ERIN, Wis. (AP) Steve Stricker was missing a critical piece of equipment when he finished a practice round for the U.S. Open.
He walked under a tunnel off the ninth green at Erin Hills and saw a line of fans on both sides of the rope, bending to the left for another 100 yards or more. He grasped at both back pockets and realized he didn’t have a pen.
Not to worry. He had plenty of friends to bail him out.
Stricker saw them on every hole during nine holes of practice. He heard them, too, with applause greeting him at every green.