OPEN MEMORIES: Judy Rankin, who was at Oakmont for ESPN during the U.S. Open, was driving back to her rental house when she saw a sign for Churchill Valley Country Club.
Without much ado, Rankin said quietly, "I think this is where I played my first U.S. Open."
In a U.S. Women's Open dominated by teenagers and 12-year-old Alexis Thompson, no one could relate quite like Rankin. The Hall of Famer was a 14-year-old amateur when she made her debut in 1959. That was before the Women's Open had qualifying, and when it was desperate for players. There were only 63 entries that year.
"I remember going in to check in and the woman behind the desk said, 'Are you here to register up for your mother?"'
Rankin doesn't remember her score, only that she had never felt her knees shake so badly as when she hit her opening tee shot. Mickey Wright won that year for the second of her four U.S. Women's Open titles.
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ADIEU, JEAN: Jean Van de Velde won't have to relive any nightmares at Carnoustie. The Frenchman who threw away the 1999 British Open on the last hole had to withdraw from the 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale because of a mysterious stomach ailment.
His manager inquired about trying local qualifying, but the Royal & Ancient turned him down. The last hope for Van de Velde is to be leading player among the top 10 at the Scottish Open who is not already eligible, although he is not sure he can play. Jamie Cunningham, his manager, said Van de Velde might be out two or three months.
Van de Velde said he planned to have a scope in his stomach to find out the problem. He told reporters last week at the French Open that he could not practice. "Anybody seeing me would have thought I was drunk," he said.
Van de Velde was poised to become the first Frenchman since 1907 to win the British Open in 1999 at Carnoustie. He had a three-shot lead with one hole to play when he took triple bogey, and Paul Lawrie won a three-hole playoff.
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