Surprise leaders Streelman and Hicks return to earth in second round

SAN DIEGO — Kevin Streelman went from overnight sensation to insomniac by 2:30 a.m., and his nightmare materialized before his bloodshot eyes just a few hours later. His triple-bogey on the third hole at Torrey Pines Golf Course dropped the PGA Tour rookie and world's 608th-ranked player from the leaderboard at the U.S. Open on Friday and sent him on his way to a 6-over 77 that was also besmirched by two double-bogeys. "If Thursday morning I would have said 3-over at a U.S. Open through two rounds, I would have taken it," a still-smiling Streelman said. "I'm a little bit disappointed in how I played today, but hopefully it's my bad round and I've got to make a move tomorrow." Justin Hicks, who shared a one-shot lead with Streelman after one round, got off to an even rougher start in the afternoon. He fell to plus-8 on the day, 5-over for the tournament, after making four bogeys and a double-bogey on the front nine and two more bogeys to start the back nine. As suspected, Streelman had a fitful night's rest, but he didn't blame that for his multitude of mistakes. "Two terrible lies and two bunkers cost me a triple and a double," he said. "So if I could have salvaged bogeys out of those, right there is three, four shots. . . . I would have been right in the hunt." His comedown started on the par-3, 195-yard third hole, where his shot landed in the bunker shy of the green. "It wasn't a good tee shot I hit. I definitely caught it a little heavy, so I knew it was going to be in the bunker. It was an unfortunate lie, and I could have stepped on it and it wouldn't have been that bad," Streelman said. "What I should have done is tried to hit it a foot to the left, or yard to the left and then try to get up and down from there. I executed the shot very well. It just wasn't going to stop as it went over the green." He chipped back on, then three-putted for a six, bringing him back down to earth and even-par. "I definitely threw away a shot or two to the field. It was disappointing," Streelman said. "I'm happy I hung in for the most part after that." When Streelman left the oceanside course with his new bride, Courtney, on Thursday night, he talked about needing to get a good night's rest, hoping he had learned his lesson from the Buick Invitational here in January, when he teed off with blurry eyes and eventual champion Tiger Woods on Saturday only to fade over the weekend, finishing in a tie for 29th. This time, Streelman grabbed a pizza, watched the end of the Celtics-Lakers game and hit the sack at 10. When he awoke, "I was hoping to see about 5, 5:30," Streelman said. The red glowing numbers on the clock taunted him at 2:30 instead. After tossing and turning for a half-hour, his mind racing even faster than his heart, Streelman decided to get up and start his long day. Fitful though it was, he said he enjoyed sleeping on the lead at his first U.S. Open. "I'll probably get in for a nice nap this afternoon."