OLYMPIA FIELDS, Illinois (AFP) - Golf is full of surprises, but a half-naked woman on the 11th green of the US Open was a shocker that eventual champion Jim Furyk and runner-up Stephen Leaney never imagined.
"My back was turned," Furyk said. "I heard a fan yell out 'You've got to be kidding.'
"I immediately looked to Stephen, and he had a blank look on his face looking behind me."
Furyk turned to find the topless woman trying to hand him a flower.
"It was a total shock," he said. "At least if I would have been able to see it coming or see her walking up, but I turned around and just went 'Whoa!'
"I just kind of wanted to say, 'I love my wife, and I don't want the flower.'"
Furyk said the distraction wasn't a problem for him, since he only had a tap-in.
"If it would have affected anyone it wold have been Stephen, because he still had a six- or seven-footer for par, and he did not make the putt."
Leaney said: "I saw someone run out, and I made sure I looked away. You just don't need that.
"To that stage I had a pretty big par putt, and I just picked up a shot on 10, so it was a pretty key putt."
Although he didn't make it, Leaney declined to blame broken concentration. Even so, it was clear he thought the whole incident uncalled for.
"I don't like to comment on these sorts of issues, because I don't think those sorts of people need the publicity," he said.
"My back was turned," Furyk said. "I heard a fan yell out 'You've got to be kidding.'
"I immediately looked to Stephen, and he had a blank look on his face looking behind me."
Furyk turned to find the topless woman trying to hand him a flower.
"It was a total shock," he said. "At least if I would have been able to see it coming or see her walking up, but I turned around and just went 'Whoa!'
"I just kind of wanted to say, 'I love my wife, and I don't want the flower.'"
Furyk said the distraction wasn't a problem for him, since he only had a tap-in.
"If it would have affected anyone it wold have been Stephen, because he still had a six- or seven-footer for par, and he did not make the putt."
Leaney said: "I saw someone run out, and I made sure I looked away. You just don't need that.
"To that stage I had a pretty big par putt, and I just picked up a shot on 10, so it was a pretty key putt."
Although he didn't make it, Leaney declined to blame broken concentration. Even so, it was clear he thought the whole incident uncalled for.
"I don't like to comment on these sorts of issues, because I don't think those sorts of people need the publicity," he said.
