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When we arrived at Harrahs in Rincon on Wednesday June 11th, I saw a sign that said US Open ticket holders - go to the 2nd floor reception area. I went up and several people were in line for info. When I got to the desk, I told them I already had my tickets and they said good - the shuttle bus leaves for the Open from the valet parking area at 6:00 am on Thursday. I thought it was great that I could ride the bus to the Open and avoid all the parking hassel,etc. That night my son Damian said "Dad, you better get up early and make sure everything is okay for the bus ride to the tournament." I said alright and we got a 5:00 am wake up call. In the morning, I put my badge around my neck and went down to get on the bus. When I approached the bus, the girl asked me my name and I said Gerald Birl. She looked on her list and said - you are not on the list to ride the bus !!! It was then that I found out you had to be a "Special invited guest" to ride the bus - and that wasn't me. We immediately launched our backup plan - which was to drive directly to the tournament. There was a guy from Oklahoma waiating for a cab to the course. We asked him how much cab fare was and he said $160.00 one way. Woooooo !!! We jumped into the van and decided to follow the cab to the course. I thought back to that great old movie line "Follow that cab !!" - and tha's exactly what we did.
When we arrived at the course, there was no parking signs everywhere, so we drove around a little to get the "lay of the land". We managed to find an office complex which was adjacent to the course and right next to a back entrance by the 10th green. There was even a deluxe portapotty in the parking area. I got out and Damian took off to go sightseeing. This was way better than driving to Qualcom Stadium about 12 miles away and standing in a ridicuously long line to catch a shuttle bus to the course. I was off to a great start on my US Open experience.
My plan was to follow Tiger Woods around the entire ocurse so I could see firsthand every hole he played. This was a very ambitious plan, but I was determuned to do it. I was directly behind the green on the first hole when Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott teed off as a threesome. There were probably 25.000 people on the course and 20,000 of them were following this threesome.
Tiger got off to a terrible start with a double bogey an the first hole. Several paople next to me said - He's done - His knee is not healed - He can't win. I turned to them and said "Hey, this is only the first hole there's 71 more holes to go - it's not over yet."
Little did I knpw then it would take not 71 but 90 more holes to decide the Champion.
On Friday, we used the same drop off point as we did the day before and everything went smoothly. I saw Tim Rosenforte from the Golf Channel near the practice green before Tiger's secound round began. I called to him and introduced myself and asked him if he had an inside scoop on Tiger's ailing knee. He said - Hank Haney Tiger's swing coach said - Tiger had the best warmup he had ever seen. That made me feel better about Tiger's chances of winning.
Earlier in the day on Friday - my son Damian and I laid out a plan for Saturday and Sunday since he would not be with me and I would have to get to the course by myself. We drove a couple of miles up the coast from La Jolla to Del Mar to find a good way to get to the course. We found a place to park on the street for free that was only about 100 yards from a bus stop. The bus would pick me up and drop me off right at the course. A GREAT PLAN.
On Saturday, I parked and waited and waited and waited for the bus. A cab came by and the driver asked me if I needed a ride to the course. I asked how much and he said $10.00, so I got in the cab. There was another guy already in the back seat of the cab, who was also going to the Open. I told the cabbie to drop us off at the Hilton, which was right on the course and we could walk thru the hotel and come out near the 18th hole. When we pulled up to the Hilton we were stopped by a guard and asked who we were going to see at the Hilton since drop offs were not allowed. The guy in the back seat said Mr. "Somebody" - the guard said there was no guest by that name. I quickly said maybe MR. "Somebody" was staying at the Hilton down the street and could we go in and try to have the hotel contact him. The guard said ok and the cab drove in and dropped us off at the front door of the Hilton - what a break. Before the driver dropped us off, I got his cell phone # and told him I would call him on Sunday and have hinm pick me up again at the same palce in Del Mar. His name was Abu and he was from Ethiopia.
In the middle of the round on Saturday, I saw Elin - Tiger Wood's wife and I went up and talked to her. She was very casually dressed and if you didn't know who she was you would think she was just another fan. I had met her in Florida at the Player's Championship in May of 2007. I showed her the RIO slot card I had with Tiger Wood's name on it and told her that Tiger had given me a ball after the 2nd round of the Player's. She said - You have a lot of stuff from Tiger. I told her - I would love to have Tiger sign the slot card and some day I would get him to do it. She said - Good luck and walked off toward the next hole.
Sunday June 15th - what a day!! Tiger had eagled the 18th hole to finish his round on Saturday and to get into the final group on Sunday. The final round with Rocco Mediate went back and forth and Tiger once again made a putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff on Monday. I mow had some MAJOR problems - I didn't have a ticket for Monday's Playoff, I had to cancel my reservation for Harrahs in Las Vegas, I had to get a hotel room in San Diego for tonight. After the round finished, I went into the Hilton to ask the USGA officials how I could get a ticket for Monday's playoff. The bottom line was that you had to buy the entire week long pass and a Monday Playoff ticket was enclosed with the package. I had bought my 4 days of tickets on the internet for over $700, but I now had NO ticket for Monday. I walked all thru the Hilton asking everyone I saw "Do you have an extra ticket for the Playoff??" I must have asked 200 people before running into a guy from Ann Arbor Michigan who was flying home Sunday night and he not only one but three tickets for the Playoff. He gave me all three for free - what a deal !!! I called Harrahs in Rincon to get a room for Sunday night, but they were totally sold out. I ended up at a Holiday Inn in Del Mar and went to sleep with a big smile on my face, in anticipation of the Playoff.
I got up Monday morning and headed toward the course. Between Del Mar and La Jolla ther was a public beach with free parking. As I approached the beach I saw a bus at the bus stop. I quickly parked and ran over and got on the bus and for $2.00 I got an all day pass. Once again the Playoff was unbelieveable. Tiger made another putt on the 18th hole to force a sudden death Playoff. This would be the 91st hole to decide the Championship. Of the 91 holes, I was able to see Tiger play all but 4 of the holes. As I said earlier it was hard work, but well worth it. I had found out from asking a Marshall where the sudden death Playoff would begin and he said they would play holes 7, 8 and 18 until a wimner was decided. I positioned myself on the lefthand side of the 18th holes and as soon as Tiger made the putt, I ran over to the 7th hole and got a place in the front row near the fairway bunker. A few minutes later Rocco Mediatte hit his drive into the bunker right in front of me. I was in perfect position to see all of the action on the final (91st) hole of the Open. Tiger won and I celebrated by getting into the front row of the gallery near the 18th green to see Tiger kiss the trophy.
There were about 100 people waiting in line for the bus, so decide to walk the 2 miles back to my van instaed of waiting for the bus, this was on top of the 7 or 8 miles I had already walked around the course. I had a large pine cone I had picked up near the 18th hole in my hand and an enormous grin on my face as I walked toward my van. My feet barely touched the ground !!! What an experience this had been !!!!
About 20 minutes later I was in my van and headed for Vegas and the next part of my trip - THE CONVENTION.
Well that's it for now - stay tuneed for Part III.
Take care,
Jerry
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