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Taiwan amateur stuns US Open by
firing to third
AFP, ARDMORE, Pennsylvania
Pan Cheng-tsung of Taiwan tees
off on the ninth hole during the second round of the US Open at the Merion Golf
Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
Photo: Reuters
Pan Cheng-tsung (¼ï¬FÚz), a 21-year-old
amateur golfer from Taiwan, has played his way into contention at the US Open,
snagging a share of third place halfway into his darkness-halted second round.
Pan finished off a two-over-par 72 opening round on Friday, a day after storms
halted play at Merion for more than four hours, then went two-under-par for nine
holes of his second round to stand on level-par for the tournament.
¡§I feel good. I played great this afternoon,¡¨ Pan said. ¡§I didn¡¦t hit my driver
well, but I ground it out just trying to make par and make tons of par putts,
which are really important for me. That makes all the difference.¡¨
The University of Washington standout, who in 2007 became the youngest US
Amateur quarter-finalist since icon Bobby Jones at age 15, qualified for the
Open by taking the last of two spots on offer in a sectional near his college.
With birdies on Friday afternoon on the par-5 second and par-4 fifth, the 2006
Asian Games silver medalist proved he was no flash in the pan.
¡§I¡¦m really happy with my performance,¡¨ Pan said. ¡§I¡¦m not saying I¡¦m good
enough, but I love this kind of feeling and the competition is great.¡¨
Four-time major champion Phil Mickelson and fellow American Billy Horschel
shared the clubhouse lead at one-under 139 after 36 holes with England¡¦s Justin
Rose and Luke Donald and American Steve Stricker one stroke back on par-140.
Pan and England¡¦s Ian Poulter were on the course, but even with the level-par
group, heady territory for a player who moved from Taiwan to the US in 2007 for
his career and said he does not feel extra pressure playing among the greats.
¡§I¡¦m very excited to see my name on the leaderboard,¡¨ Pan said. ¡§The reason I
don¡¦t feel pressure is because the holes are hard and I just try every shot
hard. It¡¦s still early in the tournament. I¡¦ve got 45 holes to go. Just seeing
my name on the scoreboard, that¡¦s all I¡¦m trying to do.¡¨
It is a success Pan never imagined when he qualified for the Open a second time
after failing in 2011.
¡§A lot of great players here,¡¨ he said. ¡§I was just trying to do my job, trying
to be a good player. This course is good for me because it¡¦s not really long.
It¡¦s narrow and accuracy is my strong point, which helps me a lot.¡¨
Even so, US Opens produce the toughest conditions in golf with dense rough and
fast greens, forcing a maturity and patience beyond the years of most
collegians.
¡§I knew it was going to be tough with the wind picking up,¡¨ Pan said. ¡§I just
try to remind myself to try to hit a good shot each time, even if I made a
bogey, to just forget it and then continue, because sometimes a bogey is not
bad.¡¨
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