Bruised mentally and emotionally, just about every US Open competitor with the exception of the winner Lee Janzen was yesterday counting the cost of an unavailing challenge here at the Olympic Club. But there was also a physical concern for Ernie Els, who will be a leading attraction at next week's Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen.
In common with Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood, the South African has withdrawn from this week's Western Open in Chicago. "I want to have real treatment on my back and be ready for a return to Europe and the build up to the British Open," he said.
Els went on: "I wanted to play here and defend the title and it would have been even more disappointing to sit at home in Orlando and watch it on television. My back is probably not where I need it to be. I couldn't go full out on a lot of shots, but it's a lot better than it was last week."
With prize money of $83,794 for a share of seventh place on Sunday, Westwood has boosted his US earnings this season to $585,134 for 26th position in the current list. Clarke, meanwhile, improved by one place to 118th with a total of $107,700, which is still a long way short of what he needs to secure a card for next year.
But despite his withdrawal from the Western Open, he will have another chance to enhance his US standing when he competes in the British Open next month. And as a warm-up for that event (which counts towards the US Tour money list) in the week after the Irish Open, he will be taking part in a BBC television special at Birkdale in the company of soccer pundit Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish and Andrew Chandler.
Colin Montgomerie, who showed remarkable restraint when subjected to vicious barracking from an unruly element of the galleries over the four days, is competing this week in the French Open. He will then be attempting to emulate Nick Faldo by winning a third successive Irish Open next week, before heading for Loch Lomond and on to Birkdale.
Not surprisingly, Janzen said he thought the Olympic as "a great golf course". That may be so, but it is equally clear that the USGA considered it necessary to trick it up, ridiculously at times, as a protection against the strength, skills and equipment of the modern professional.
Their objective was evident in having the 17th hole as a 468-yard par four, despite the fact that it was designed as a par five, even to the extent of its small green which was meant to receive short irons. By his own estimation, Janzen played a high-quality approach shot there on Saturday and still ran up a double-bogey six. It played to 4.716 over the four days.
As a result, we didn't have a golfing challenge in the traditional sense: it wouldn't have been possible to do so on a course measuring 6,797 yards. Granted, Royal Lytham St Annes is of similar dimensions, but it can count on the assistance of extensive bunkering and fresh winds, which were virtually non-existent here last weekend.
"When you hit good shots and they finish in the rough, that's kinda tough," said Tiger Woods. He meant it was unfair. And it would be difficult to find a respected tournament professional from this or any other generation who would agree with the notion of taking the driver out of a player's hands.
"When you're really nervous, these fairways look like they're an inch wide, because of all the slope on them," said Tom Lehman. "It was a very tall order to keep the ball in play."
Even Jack Nicklaus, a great supporter of the USGA approach, said: "Power and accuracy combined with touch is what this game is all about. It is about keeping the ball in play and playing with discipline." Without the driver, those objectives become a lot less intimidating, while the advantage of power is seriously diluted.
Effectively, we had a situation in which the world's leading tournament professionals wouldn't be able to play to a scratch handicap if they were confronted with these sort of conditions every week. And to emphasise the point, the stroke-average for the field over the four days was 74.493 against a par of 70.
Hopefully, the USGA won't require this approach next year at Pinehurst number two, which has an overall length of 7,020 yards.
In the event, for any chance of victory, it was necessary to card quite a lot of birdies so as to offset inevitable errors. In that respect, it is fascinating to note that Janzen was second in the birdie league with a total of 15 over the four days, seven of them in a second-round 66. The birdie leader was Paul Azinger who had eight in a last round of 65, the lowest of the tournament.
At the other end of the scale, Darren Clarke was 56th, fourth from the bottom, having compiled only six in 72 holes. Padraig Harrington had eight, the same as Els and Fred Couples in a share of 45th position. These are very telling figures in the context of the eventual finishing order.
Meanwhile, on closer examination, there was reason to suspect that Payne Stewart, who squandered a four-stroke overnight lead, might have problems getting the job done, despite victories in the 1989 USPGA Championship and the 1991 US Open.
Going into this latest challenge, he had been in a winning position after 54 holes on 17 occasions since 1981: he won only six of them, a success ratio of 35.3 per cent. For most leading players in that situation, a 50 per cent ratio would be the norm, though Jack Nicklaus was victorious on 24 occasions out of 36 (66.6 per cent).
Janzen, who gained most of his tournament victories from behind, capitalised on two of the three opportunities he had when leading after 54 holes - in the 1993 US Open and the 1994 Buick Classic. He has now become the 18th player to win the US Open more than once and has passed the $6 million mark in career earnings since 1990, with $6,241,113.
Five strokes behind after 54 holes, his final-round comeback is the biggest since 1973 when Johnny Miller made up a six-shot deficit with a course record 63 at Oakmont. And he is the first player to win the US Open with an even-par total since Corey Pavin at Shinnecock Hills in 1995.
Dave Musgrove, Janzen's caddie, was extending a remarkable record in major championships. He was with Seve Ballesteros for his British Open victory at Royal Lytham in 1979; with Sandy Lyle for a British Open triumph at Royal St George in 1985 and for the US Masters three years later. He also caddied for Christy O'Connor jnr before helping Janzen to a first US Open win in 1993.
"Dave caddied for me when I first played in the British Open at Muirfield in 1992," said Janzen. "My first reaction was that his accent was pretty thick. We went two weeks and I didn't understand a word he said. But I thought he was the greatest caddie."
Janzen went on: "At the end of 1993, I felt the best thing I could do was to hire Dave full time. He could only be good for me in view of his experience in the major championships. He was big out there during the final round. He was there ready to tell me to forget about two and three (which he bogeyed) and just concentrate on good shots and concentrate on the swing.
"He has the experience to be able to give good advice at the right time. We like to argue once in a while, but we joke about it. I can't say enough about him."
Musgrove opted out of working with Janzen in the early months of this year so as to be with his wife in her battle against breast cancer. She is, he says, making a fine recovery.
Top 10 in US money list (all US): 1, David Duval $1,545,949; 2, Fred Couples $1,485,548; 3, Justin Leonard $1,181,082; 4, Tiger Woods $1,103,067; 5, Mark O'Meara $1,003,296; 6, Lee Janzen $903,182; 7, Jim Furyk $892,829; 8, John Huston $880,924; 9, Glen Day $870,562; 10, Phil Mickelson $853,290. Irish positions: 118, Darren Clarke $107,700; 172, Richard Coughlan $33,492; 185, Padraig Harrington $23,352; 195, Keith Nolan $17,203.
