European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 26 stars and stripes Mideast edition june 2007 hitting Long on 17 resulted in Furyk coming up Short by Nancy Armour the associated press booming tee shots and Jim Furyk Are two things that rarely go the one time they it Cost Furyk a Chance to win the getting that close and not being Able to win the Golf Tournai it stings a he but i went Down swing that he tied for the Lead on the 17th tee Furyk decided he could still hit Driver on the Uphill Par even with the tees up and the Hole playing Shorter than his tee shot landed in such Snarky rough it took him two tries to get a bogey he had dropped a stroke behind Angel and that where he tying for second for the second straight Furyk finished with a 70 to join Tiger Woods at 6over i didst do All that much i didst hit that Many bad said the 2003 open i just want Able to dig it out of the rough and get the Ball on the Green on two on in the that going to be the Dif if i had to kick myself on one i would love to go hit the 17th tee shot after a rough second Furyk played some of the Best Golf of anyone on the while everyone else was falling his game was coming to Gether with a pair of when he rolled in a putt on 15 for his third straight it moved him to the top of the Leader Board and into a tie with hang on for three More and he could Force a better make a Birdie or and he would be the open Champ in the area where he grew he made Par on 16 and then went to a Hole hed birdied sat the tees were pushed up for sundays final making the Hole play at 306 Furyk will never be mistaken for a big but even he could have should have played an Iron or a but he went ahead and pulled out that i didst think i would hit the Ball i Haven hit a Ball any where within 20 Yards of any where that one he i was shocked to see How far it at my i can hit the Ball left of the Green and it had an key Hole at the open the key Hole in the final round of the open at Oakmont country club Hole yardage pan stroke average rank 14 key fact Jim Furyk was tied for the Lead when he hit Driver on the Short Only to end up deep in the left two chips and two putts later he had a bogey and fell one Tiger trailing by a also tried to drive the ended up in a Bunker and made Avenue up the and that where i wanted to go All the Ball i hit today carried a lot i was surprised by How far it and didst realize from the tee Box that i put myself in that poor of a instead of having a Clear shot to the Green from the he was buried in the rough on the Short Side of the Green with no Angle to the the Ball was Down so in that fun Ryks pitch travelled a whopping 10 i should have been Able to dig it he i was playing away from the pin because i had no shot at though the Ball spun past the he still had a Chance to save but his 8foot putt hit the lip and chromed if i went i  hit left of the he but it was the i would stick by that play through and through with the Way the wind conditions and the pin position in my i made the right i  have hit the Ball so far but in surprised it went As far As it Cabrera was already in the so Furyk had one final Chance to catch he hit a Nice drive into the 18th but his second shot had too much on it landed on the Collar along the upper left with the pin downhill and to the his Long Birdie putt rolled tantalizingly close to the and the cheers grew louder with every turn of the but it didst break like he needed it and it ran about 6 feet below the at least Furyk didst lose the open on the 18th at winged foot last he could have forced a playoff with Geoff Ogilvy by making a 5footer for but it caught the right Edge of the and he wound up tied with Phil Mickelson and Colin but second is still no matter How you no one likes Consolation priz Furyk said in proud of the Way i and in proud of those but you a second is not that much to be honest with Charles Paul Casey chips out of one of the Church Pew bunkers on the third Hole during the final round of the Casey shot a 43 on the front including a triple bogey on 6 and finished the Day 6over frightening Oakmont kept scores players egos Low the Bear that wandered out on the seventh Hole sunday morning at Oakmont country club got away just in just like Phil Mickelson sofa Mously danger lurked Mickelson want around for the though he was surely watching at Home with a smile on his face As the carnage unfolded on a hot and Sticky afternoon before Angel Cabrera finally emerged As a most unlikely open before that the third round Leader gagged his Way to a triple bogey on the first Hole and was never heard of the Best player in the world looked like a 10handicap per when he bladed a Chip Over a chunked the next one Back and nearly Cost himself any five different times players had at least a share of the Lead Only to fall by the Wayside by Mak ing double bogey or it took forever to and with Good no one seemed to want to hit a shot for fear of what might happen this want a it was a demolition Derby on the next time they have the open Here i might go Rory Sabbatini another of Mickel sons predictions didst come no one was if you dont count the bruised egos of a lot of awfully Good they headed toward the play ers parking lot muttering among themselves about another typical Golf association setup and another familiar the Best player this week had finally been but even he could Only get within five strokes of Par by the time it mercifully ended on an Anticlimactic Tapin by Tiger Oakmont had always been billed As one of the toughest open Tim Dahlberg courses but those who spent the last four Days hacking out of the thick rough and try ing to keep their balls on greens so Slick they looked oily were hav ing trouble comprehend ing just How it is Ian Poulter its frightening might not be a word most people would associate with a sunday afternoon round of frightened was the perfect de for How Aaron Baddeley looked As he stood on the first tee with a two shot Lead and thousands of people scream ing for Woods to make some Woods obliged by hitting a can non shot 350 Yards Down the mid which Baddeley followed by hitting a Lazy flare of a 3wood into the right fourteen minutes Badde Ley walked off the first Green with a triple bogey 7 on his Way to a big fat to be i was a Little bit nervous on the first but that Baddeley i enjoyed if he the Urga failed in its which seems to be Mak ing players squirm until they cant squirm any and then having a laugh about then Baddeley want exactly smiling and cracking jokes As he hacked his Way through a final round that unravelled from the minute he hit his first tee he want players were falling everywhere on a hot and Sticky Stephen Ames was tied for the Lead when he made a triple bogey on while Steve Strieker had a share of it at the turn before promptly making two doubles in a Row on 10 and the scary thing it could have been a lot after a second round on Friday where conditions were so brutal players were in near the Urga tried to tame the monster it created by watering greens Over and Over on the weekend and giving players at least a few pins they could shoot Cabrera took advantage with two Iron shots on the Back Side for Kickin then fought Back nerves to stumble his Way he then sat smiling in the scorers Happy As Heck to be done and secure in the knowledge that whatever course remained would beat up whoever was left stand the Argentine ended up with the lowest score of the though the debate will always be whether he was the better player for four Days or simply the player who contained his mistakes the that always the Fate of an open especially those who come from seemingly no where to win like Geoff Ogilvy did last year and Cabrera did to a certain extent this those hoping to join Cabrera in the elite club of major Champion ship winners dont have a whole lot to look Forward players head for Scotland next month for the British open at car where Jean Van de Velides meltdown eclipsed any thing seen Here this Oakmont might have been Bru but Carnoustie is widely regarded to have been the toughest major championship test Ever when the British was last played there in the wind will rough will be even and the greens will be just As about the Only thing missing will be the he which on this Day made him one of the Lucky Tim Dahlberg is a National sports Colum nist for the associated write to him at