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Amateur Uribe Pumps Life Into Open
Colombian amateur Maria Jose Uribe spent much of Thursday pumping her fist, like after her birdie putt on the 15th hole, above, for a share of fourth at the U.S. Women's Open.
(Andy King - Reuters)
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Uribe is playing in her third U.S Open after missing the cut each of the last two years. She said she plans to stay an amateur for a while and likely remain in college, unless she somehow manages to win this week to become the youngest major winner and only the second amateur U.S. Open champion, joining Catherine Lacoste (1967). Only then, she said, would she consider turning pro.
"I was just trying to have fun today," Uribe said. "I was trying not to play aggressive, but some shots came out aggressive. It was just one of those days. I was laughing out there. It was like Tiger's round in the U.S. Open on Saturday, like he makes it, one of those days that everything goes right, and I just took advantage of it."
Uribe said her round began to show some promise when she made a tough 10-foot putt to save par at the 227-yard eighth hole, fist pump included. She followed that with three straight birdies to get to 3 under, then made a six-footer for birdie at the 345-yard 15th hole that sneaked into the left edge and produced a flashy pump with a double twirl at the end, almost as if she were snapping a whip.
"I don't really think about that, they just come from my body," she said of her celebrations. "Maybe it's the Latin fire. I don't know what it is. You don't really think I'm doing that stuff. It just comes out."
There was one last fiery display at the 530-yard 18th. Uribe hit a majestic 3-wood second shot to the back of the green and two-putted from there from 18 feet, finishing off her round in fine style, accompanied by a rousing roar from hundreds watching all around.
Asked later if she had been at all concerned about playing with Ochoa and Kerr, she said she was no more nervous than usual in a big event.
"I like to play under pressure, so I was looking forward to it and I knew I was going to play good today," she said. "Every time I'm under pressure, I do better than when I'm just playing for fun. If you play with me on a Saturday at my golf course, I know you won't think I'm a good player."
