TOLEDO, Ohio - The U.S. Senior Open will be Fred Funk's last tournament for a while. In fact, the 55-year-old, who has a pair of operations scheduled next week, might be done for the year.
Funk has a torn ligament in his left thumb and pain caused by scar tissue in his right knee, for which he had a total replacement on Nov. 16, 2009. Dr. Tom Graham is scheduled to repair Funk's thumb Monday at the Cleveland Clinic. Funk plans to have knee surgery three days later in Jacksonville, Fla.
"The artificial knee itself is good - I've got tremendous range of motion and everything is functional, but it's like I'm stepping on a nerve with every step," Funk said after the third round at Inverness Club.
Funk injured his thumb at this year's Greater Hickory Classic. "I swung a stretch stick right into a porch railing warming up and snapped my ligament," he said. "I got a cortisone shot and for four weeks it didn't bother me at all. I never had it checked and didn't think it was that bad. Then the cortisone wore off and it got really bad."
Funk vows to be patient in his recovery from both pending surgeries. "If I'm done for the season, so be it," he said. "I'm not going to rush this. I rushed last time [after knee replacement]. I think I pushed it too hard, and that's how I think I got the scar tissue."
-- Bill Fields
Injuries might end Funk's year on Sunday
Fields: Warmly recalling Burke's Open win
TOLEDO, Ohio - It's been hot and humid at Inverness Club for the U.S. Senior Open. A couple of caddies were wobbly coming off the 18th green. A fellow who usually has a 40-pound tour bag over his shoulder but is playing instead of caddieing this week, Damon Green, said after a steamy second round that, "My legs gave out on me. I was hitting every shot left, left and left, and I just fought to shoot even par. It was a battle." Joey Sindelar, his slacks sweat-soaked to his knees, looked as if he had been through a car wash.
The thermometer will be pushing 90 degrees Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, the forecast for the final round calls for a high of 96. That makes it a perfect time to toast the late William Burkowski, aka Billy Burke - preferably with a Gatorade in Inverness' air-conditioned locker room.
This summer marks the 80th anniversary of Burke's remarkable - indeed, singular - victory in the 1931 U.S. Open at Inverness. No one else ever won an Open the way Burke did, and no one ever will.
It was a long, hard week - and then some.
Northern Ohio was broiling before and during that Open, which was scheduled for July 2-4, 1931 - 18 holes each of the first two days with the customary double-round conclusion scheduled for the third day. Seventy-two holes would have been tough enough, but this bizarre Open would go two more days and 72 more holes - a marathon playoff unique in golf annals.
Temperatures encroached on the century mark in Toledo leading up to the championship. Animals and people in Toledo perished in the sweltering conditions. One man died in his office, another on the street, a third, a transient, in a railroad box car. Wise golfers (and that was much of the field) limited their practice. Walter Hagen showed up for a warm-up of only a few holes on the eve of the championship. Visitors from Great Britain, including Abe Mitchell, whose likeness is on the Ryder Cup trophy, was near collapse after nine practice holes.
"A searing sun sprayed Inverness with its terrific heat," a Toledo newsaper reported. "Staunch, veteran warhorses toiled and staggered under those roasting rays." Gene Sarazen, the 1922 U.S. Open champion, predicted that "this terrific heat gives anyone who can weather it a better chance." Inverness' small greens were complemented by the narrowest fairways the U.S. Open had ever implemented.
It turned out that Burke, Sarazen's fellow New Englander and another golfer who had grown up the hard way, was the right man for the job.
Woods and Foley jump headfirst into preparation for return
--Tim Rosaforte
Follow Tim Rosaforte on Twitter: @TimRosaforte
Kuchar: "People are just crazy about Tiger"
EDISON, N.J. -- While fans and members of the media speculate on how Tiger Woods' latest return will go, it appears his peers are just as interested.
"People are just crazy about Tiger Woods, they love Tiger Woods," Matt Kuchar said during Barclays media day at Plainfield Country Club. "There's a lot of excitement that surrounds him and a whole lot of curiosity as well. He's put himself in such a spotlight. We want to know more, we want to guess about things going on, how well he will play, how strong he is. There are a lot of question marks."
Kuchar happened to play with Woods at the Players during his last competitive round -- well, half round. Woods withdrew during the first round after a front-nine 42, citing knee and Achilles injuries. That remains his only tournament appearance since finishing T-4 at the Masters.
Read moreSenior Open: Weather delays second round
The second round, scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., will commence at 10:15 a.m. The final afternoon pairing, which was supposed to go off at 2:45 p.m., is now 5:15 p.m.
There is a chance of scattered thunderstorms Friday afternoon in northern Ohio, but the forecast for Saturday and Sunday is good.
Olin Browne shot a seven-under 64 Thursday to take a two-stroke lead over Michael Allen and Mark O'Meara.
-- Bill Fields
Bryon Bell to caddie for Tiger Woods at Bridgestone
First came news that Woods will end his three-month layoff next week at the Bridgestone Invitational. Then we learned his good friend Bryon Bell will inherit Steve Williams' caddie bib and take over Woods' bag.
Bryon Bell has caddied for his friend Tiger Woods on a fill-in basis before.Photo by Getty Images
That last nugget came courtesy of Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman, although still to be determined is whether Bell is filling in on an interim basis or if he will be the third permanent caddie of Woods' pro career (the other being Mike "Fluff" Cowan).
Caddie in contention at U.S. Senior Open
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Even now, almost two decades later, Damon Green thinks about the short putt that didn't go in, the par he didn't make, the PGA Tour card he didn't earn at the 1994 Q school.
"Oh, yeah," Green said. "Every night, almost. You'll be laying in bed and you think about that 2 1/2 footer you missed and [how] it could have changed your life. I wake up in a cold sweat sometimes."
Green spends most of his time as Zach Johnson's caddie.
Thursday morning at Inverness Club, Green's perspiration was caused by the hot, humid weather -- and his effort in crafting a four-under 67 in the first round of the 32nd U.S. Senior Open. It was a score that left him only one behind leaders Mark O'Meara and Michael Allen among the morning starters and pretty fancy stuff for a guy whose day job for the last decade or so has been as a tour caddie for Scott Hoch and, since 2004, Zach Johnson.
Read moreFrustrating season continues for Couples
TOLEDO, Ohio - What a difference a year makes.
At the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, held at Sahalee CC just outside Fred Couples' hometown of Seattle, Couples was the story of the week, drawing large galleries and dueling eventual winner Bernhard Langer. It was a microcosm of the year, as Couples played 17 Champions Tour events, winning four times and energizing the senior circuit in his rookie season.
Couples is absent from this week's U.S. Senior Open at Inverness Club, having withdrawn last week citing back issues. The 51-year-old has played only three times on the Champions Tour in 2011, most recently in early May at the Regions Tradition, where he was T-63 after closing rounds of 77-77. His last competitive appearance came a month later at the Memorial, where he missed the cut. In addition to his chronic back problem, Couples also had cancerous lesions removed from both hands.
(Instruction: See how Freddie bombs it off the tee)
Next week's Champions Tour stop, the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn., is promoting Couples on its website as one of the "expected golfing legends" in the field and says he has committed to play.
If Couples does compete, perhaps it will get a lost year going. Other than the run he had at Riviera in the Northern Trust Open, where he was T-7, and a T-5 at the Toshiba Classic on the Champions Tour in March, this season couldn't be more different from his upbeat 2010, when in addition to his four wins, Couples had four runner-up finishes and five other top-10s.
-- Bill Fields
(Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Cook defends Woods' decision to part with Williams
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Those critical of Tiger Woods' decision to part ways with caddie Steve Williams don't understand the delicate nature of the player-caddie relationship in professional golf, said Champions Tour player John Cook.
"Whether you have thought about it [firing a caddie] for one minute or five weeks, once there is doubt in your head it's there and you have to act on it because you're always thinking about it. It's always there," Cook said Wednesday at Inverness Club where he is competing this week in the U.S. Senior Open. "They [Woods and Williams] had kind of been on edge, and once you're on edge, it's time. There's really no way to walk back from that."
Woods announced after the Open Championship that he and Williams no longer would be working together, though he informed Williams of his decision during the week of the AT&T National. Williams had been on the bag for 13 of the 14 major championships Woods won.
Read moreMcIlroy: 'Shut up...your opinion means nothing!'
Athletes using Twitter to connect with their fan base is not always a good idea, as Rory McIlroy demonstrated on Thursday.
Photo by Getty Images
McIlroy double-bogeyed the 18th hole at the Irish Open, then was criticized on Twitter by Jay Townsend, a Golf Channel analyst and former European Tour player.
"Some of the worst course management I have ever seen beyond under 10's boys golf competition," Townsend posted after McIlory hit his approach shot into the water at 18.
McIlroy did not take the criticism in stride.
"@JayATownsend shut up.... You're a commentator and a failed golfer, your opinion means nothing!" he wrote.
Update: McIlroy told reporters in Ireland that his response to Townsend was in defense of his caddie J.P. Fitzgerald.
"He's been having a go at J.P. every now and again. This was the first time I've responded. It was the straw that broke the camel's back," McIlroy said. "Now I've blocked him on Twitter so I won't be reading anything more."
-- John Strege
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