It's the best Father's Day gift to Open

Hale Irwin had seen almost everything in this major championship, including three close-range, hands-on views of the championship trophy. Still, he never had witnessed anything close to what he saw this week at Congressional Country Club. He watched his son play in a U.S. Open.

"I couldn't be happier," Irwin said outside the clubhouse Friday afternoon.

That was not completely accurate, given that he would have been more thrilled had his 36-year-old son Steven, an amateur, played better and made the cut. That's nitpicking, though. Just watching your kid inside the ropes in the national championship is about as good a Father's Day gift as a dad can get. "It's great fun to see him play," the three-time Open champ said. "I know he's disappointed, but these things happen."

Thinking back to San Francisco's Olympic Club in 1966, he said, "I remember my first U.S. Open. It was rough. I barely made the cut. It's a big golf course to play and arguably the biggest stage in the world."

Part of what makes the stage so compelling is the staging. Every year, the final round of the Open is scheduled for Father's Day, which usually makes a win sweeter and a loss seem not so bad. Mostly, it makes the Open a family occasion, just like the millions of rounds of golf held everywhere, every year.

Some kid who got started by tagging along with his dad on the course can be the same pro who has his dad carrying his bag, wearing an official U.S. Open caddie singlet. That was the way it worked this week for Chris DeForest of Cottekill, N.Y., 22, a new pro whose dad, John, is the head pro at Rondout Country Club in Accord, N.Y.

"He has had a tremendous impact," the younger DeForest said, after having made three birdies down the stretch Friday and put himself in range of making the cut (he missed by one). "In my opinion, he's the coolest person in the world.

"He kept me positive out there. I had to keep battling. He helped me fight today and I'm just glad he was here with me," said Chris, a former Met PGA junior champion.

The elder DeForest, a former European Tour player, said: "I know what not to do, you know what I'm saying? I'm glad I can help him. It was a thrill. I'm so impressed to have him go out there, have the pressure affect him and then to just be so determined to come back. He birdied three of the last four holes. That shows you what he's got. Yesterday, he proved he belonged out here. Today, he proved again he belongs out here."

Two days earlier, the DeForests had a reunion with Rory McIlroy, an acquaintance from the Junior Ryder Cup. McIlroy, who entered the third round Saturday with an Open record-tying six-stroke lead, has his father, Gerry, in from Northern Ireland this week. "It's a pretty cool thing that the U.S. Open always ends on Father's Day," McIlroy said. "It would be a nice present to give him on Sunday night if I was able to give him that silver trophy."

Maybe this year's Masters would have turned out differently for McIlroy had Gerry been in Augusta, maybe not. What the young pro can say for sure is that he wouldn't be here at all if not for everything Gerry did to help him become a golfer.

When Rory was a young golf prodigy, Gerry worked 100 hours a week at three jobs to pay for lessons, travel and tournament expenses. He cleaned toilets and showers at a sports club and tended bar at the Holywood -- with one "l" as in "holy" -- Golf Club. Gerry did it out of love for his son and love for the game, having developed into a 2-handicap as he grew up in public housing near Holywood. His wife, Rosie, worked the night shift at a factory to help support young Rory's golf.

"Both my mom and dad have been a huge part of my career," McIlroy said earlier this week. "There were sacrifices they made for me, basically spending their summers running around after me playing in golf tournaments, driving me here, driving me there, flying me to the States. If it wasn't for them, I don't know that I'd be sitting here right now."

The Open on Father's Day can tug on a golfer's heart. Ask Gregory Havret of France, the runner-up at the Open last year. His dad, Dominique, was there to see it. This year's Open is his first tournament since his dad's death early this month.

Or ask Ernie Els, the two-time Open champion who brought his dad in from South Africa this week. Father's Day means a lot to Els as a son and a dad.

"You know, I wouldn't say it's ideal to have autism touch your life, but it is what it is, and we've got a great boy in Ben," Els said. "We've found that it helps us to really be involved. And we've thrown a lot of our weight into our foundation, Els for Autism. We've got a lot of work to do, but we're moving in the right direction trying to better our lives and other families' lives. It's a tough thing to deal with. I mean, every week I play, I have at least a dozen people come up to me talking about autism, how they should deal with it."

Els started well, then foundered and missed the cut, which spoiled his perfect vision of holding the trophy amid three generations in his family. "It couldn't be better, especially if the script is right," he said before the tournament. "And even if it's not, it's still great, with everybody here."