Phil Mickelson had the lead on the 10th hole, but faltered at the end

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Vince Carey
Online Editor

HAVERFORD - At a golf tournament that bars cameras and phones, Max Mason was better equipped than most to capture images of the first round at Merion.

Armed with a pencil and sketchbook, the artist best known for his baseball-themed murals at Citizens Bank Park was working briskly to knock out drawings of all 18 holes on the East course Thursday.

“I got here at 6 a.m. and so far I’ve done holes one through nine,” Mason said while standing with his tools on a hillside high above the ninth green a little after 1 p.m. “I play golf, and I’ve played Merion West, but I have never been to a golf tournament before and have never really (sketched or painted) golf before.”

A resident of the Wynnewood section of Lower Merion Township, Mason road his bike to U.S. Open, parking at Haverford College.

“I’ve had a great time,” he said. “Walking around a golf tournament kind of feels like you’re walking onto a sports field and right up to the athletes, which is awesome. You can also find a quiet spot like this where no one’s around.”

A graduate of Vassar College, Mason began painting baseball subjects as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. His three 10’x30’ murals of Citizens Bank Park, Veterans Stadium and Connie Mack Stadium are featured at Harry the K’s beyond the left field seats at Citizens Bank Park.

Other Mason works are located in the Diamond Club behind home plate and Phillies front offices. He has also painted several murals for the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

“Right now, I’m working on something called The Baseball Project that has me painting all 30 Major League Baseball ballparks,” he said. “I’ve hit nine of them so far and I will be in Chicago in a week.”

Mason is represented by the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia, where he has shown his landscape, still life and baseball paintings since 1985.

For more information on Mason, visit www.maxmasonartist.com.

USGA says play will resume at U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club at 12:10 p.m.

 

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Ian Poulter is probably cursing Mother Nature right about now.

The just flew the whistle to halt play because of the threat of lightning and nasty storms at Merion.

Poulter was three under through three holes.

Talk about your hot start.

Now he has to hope he doesn’t cool off while waiting out the weather.

 

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Phil Mickelson, fresh off a cross-country flight, stuck it in the fairway and then on the gree, but then three-putted to start the Open with a bogey.

Weather watch getting serious with severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 11 a.m.

 

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Here's a thumbnail look at the U.S. Open golf championship, which starts Thursday:

Site: Merion Golf Club

The course: Merion was designed by Hugh Wilson and opened in May 1914. Its Scottish-styled bunkers are known as the "white faces of Merion." Unique to Merion are the wicker baskets painted orange and red attached to the pins, instead of the traditional flag. Merion has hosted 18 USGA championships, the most of any golf course. This is its first U.S. Open since 1981.

Length: 6,996 yards

Par: 36-34_70

Field: 156 players (10 amateurs)

Defending champion: Webb Simpson.

U.S. Open champions at Merion: Olin Dutra (1934), Ben Hogan (1950), Lee Trevino (1971), David Graham (1981).

Noteworthy: Merion is the shortest course for a major championship since the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

Quoteworthy: "I don't think it's going to be a low-scoring U.S. Open. I hope it's not going to be a low-scoring U.S. Open. We'll see. I think the golf course has enough defense." — Graeme McDowell.

Key statistic: The winning score has been lower each of the previous four times the U.S. Open was at Merion.

Tiger tales: This is the first time since 2000 that Tiger Woods has won four times on the PGA Tour before the U.S. Open. He won the U.S. Open that year by 15 shots.

Key groups: 1:14 p.m., Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott; 7:11 a.m., Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Keegan Bradley; 12:52 p.m., Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer.

Television (all times EDT): Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., ESPN; 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., NBC; 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., ESPN. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 7:30 p.m., NBC. Monday, if necessary, noon-2 p.m. ESPN; 2 p.m.-playoff conclusion, NBC

 

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