pack of contenders with a real shot if Faldo and Montgomerie don't have their games in gear. Odds: 20-1. LEE JANZEN Lee McLeod Janzen (born August 28 1964) is an American golfer who is best known for twice winning the U.S. Open. Overview Janzen was born in Austin, Minnesota and spent most of his childhood in Baltimore, Maryland, where he played Little League baseball. Best finish in Open: Winner in '93 and 13th last year. Missed cuts in his other four Opens. Is very tough with a lead on Sunday. Has the control and discipline to win another Open. The victory at Baltusrol was no fluke. Another one with a real chance if Faldo and Montgomerie falter. Odds: 20-1. TOM LEHMAN Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. Best finish in Open: Third last year and sixth in '92. Seems to do well on the tough courses. Played very well in the Ryder Cup last year when he hit the ball exceptionally straight. Is patience personified and can scramble when he has to. A solid Open-type game. Don't be surprised to see him in contention on Sunday. Odds: 20-1. DAVIS LOVE III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer. Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. Best finish in Open: Fourth last year at Shinnecock when he missed several birdie putts on the back nine. Not a historically strong Open performer, and this is one of the most difficult Open courses ever. Won't get his first major championship here. Odds: 22-1. GREG NORMAN Best finish in Open: Lost in playoff to Fuzzy Zoeller in '84; fifth in '90; sixth in '94 and second in '95. The most puzzling man in golf. His blown Masters was his eighth runner-up in a major championship, overshadowing the fact he's won two British Opens and more money than anyone in the history of the game. Enormous skills constantly sabotaged by lack of patience and control on Sunday. Who knows how he will react to the Masters disaster? Who knows how he will perform next time he is in contention on Sunday? Certainly the question marks that follow him are bigger than ever. Can't see him bouncing back to a strong effort at Oakland Hills. Maybe next year at Augusta. Good news is that he won't be runner-up, either. Odds: 25-1. FRED COUPLES Best finish in Open: Third in '91 but no better than 16th since. Pulled out of Westchester week before Open, probably out of concern about his chronically tender back. Best of the Americans when he is healthy, as he proved by winning The Players Championship this year. But the grind of Open rough could be too draining for someone nursing a questionable back. Not likely to contend on this course. Odds: 25-1. PHIL MICKELSON Best finish in Open: Fourth last year after never finishing higher than 29th. The driver will be the absolute key for Mickelson. His short game and putting are among the best around, but his driver was all over the lot at Augusta, where you can get away with errant tee shots. If he does that here, he'll have no chance. Has won three times this year and eight times in his career. Will be 26 on the last day of the Open. If he's got a shot at winning, we'll know early. Odds: 25-1. ERNIE ELS Best finish in Open: Winner in '94 and 7th in '93. Missed the cut last year when he was distracted by success of previous year. Played indifferently earlier this year but was in contention going to Sunday at the Memorial before Watson won. Has all the shots to win but still needs to prove he learned from his final-round backoff at the PGA (1) (Professional Graphics Adapter) An early IBM PC display standard for 3D processing with 640x480x256 resolution. It was not widely used. (2) (Programmable Gate Array) See gate array and FPGA. last year. Odds: 25-1 NICK PRICE Best finish in Open: Only one top-10 finish in 10 Opens, a fourth in '92. Hasn't won on the PGA Tour since the '94 Canadian Open after winning two PGAs and a British Open in three years. Another guy distracted by business opportunities generated by golfing success. Has shown signs of getting his game back this year. Likely will win soon, but not here. Odds: 30-1. TOM WATSON Best finish in Open: Winner in '82; Has 10 other top-10 finishes, last one as recently at '94. Won the Memorial last week for his first victory in the U.S. since '87. Is his putter really back? Confidence is a funny thing. It would be high drama if he is in contention on Sunday. Odds: 35-1. JOHN DALY Best finish in Open: 33rd in '93; missed cut three times. Not his kind of course, not his kind of tournament. Will get discouraged and frustrated early and is even money to miss the cut. Odds: 75-1. TIGER WOODS Best finish in Open: Withdrew last year because of injury. Two-time defending U.S. Amateur champion added NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association individual title to his outstanding amateur resume earlier this month. The 20-year-old Stanford sophomore is best amateur since Nicklaus. Is this his last Open as an amateur? He'll see how difficult pro life is going to be here. Odds: 100-1. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1) Nick Faldo (2) Greg Norman (3) Tiger Woods |
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