Please use the following links:
Simpson Latest to Ride Golf's New Wave
Furyk Fuming after Missed Opportunity
McDowell Takes Heart from US Open
Simpson Latest to Ride Golf's New Wave
SAN FRANCISCO, June 18, 2012 (AFP) - Webb Simpson became golf's latest star on Sunday, the American's triumph in the US Open at The Olympic Club making his the 15th different name to grace a trophy in the last 15 major championships.
The unassuming 26-year-old didn't exactly come from nowhere. He won twice on the US tour last year and challenged for the US money title before finishing second on the list behind Luke Donald.
But in just his fifth major, and his second US Open, Simpson was no one's pick to lift the title as the season's second major got underway.
But there he was, hoisting the trophy at Olympic's mist-shrouded Lake Course, where luminaries like world No.1 Donald, No.2 and defending champion Rory McIlroy failed to make the cut, and others including world No.3 Lee Westwood, 14-time major champion Tiger Woods, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and perennial US hope Phil Mickelson fell by the wayside in the weekend battle of attrition.
Simpson became the ninth successive first-time winner of one of golf's Grand Slam titles.
It's a stark contrast to, say, men's tennis, in which 31 of the last 34 Grand Slam titles have been shared between the world's top three players, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Pundits can argue on whether that's good or bad for golf, but Simpson said it's a phenomenon that isn't about to change, and it all started with the man who has piled up 14 major titles to date -- Woods.
"I think the game's changing," Simpson said, noting that the field for the US Open -- designed by the US Golf Association to be the "most rigorous test" of the game -- included 14-year-old amateur Andy Zhang of China and a 17-year-old amateur Beau Hossler who briefly led the tournament on Saturday.
"I couldn't imagine playing in even a qualifier for this tournament when I was in high school," he said.
"But I think the Tiger effect of inspiring people to play at a younger age, and the access to golf has gotten so much bigger that the game is changing.
"Even in college, I would have been scared to death to play in a US Open. And these guys are playing like they're trying to win the tournament."
Simpson himself was inspired last year by 20-something compatriot Keegan Bradley's play-off victory in the US PGA Championship last August, when Bradley became just the third man to win in his major debut.
"I think the prime of golf, the prime age 10, 15 years ago was mid-30s," Simpson said. "Now it's moving closer to the mid-20s or late 20s. There's so many young guys.
"If I see Keegan Bradley win a Major, I respect his game a ton, but I feel like, Keegan Bradley won one, I want to go win one.
"All these guys that won before me, I played with these guys all my life. They're great players, but I want to do what they're doing... we just kind of feed off of each other."
Perhaps that's what 2003 US Open champion Jim Furyk recognized when he said this week that at 42, he felt that his window of opportunity for capturing a second major was closing.
Furyk missed a chance on Sunday, making his overnight lead hold up for most of the day until he duck-hooked his tee shot at the par-five 16th and ended up with a share of fourth place.
Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion down the road at Pebble Beach, missed a tough putt at 18 that would have forced a play-off.
While Simpson said he hadn't really expected to win a major on his fifth attempt, he thought the trend of parity on golf's biggest stages would continue.
In his opinion, that's a good thing.
"I think the game will continue to evolve like that," he said. "I'm lucky because I feel like we're playing at a time where golf is at its best."
Furyk Fuming after Missed Opportunity
SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, 2012 (AFP) - Jim Furyk's patience finally ran out -- right along with his chance to win the US Open.
Furyk, a 42-year-old veteran seeking to add a second US Open title to his resume nine years after his triumph at Olympia Fields in Chicago, was in control through much of Sunday's final round at The Olympic Club.
He couldn't find a birdie, but he kept his poise -- and a share of the lead -- through bogeys at the sixth and 13th holes. After all, the course's two par-fives were still coming up.
But when he hooked his tee shot at the 16th, where the US Golf Association had moved up the tee 100 yards to play at 569 yards, Furyk was furious.
"There's no way when we play our practice rounds you're going to hit a shot from a tee 100 yards up unless someone tells you," Furyk said of the tee shot he hadn't foreseen.
"But the rest of the field had that same shot to hit today, and I'm pretty sure no one hit as (bad) a shot as I did. I have no one to blame but myself.
The bogey dropped him out of the lead for the first time all day, and he couldn't get the shot back.
With Webb Simpson in the clubhouse on one-over 281, Furyk bogeyed 18 to fall out of a tie for second and into a tie for fourth with a four-over 74 for 283.
"I was tied for the lead, sitting on the 16th tee," he said. "I've got wedges in my hand, or reachable par fives, on the way in and one birdie wins the golf tournament.
"I'm definitely frustrated."
Furyk and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell started the day with a two shot lead, Furyk putting his position down the patience he'd shown on the slanting, fast fairways and greens of Olympic's Lake Course.
McDowell called the style "plodding" -- in a good way -- and Furyk thought it could see him through to another major title.
"I had a lot of confidence in myself and a lot of belief in myself and you feel like you're going to win the golf tournament," Furyk said. "So when you don't it's that much more disappointing."
Simpson's victory -- from a four-stroke deficit going into the round -- kept intact Olympic's reputation as the "graveyard of legends" -- a course where in five US Opens now an underdog has come through to beat a star.
"I don't know," Furyk said. "You name a US Open on any golf course that isn't hard to hold the lead.
"I would take that position time and time again," he said adding that his philosophy in the final round was about "putting the ball in the green and putting the ball on the fairway and letting people come to me and chase me and have to do something special.
"Webb did that today," Furyk said, "but I didn't close it out."
McDowell Takes Heart from US Open
SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, 2012 (AFP) - Graeme McDowell may have come up one putt short at the US Open on Sunday, but his near miss at San Francisco's Olympic Club has convinced him that he can win another major title.
The 32-year-old Ulsterman was an upset winner of the year's second major at nearby Pebble Beach two years ago, and his fondness for coastal Calfornia saw him back in the hunt this week. 
Joint overnight leader alongside Jim Furyk, McDowell got off to a poor start in the final round with three bogeys in the first six holes.
But he battled back bravely and a birdie at the 17th left him needing a further birdie at the last to force an 18-hole playoff with American Webb Simpson.
McDowell hit a wonderful approach shot to the elevated green at the 18th, but failed to sink a downhill 24-foot putt.
"I was behind the eight ball early today. Everything from there was a fight, really," he said.
"It didn't give me a chance to do all the things that I talked about after my round last night that I felt that I did well yesterday, feed off the crowd, enjoy get in a good groove, a good rhythm.
"This golf course doesn't allow you to get in a rhythm and today was a real grind, it was a slog, and I was just happy the way I hung in and made a few birdies."
McDowell also believes that his performance in San Francisco this week will be key to getting himself back into contenton in the top golf tournaments.
His breakthrough win at Pebble Beach was followed by his sinking the winning putt for Europe in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor later the same year.
He has freely admitted that all the attention and acclaim that came his way eventually adversely affected his golf game.
He went winless last year and, a second place finish to Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational apart, he has mainly struggled again this year, missing the cut in his two starts prior to San Francisco.
"Today has reinforced to me that I can compete and win more major Championships," he said.
"It's been a frustrating five or six weeks for me, but I knew in my heart that my game was better than my results were showing and it was just great to come in this week, prepare, put it up there at a major championship, try my best and compete."
Next up for McDowell will be his preparations for the year's third major, the British Open which takes place next month at Royal Lytham in Lancashire.
Despite learning the game of golf at the famed links of his hometown of Portrush, McDowell does not have a good record at The Open.
In eight previous appearances, his best showing is a tie for 11th in 2005 at St Andrews.