Both Dan Forsman and Dick Zokol had good chances to jump into contention in Saturday's third round of the U.S. Open.
A nifty little 66 by either one of them would have put them in second place, a shot behind Tom Kite.Instead, both Forsman, who makes his home in Provo, and Zokol, the former BYU all-American, finished with scores of 76, which put them out of the running in a tie for 34th place.
It wasn't how either of them had pictured their rounds going.
Forsman jumped into red numbers and onto the leaderboard early with a couple of quick birdies at 1 and 2.
"I was there for awhile, in contention at the U.S. Open," said Forsman. "I felt what it was like and I enjoyed it."
However, the feeling didn't last long. Consecutive bogeys at 4 and 5 put him back to even and a double bogey at No. 7 put him to 2-over.
"That took the wind out of me," said Forsman.
On the back nine, he couldn't make any birdies as he bogeyed Nos. 10, 15 and 18.
"I'm going to go out tomorrow and be ready to go. Maybe I'll shoot six-under tomorrow," said Forsman.
He said he'd be very happy to finish in the top 15, which would give him an automatic exemption for next year's U.S. Open.
Zokol, who had said after Friday's round that he had only made one mistake the whole tournament, made plenty of mistakes Saturday. He kept missing the fairway on his drives and hit his approach shots over the green more than once.
"It was a very long day," said Zokol.
"I shot the ball the way you shoot a 76. But that's the way it goes."
Zokol got off to a rough start, bogeying the first hole, and then made a double-bogey at No. 6.
He got back to 2-over for the day with a birdie at No. 10 but bogeyed four holes coming in, Nos. 12, 15, 17 and 18.
"This is really a hyper situation in the U.S. Open, and if you don't settle down fast, it's going to be a tough day," said Zokol.
"My goal tomorrow is to settle down as soon as I can, to play the best I can."
Despite having the same scores, Zokol and Forsman will be in different groups.
Zokol will be paired with former U.S. Open champ Raymond Floyd, while Forsman goes out with Scott Taylor.
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(Additional information)
Jay Don Blake 66-71-72--209
--Still in contention, despite three late bogeys.
Dan Forsman 70-70-76--216
--Birdie-birdie start, then fell apart.
Dick Zokol 71-69-76--217
--Never recovered from rough start.
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