Argentine Martín Lonardi participated in the 1998 U.S. Open at Olympic Club after passing two qualifying stages. He reveals anecdotes from a very special week competing with the best players in the world.

Martín Lonardi was one of the best amateurs of the late '80s and early '90s in Argentina, with an outstanding career in the country and in U.S. College Golf. In 1998, while competing on the Nike Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour), he had the opportunity to play the U.S. Open at Olympic Club. Below is a story about that unforgettable week.

In 1998, while playing the Nike Tour, I registered for the U.S. Open qualifying. I played the first (local) qualy where 160 players competed for 14 spots in Atlanta, Georgia, at Braelinn Golf Club. I played a very good round of 69 (-3) and qualified just in time for the second (Sectional) qualy held in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, at Sunnehanna Country Club over 36 holes on the same day. This course is known for hosting one of the most important amateur golf tournaments in the USA, where the best in the world have competed.

I played the 36 holes with the same players: Notah Begay III (Tiger Woods' best friend) and Keith Fergus. We were 52 players for two spots. On the practice day, I didn't play well and thought: “Well, I'll play two rounds here and go play the next Nike Tour championship.” The next day, my score was 67 (-5) in the morning and 68 (-4) in the afternoon, and with a total of 9 under par, I won the Qualy, which gave me access to play the 98th U.S. Open at Olympic Club (Lake Course) in San Francisco. An immense pride!

After all this, when I left the club, I called my sponsor, "el Negro" Andrés Martínez Vivot, who couldn't believe it. And not because I had qualified, but because he had planned his trip to the 98 France World Cup right for those days. In other words, I made his life complicated, and he had to change his destination.

That happened on a Monday (sectional qualy), and the following Sunday I flew from Philadelphia to San Francisco. During those days I had to complete several forms, make reservations and requests without the technology and facilities available today. When I arrived at San Francisco Airport on Sunday, people from the USGA were waiting for me and gave me a courtesy car with the U.S. Open logo.

A gift for the players who participated in the 1998 U.S. Open at Olympic Club. 

On Monday I woke up early, anxious, as it was something totally new for me. Arriving at the club, traffic was very heavy (Waze didn't exist!) and I didn't know where to enter the club. As soon as they identified my car, they sent me through an alternative path that only players entered, and I ended up parking next to the driving range. I went to the clubhouse with my clubs and on the way I met Paco Alemán with whom I had already arranged to meet. He carried my clubs on Monday because my friend and caddie "el Colo" Ignacio Giménez Zapiola landed in San Francisco that Monday night.

Upon entering the clubhouse, they accompanied me to the registration hall, which was a huge place full of tables and TV cameras. There we signed up for the three practice days, signatures for foundations, and one in particular for a painting with all the players' signatures. We had to provide personal data and a camera shot for the TV coverage of the last groups on the weekend. The person who did everything next to me, surprisingly, was Sir Nick Faldo. We talked a bit and he seemed quite friendly. From there, a club member accompanied me to the locker room.

A painting with the signatures of all the players who participated in the 98th U.S. Open Championship.

The locker room was where the members were attending to the players, massage and kinesiology rooms, which for that time was something rare and striking. A member who is a friend to this day, Paul Laveroni, accompanied me. He mentioned that as a young man he had played rugby against my brother. I couldn't believe it! Upon reaching my locker (they were ordered by last name), sitting next to me was Davis Love III, who as soon as he saw me stood up and greeted me cordially. A gentleman. On the other side was none other than Mr. Jack Nicklaus. Inside the locker, I had a Titleist staff bag (they were my sponsor), dozens of balls, gloves, hats, and a lot of gifts from the tournament sponsors.

Practice Days

On Monday I played with José María Olazábal and Constantino Rocca.

On Tuesday I practiced with Per Ulrik Johansonn and Jesper Parnevik.

And on Wednesday I played with Andrew Maggee, Jeff Sluman, and Eduardo “Gato” Romero.

The two tournament days, Thursday and Friday, with Jimmy Johnson and Patrick Lee.

The Course

Simply impressive. Rarely have I played such a difficult course, especially due to the presentation of narrow fairways (average 30 paces wide). Additionally, what is special about Olympic Club is that on holes that turn left, the slope of the fairways falls to the right, and vice versa. This forces you to start the tee shot on the edge of the dogleg. The rough was extreme; if you hit it there, it was almost a penalty stroke. The greens were fast, firm, and relatively small. The views of the course were simply spectacular. Standing on the tee of hole 9, if I remember correctly, the Golden Gate was visible in its splendor. Giant and very picturesque trees. The course was so difficult that Lee Janzen won with PAR and beat Payne Stewart by one. 

Lee Janzen achieved his second U.S. Open trophy in 1998. He obtained the previous one in 1993. 

I share some anecdotes from that week:

Every time I went to the driving range, they placed a sign with your name. They always put Matt Kuchar, as they told me I was very physically similar.

Playing with Olazábal, on hole 1 I went into the rough and tried to get it out with a 7 iron and moved it 5 meters to the left, and “Chema” literally laughed and told me to use the 60 degree.

On hole 7, I went over the green leaving it in the rough. I chose the 60 degree and, on three occasions, could not make contact with the ball. I swung at it and it didn't reach: the club got tangled in the rough. Olazábal looked at me and said: “Watch how it's done,” and the same thing happened to him twice. Then he grabbed it with his hand, threw it onto the green and told me: “don't hit it there.”

Some images of Martín playing the U.S. Open in 1998. 

Monday, on the practice day, I went to the driving range and put myself in the last spot, closer to the putting green, where the grandstand hadn't started yet. After 20 minutes I started to hear a lot of noise and movement of people and, when I turned around, Tiger's caddie was next to me, and two minutes later Tiger himself arrived to hit balls, and we stayed for a few minutes talking with him, Fluff, Paco, and me. Tiger mentioned that he wanted to go fishing in southern Argentina. When I looked at Tiger's clubs, I noticed they said Titleist but they were actually Mizuno MP32s. Tiger told me Mizuno made them for him with the Titleist logo.

On Tuesday I was at the driving range and a gentleman who worked for Titleist appeared and invited me to go to his trailer because he had some wedges that might interest me. When I arrived and he gave me his card, it was Bob Vokey. At the same time, Jeff Maggert came in and I ended up keeping his sand wedge.

On Tuesday we had lunch with Per Ulrik Johansonn, Jesper Parnevik, their wives, and more family after practice. Through all this, Per Ulrik didn't hit a single shot with the center of the clubface that day. After several years we realized with “Colo” Gimenez Zapiola and “Negro” Martínez Vivot that we had lunched with Tiger's wife, Elin Nordegren, as she was, at that time, the nanny for Parnevik's children. Both players -Parnevik and Per Ulrik-, two gentlemen.

A gift painting for the players with the image of the iconic 18th hole at Olympic Club, a par 4 where the green is elevated relative to the fairway. 

I was impressed by John Daly's short game. At the chipping green, I stayed for half an hour watching him and he was the only one who made the ball stop from the rough. Simply impressive.

On Wednesday in the driving range, Jeff Sluman asked to borrow my 3 wood (it was a very small Callaway, the S2H2) and started hitting balls and immediately Fred Couples came to hit it too; it was rare, that's why they grabbed it. We stayed talking with Fred about Argentine Polo as his wife was a polo player at the time.

The second day (Friday) on the 18th green I holed a tremendous putt, from where everyone was three or four-putting. I played it by hitting it elsewhere, using the slope. That putt appeared among Golf Channel highlights and in the U.S. Open daily that night.

Local newspaper clipping highlighting the great putt Martín holed on the 18th hole. 

The truth is it was a unique experience shared with friends like Paco Alemán, Andrés Martinez Vivot, “El Colo” Giménez Zapiola, and “Paco” Combes, who took the photo of the 18th putter.

My score was 76-78= 154 (+14) and the cut was +7. At the same time, I realized how far I was from that level, as I played very good golf in that championship. It's true that I went +7 from hole 13 to 17 on Thursday and then birdie at 18. It was an experience I enjoyed very much. I was very proud to be one of the Argentine representatives in the championship. On Saturday and Sunday I stayed watching the tournament from the locker room, and the fun part was that you watched it on TV and when they finished playing, two minutes later you had the players next to you. The course was spectacular. San Francisco is an incredible city however you look at it and the amount of people who attended the tournament every day was a shock.

With rounds of 76 and 78, Martín finished seven shots off the qualifying cut.

Playing a Major is an experience I hope many Argentine and South American players can repeat in the future. And if they have better results than me, even better!