A Week Like No Other

Tiger. Phil. Sergio. Sept. 11. Bethpage. Why the first People's Open still shines

By Dave Shedloski

Photo Illustrations by Sean McCabe

June 15, 2009

The most popular salutation from the homegrown New York galleries at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park was a declaration articulated in a question. "Hey (insert accomplished tour player name here), how do you like our (insert colorful adjective here) municipal golf course?"

The 102nd U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., was a groundbreaking occasion in major championship golf, most notably because it was "The People's Open." In a nod toward celebrating an overlooked slice of the game's rich history while repudiating its own myopia, the USGA for the first time conducted its biggest tournament on a truly public layout. The Black had long been a red-eye favorite among New Yorkers, who for a chance to access the A.W. Tillinghast gem were compelled to slumber in their cars. The blue bloods were the interlopers on this occasion.

With a mix of populism and parochialism, Bethpage wasn't for the meek of heart or the misguided of stroke. That Tiger Woods emerged with his second Open title was hardly a surprise; it was the seventh triumph in 11 major starts for the world's No. 1 player, who just so happened to be a product of public golf.

When the Open returns to Bethpage Black, the 156 competitors will find the big layout, tweaked by Open Doctor II, Rees Jones, larger and more exacting than when Woods was the only player to break par in outdueling Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. But it's doubtful that this 109th playing of the national championship will be more meaningful than the spectacle of seven years earlier, played in the shadow of the Big Apple and earth-shattering tragedy.

Fate put that U.S. Open in New York less than one year after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. The championship's success is what brings it back. But, ironically, a return to Bethpage again represents a respite from collective angst, this time over an economic tsunami that has waylaid Wall Street and Main Street.

"It was such a hard golf course, but even as wrapped up as you had to be in your game, it was hard to not notice the atmosphere and how much that tournament meant to people," Scott Verplank recalls. "I don't know if you can say, 'Here we go again,' but there are certainly serious things going on that worry everyone."

Indeed, it is hard to compare current events to the horrors of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, not to mention the anthrax scare soon after that exacerbated the nation's sense of vulnerability. Bethpage helped lift a collective moroseness.

"We were not too far removed from 9/11, and I think the whole city was looking for something to wrap their arms around, anything, any sporting event, anything to take themselves out of that moment in time. The U.S. Open was that event," says Woods, whose three-under-par 277 was three better than Mickelson. "I played well and ended up winning the golf tournament, but I think the overwhelming memory of the whole event was just the week in general. I can't believe how many thank-yous we got as players: Thank you for coming out and supporting New York. We didn't do anything. We just came out and played. But to them, they wanted a distraction from what they witnessed and what they were dealing with and all of the people they had lost in their lives."

Adds Mike Davis, senior director of rules and competitions for the USGA, "I think the people of New York were so ready for that championship because at that juncture, not even a year after 9/11, they were looking to have something to talk about and get excited about. It will be interesting to see in this go-around how different things will be."

Although the championship was successful, it wasn't a complete escape. Altered reality intruded.

"Security at the U.S. Open changed forever with Bethpage," Davis says. "The authorities believed they had to do some extra special things or the tournament itself could be a target. They had reason to believe that security needed to be elevated. We had the FBI, CIA and Secret Service weighing in. There were things they didn't even tell us, but that they were suspicious about. For us, that was significant to altering our view of running the championship."