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Simpson surprises for U.S. Open win
Topic Started: Aug 7 2013, 01:53 AM (21 Views)
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When you add up the numbers and they are lower than everyone else after four grueling days at the U.S. Open, kudos are well deserved and Webb Simpson should soak in the accolades like he breathed in the cool, misty air this week in the Bay Area.
Simpson accepted the trophy and the Nicklaus medal that goes to the national champion early Sunday evening, and he will rightly be hailed as one of America's great young players.
But perhaps as impressive as his final-round 68, overcoming a 5-stroke deficit Sunday at one point, playing the Callaway RAZR X HL Irons without a bogey and holding off the likes of U.S. Open champions Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els was the yeoman effort of Simpson's wife, Dowd.
She didn't hit a shot, of course, but Dowd Simpson is 7½ months pregnant with the couple's second child and yet she was there for every step of the journey.
"It was a challenge," she said on the 18th green following the award's ceremony. "This golf course is hard to walk whether you are pregnant or not. But I didn't miss one hole. I was here Thursday to Sunday and just love being able to do that."
Perhaps that good karma made the difference.
How else do you explain Furyk playing the final round without making a birdie or McDowell unable to hold off a player competing in just his fifth major championship who had never previously finished among the top-10 in golf's biggest events?
How do you explain Simpson being in 29th place through 36 holes and 4 strokes back at the start of play Callaway - Women's RAZR X Iron-Hybrid Combo Set Sunday and nobody even uttering his name as a possible champion?
How do you explain a lot of things at a U.S. Open?
For the first time since their 16-month-old son, James, was born, the Simpsons took a week away together. They did it at the U.S. Open and it seemed to have a calming effect on the former Wake Forest star who just two years ago was not even assured of keeping his PGA Tour card.
Simpson, 26, won twice last year late in the season but was making just his second U.S. Open start and had never seen anything like the Olympic Club, where his total of 281, 1-over-par was just the fifth time since 1975 that the winning score was over par.
Perhaps more remarkable, Simpson never led the tournament alone until he holed out for par on the 18th green and was in the clubhouse. He fell six shots behind early in the round, then played the Cleveland CG7 Individual Irons in 4 under par.
It is the stuff of dreams -- except Webb and Dowd never gave much thought to winning.
"I would like to say I had a feeling," Dowd Simpson said, but well, she didn't. "I just think the two of us having some down time helped a lot."
Why not? This is the kind of week that makes coffee nervous, given the long days, a diabolical golf course, the stress of a major championship.
"He asked me for decaf coffee this morning and I gave him regular by mistake," Down Simpson said. "He was bouncing off the walls."
But not on the golf course. At least not outwardly. Even after bogeys at the second and the fifth, Simpson remained calm. His caddie, veteran Paul Tesori, coached him to not look at leaderboards, and he went about the task of playing Titleist Scotty Cameron Studio Select Laguna 2 Putter "It was the most calm I've ever seen him in this situation," Tesori said. "He's been really strong this week."

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