Friday, June 17, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.
PINEHURST, N.C. -- Olin Browne, Rocco Mediate and Brandt Jobe are chum. That's not a typo: chum, not chums.
These three veteran players, who shared the lead for most of Thursday's innocuous opening round of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, began play today with the waters immediately behind them infested with danger. All of the "Big Five" were lurking within four shots of the lead, not to mention Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk and David Toms.
But sometimes a shark is a victim too -- Phil Mickelson followed his first-round 69 with a trouble-filled 7-over 77 to slip way down the leaderboard.
As always in the volatile scoring climate of the U.S. Open, halfway through the second round is way too soon to know who is truly in contention. Browne and Mediate shared the overnight lead at 3-under 67, with Jobe, Lee Westwood and Retief Goosen trailing by a stroke.
This morning's round began with some ominous clouds hanging an overcast sky, threatening a shower or two for which players would undoubtedly cheer. The hard greens began drying out in the afternoon Thursday, making it nearly impossible to try for anything.
"The last five or six holes were to the point here you could barely keep the ball on the green," Jobe said.
That made it all the more impressive that a guy like Browne, a 46-year-old journeyman, could master the course for a day. His tale of nearly pulling out of 36-hole qualifying after the first round before coming back to shoot 59 in the afternoon is widely told today, but Browne is always straddling that precipice.
He arrived at last year's Michelin Championship at Las Vegas ranked 120th on the money list, clinging to a spot in the top 125 that he eventually relinquished as the season finished. Browne played 30 events in the 2004 season as a non-exempt player and understood the value of turning one opportunity into years of comfort.
Did someone mention that a U.S. Open victory comes with a five-year PGA tour exemption? For Browne, that would take him into his Champions Tour eligibility.
"That ball is in my court depending on how I play," Browne said last October. "If I'm exempt, I'm exempt. If I'm not, then I'm beholden to the vagaries of the money list, to the access process. The worst thing in the world is to be at home when you're playing well."
Browne is again non-exempt this year. Even the leading money winner of last year's Nationwide Tour gets priority into a field.
But like he said, Browne is taking advantage of the chance to play well when does get a start. He has made four cuts in five starts during the past two months -- after missing three consecutive cuts prior to that run -- and earned more than $175,000.
Browne did his best to keep his composure in Las Vegas, but he obviously burned to be answering questions about why he was scraping for dollars at season's end. He is a two-time winner on tour, although his last victory came at Colonial in 1999.
Protecting his lead here could end that streak in style.
"Pretty commercial round," Browne said Thursday. "I kept my composure and thought myself around the golf course."
The unlikely lead group found a defender in Sergio Garcia, who opened with a 1-over 71 and shot 1-under today. Asked about the Browne, Mediate and Jobe, Garcia strongly put down the notion that they are unlikely at all.
"Sometimes, you guys don't give enough credit to some of the players," Garcia said. "We can all play the game of golf. Some can do it a little better than others, but we can all play."
Former UNLV standout Ryan Moore struggled to a 5-over 75 to open his final amateur tournament. Henderson native Craig Barlow started off with a 6-over 76 and former UNLV player Mike Ruiz scuffled to a 9-over 79.
