What is it like to lead the US Open? How does it feel to play alongside Tiger Woods when in major contention? Ahead of the US Open returning to Oakmont, Sky Sports’ Nick Dougherty reflects on his memorable week competing in the 2007 contest…
My first experience of just how tough the US Open test is was in 2005. I remember being in the practice area with Michael Campbell during qualifying at Walton Heath a few weeks before, both of us waiting to see if we had made it through.
As it happened, we had done enough to get to Pinehurst, and obviously Cambo went on to win it, while I managed to play all four rounds and finished just outside the top 50.
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I also played at Winged Foot the year after and that was probably the toughest of the four US Opens I played in. It might not have been the hardest course, but it all comes down to how well you are playing and I missed the cut, although I was only a shot behind Tiger Woods!
I suppose it is a little ironic that the course widely rated among the toughest on the US Open rota was where I had my best performance. I was playing nicely at the time I arrived at Oakmont in 2007 so it didn’t feel as challenging as Winged Foot – a course which ate me up and spat me out!
On the third day, I went out with none other than Tiger Woods and it was one of the best days of my career
Because the set-up is always so close to the edge, you will always get punished for slightly wayward shots which you would often get away with week in, week out. If you do miss, you have to miss in the right places to have any hope of salvaging a score.
Good course management is imperative, particularly at Oakmont. You have to manage yourself and not be too negative whilst also being wary of pushing too hard, which is hard to avoid doing if you’ve dropped a few shots early on.
But that is all much easier said than done and we’ve seen that time after time, year after year. You have to accept there are going to be mistakes on the card and I learned that at Pinehurst. Cambo was level par when he held off Tiger at Pinehurst and that’s the score the USGA were happy with.
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I learned that you can be in the perfect position off the tee and still make bogey if you make the slightest technical or mental error. The big mistake I made at Winged Foot was trying to play my normal game and hope it all worked out.
What I should have focused on was managing my game better and play to what my strengths were at the time.
But I was playing well heading to Oakmont and I ended the first round as the outright leader. I shot a two-under 68 and Angel Cabrera was the only other man in the field to break par on day one. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure how I managed that score because, in practice, I just found the course so difficult.
Dougherty held the first-round lead during the 2007 contest at Oakmont
If I missed a fairway, I dropped a shot. You stand on every tee at the par fours and fives thinking you absolutely have to hit the fairway, which increases the pressure massively. I had no real expectations standing on the first tee on Thursday morning but maybe that was a good thing.
A 68 was an incredibly good score on that course and, while I didn’t feel I played fantastically, my misses were all in the right places and my short game was unbelievable.
But then I shot 77 on day two without doing that much differently in terms of ball-striking, but I just didn’t miss it in the same places and didn’t get up and down anywhere near as much as I had done a day earlier.
Dougherty’s performance at the 2007 US Open was his best major finish
It was also much more difficult having a later start on Friday; the course was firmer and faster and it was a completely different beast. Paul Casey made the most of playing in the morning and shot an incredible 66, but my score that day was only a fraction above the average for the field.
On to the third day, I went out with none other than Tiger Woods and it was one of the best days of my career. Watching him take on one of the toughest courses in the world was a real eye-opener and the way he played that day, the course suddenly didn’t look that daunting!
I played really well but unfortunately I finished double-bogey, bogey and that added up to a 74. It was still a fantastic score considering only two players broke 70, but I attacked the 17th and paid the price for missing the green on the left.
Nick Dougherty played alongside Tiger Woods during the third round of the 2007 US Open at Oakmont
But watching Tiger play was inspiring. He looked in complete control and missed only one fairway and one green on his way to a 69. It was about the most complete, solid performance I’ve ever seen close up – nothing spectacular, but he just got the ball in play and every approach was aimed at the middle of the green with a ball-flight to favour the pin position.
Tiger seemed to be putting for birdie from 15 or 20 feet on almost every hole. That was exactly how the course was meant to be played and it was a picture-perfect round of golf, and the best I have ever witnessed. If I could have one day to relive, it would be that one.
His course management was spectacular and his attitude was superb, although it’s easy to have a good attitude when you’re playing that well! Tiger had the perfect mindset for major championships, with his patience very much a virtue.
Angel Cabrera (right) went on to win the 2007 US Open ahead of Tiger Woods (left) and Jim Furyk
There was no doubt I was inspired by what I had seen up close and that helped me shoot one of the best rounds of the final day – a 71 getting me into a tie for seventh with Jerry Kelly and Scott Verplank.
I felt a little exhausted after the third round. It was an emotionally-draining experience playing alongside Tiger at the peak of his powers, at the weekend in a major that’s he’s desperate to win. That was about as good as it gets in golf.
I played with two-time champion Lee Janzen on Sunday. I had played with him before so it was a good pairing for me, and I just played really nicely again. I made all the putts that I was making on the first day, and it was a special day for me as a top-eight finish earned me my first trip to The Masters.
It was one of those weeks in which I actually played very well to finish double-figures over par!
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