OLYMPIA FIELDS, ILL. -- There was a Canadian on the leaderboard after the first round of the U.S. Open yesterday but it wasn't Masters champion Mike Weir. Ian Leggatt of Cambridge took advantage of better scoring conditions in the morning to card a two-under-par 68 and sat tied for seventh in the field of 155 heading into today's second round on the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club.
Weir, teeing off five hours later in windier conditions, battled his way around to a three-over 73 at the par-70, 7,190-yard course, finishing the day tied for 81st.
Considering the year from hell he's had so far, you can understand why Leggatt looked as though he had just won the tournament after getting off the course.
"To tell you the truth, the way my year has been going with injuries, I came in with no expectations," said Leggatt. "I'm just happy to be playing again more than anything. I felt like the last four or five weeks I've been on the verge of starting to play better.
"So this is kind of the way golf is -- you just never know when it might turn around."
Perfect timing, that's for sure. An injury-plagued 2003 season has seen him make only five cuts in 12 starts. He's been waiting for this for quite a while. An American reporter didn't know what he was in for when he asked Leggatt what exactly has been plaguing him this season.
"I've had some tendinitis in my elbow," Leggatt started. "Last year I started nosebleeds because of an allergy problem to grass. This year I got sick at Charlotte (May 5-11) and ended with a stomach virus. It was just something I picked up from my one-year-old I think. I ended up losing about 11 or 12 pounds, so it's been a bit of a struggle this year.
"My nose has been running a bit but not like it has been. It's been like that for about five weeks now, so I'm almost getting used to it now."
And there's his hand/wrist/elbow problem -- a small bone in his wrist that's not getting blood and therefore putting increased pressure on the elbow. Therapy has helped but he's still not 100 per cent.
"I felt good today," Leggatt said. "The allergies weren't too bad. All in all I feel like my hand feels fine. I'm sort of getting over the mental hurdle now that I had trying to play with that injury for so long.
Leggatt, starting his round on the back, had a strange day in some ways. He birdied the difficult 247-yard, par-three 17th hole on his front but wasn't able to birdie either of the par-fives on his back nine, the only two on the course.
