Monday, June 20, 2005 | 9:13 a.m.
PINEHURST, N.C. -- A lot of talk buzzed about the driving range and practice green at Pinehurst No. 2 as to whether the United States Golf Association set up a fair course.
Anyone throwing around the unfair label might want to talk to Mike Hicks and consider a new choice of adjectives.
Six years ago, Hicks carried the bag of Payne Stewart when he sank the now-legendary 15-foot par putt at No. 18 to claim a stirring U.S. Open victory against Phil Mickelson. Hicks was left holding the bag again a few months later, when Stewart died in a private plane crash.
Hicks returned this week as the caddie for Lee Janzen, Stewart's close friend and a two-time U.S. Open champion as well. Speaking Sunday for the first time this week, Hicks felt some relief in finishing this most vivid living memory of Stewart.
"A little bit of closure to the whole thing," Hicks said. "It doesn't hide the fact that we miss him and I've been thinking about him all day."
Hicks, who got his first break as a caddie with Curtis Strange in 1985, worked with Stewart for 12 years. He had flown ahead of Stewart to Houston to prepare for the Tour Championship. The normal itinerary might have called for Hicks to fly with Stewart from Orlando to Dallas.
Six people, including Stewart, died when the plane apparently lost cabin pressure somewhere just north of Florida. The plane flew uncontrolled across the country before crashing in South Dakota when it ran out of fuel.
Hicks served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Stewart, the same man who carried Hicks in his arms when the caddie leapt there after that Pinehurst miracle putt. The bells chimed out "Amazing Grace" as Stewart lined up that putt in 1999.
As Hicks came up to the 18th green Sunday with Janzen, wouldn't you know the bells were ringing once again.
"It seems like every time I come to 18, the bells are going off, even when I come to play," Hicks said. "It's a little emotional right now and I'm sure it will get emotional watching it (Sunday) afternoon."
While Moore struggled throughout the week, Florida junior Matt Every closed Sunday with an even-par 70 to finish at 11-over. That earned Every low amateur honors by five strokes against Moore, the only other amateur to make the 36-hole cut.
Moore and Every were competing for the second time in two weeks, having just faced one another as players for UNLV and Florida, respectively, at NCAA nationals in Owings Mills, Md. Moore got the best of it there, finishing tied for fifth while Every tied for 85th.
Every moved on to sectional qualifying days later, where he survived the competitive Maryland event by grabbing one of five spots from an eight-man playoff.
The U.S. Open began with eight amateurs, but Every outlasted all of them by putting the ball extremely well and avoiding trouble. He did not record any double bogeys and drained eight one-putts in Sunday's round.
"I moved the ball back on my (putting) stance a little bit," Every said. "I don't know if that helped me. It probably helped me mentally, just something to fool around with. But they rolled a little better, so it worked out."
archive
