Shinnecock Hills brought the worst out of the best

Those who lost at the 104th U.S. Open are wondering why anyone created a golf course like… Those who lost at the 104th U.S. Open are wondering why anyone created a golf course like Shinnecock Hills. The San Francisco Giants are creating rubber chickens to sell to fans to protest opposing teams who intentionally walk Barry Bonds. And what kind of defense did the Super Bowl streaker’s lawyer create to make it take a court six months to find him guilty?

In the rough.

Tiger Woods let his frustrations be known after the 104th U.S. Open had ended. Woods finished 17th and shot a 76 in the final round of the tournament.

He was not the only one to express distaste for the way the United States Golf Association prepared for this tournament.

The dreaded seventh hole was one of the main discussion topics of the entire tournament. On the final round, after two groups played through and played horribly, the USGA decided to start watering down the green before each group came through, which was unfair to those who had already played the monster seventh.

Despite all the gripes, many players, even Woods, agreed that the course played fairly in the first two rounds, but said it got unfair as the weekend went on. The reason the course was harder the final two rounds was because the winds, which are prominent at Shinnecock Hills, picked up and dried the greens, making it nearly impossible to land a shot on the green.

I watched the entire tournament, and at times, the course looked unfair, but that’s just because I’m used to Woods placing his iron shots nicely onto the green.

The fact is that golf is played outdoors. Weather is going to play a major part in the sport. It’s not like the USGA laid down a few clown heads that eat up your ball if you don’t hit it through the windmill at the right time. We’re talking about Mother Nature here. The USGA does not control the weather — not yet, at least.

Weather has played its part in many championships in all outdoor sports. The Raiders did not claim their loss to the Patriots in the 2001 AFC Championship was unfair because the snow made it impossible for them to run their offense at New England. The fact is, they weren’t prepared to deal with such weather, and neither were any of the golfers at the U.S. Open, besides Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson.

Why did the chicken cross home plate?

The San Francisco Giants will be selling a rubber chicken named “Walker” for $10 at games to protest the number of intentional walks Barry Bonds has received this season. So far, 51 of Bonds’ 94 walks were intentional.

Yes, the walks keep Bonds from hitting home runs, but it has not stopped the Giants from winning games. Bonds is currently tied for fourth in the National League with 52 runs scored. Last time I checked, you had to get on base to score a run, so the walks aren’t hurting him or the team. The team is now sitting in a nice position, battling the Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

Besides, walks are part of the game. It’s not just a game of home runs and strikeouts. There is a strategy to this game, and several times, it involves putting a man on base via the walk.

If I want to win a game, I’m walking Bonds every time. He is the most dangerous hitter in the game today. You give him a pitch, and he’ll make you and your team pay.

So make all the chickens you want. Bonds is still going to be walked.

The camera adds 10 pounds.

Mark Francis Roberts was finally found guilty of trespassing on the field at Reliant Stadium during the Super Bowl this year. Roberts, also known as “the Streaker,” ran onto the field dressed in a referee outfit. He stripped and did a jig in the middle of the field with only a skin-colored, football-shaped piece covering his “personal belongings.”

What I would love to know is why it took so long to find him guilty? He only pulled this stunt in front of a nationally televised audience. The television footage alone should have been enough to convict Roberts of this crime.

Roberts now awaits his sentence. He faces a possible $2,000 fine and up to six months in jail, all that for being on the field and nearly exposing himself to millions of viewers. Imagine what his fine would have been if he had gotten completely naked?

However, he could get out of it easily. All he’d have to do is tell the judge it was a wardrobe malfunction.

Jimmy Johnson is the assistant sports editor for The Pitt News, and he feels better now when he double-bogeys a par 3, because the USGA is definitely conspiring to make things harder for him.