Olazabal Suffers a First-Round Knockout

Jose Maria Olazabal became the first Masters champion who could play for the Dodgers when he withdrew from the U.S. Open on Friday after angrily punching a hotel wall and breaking his hand.

Olazabal, not known for showing much emotion, may have been upset after finishing Thursday’s first round with a bogey, bogey, par and double bogey en route to a 75, placing him eight strokes behind the leaders at Pinehurst. He punched the wall Thursday night.

In a statement, Olazabal said doctors told him he would miss three to four weeks. But it will take him much longer to live down the perceived stupidity of his actions.

“This game makes you crazy, but, heck, if I was the Masters champion, I wouldn’t be punching anything,” John Daly said. “I’m the only one here who’s got a reason to punch anything.”

Daly also joked that a larger player--Olazabal weighs 160 pounds--could have handled the blow.

“Most walls I punch, I go right through the thing,” Daly said. “Once, though, I hit a TV, and it fought me back pretty good.”

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Stepping onto the green at No. 16, at the end of a long two days, Jack Nicklaus was asked if he could produce at least one bit of magic for his huge gallery.

“I said, ‘Jack, give them a thrill, see how loud they can get, make this putt for birdie,’ ” playing partner Hal Sutton recalled.

Nicklaus did, eliciting a roar that whipped through the towering trees at Pinehurst No. 2.

“How about that?” Nicklaus said later with mock enthusiasm. “I had a birdie today, and a birdie yesterday!”

And little else, as his 43rd consecutive U.S. Open ended prematurely when he missed the cut with a two-day total of 153.

Only 18 of the 156 players here were even born when Nicklaus played in his first U.S. Open in 1957.

Six months after undergoing hip replacement surgery, he looked at least that old.

“The hip didn’t have anything to do with anything, it’s fine,” Nicklaus said. “I’m just not strong yet. Guys I’m playing with are outhitting me by 60-70 yards. I just don’t have the strength to play golf yet.”

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Hale Irwin withdrew after playing six holes because of a problem with his left shoulder.

Irwin, 54, a three-time U.S. Open champion, was two over for the round and had bogeyed back-to-back holes when he was forced to stop after his second shot on No. 7.

“This is the first time I’ve ever withdrawn from a tournament in my life,” said Irwin, who had a 76 on Thursday.

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So how is this for a start to the second round--bogey, double bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey, par, bogey?

That was Bob Burns’ start on his way to a 41 on the front and a 76 that actually featured nine consecutive pars on the back.