FARMINGDALE, N.Y.
Cortland Lowe took a deep breath, leaned back and had to think about the question for a few seconds.
What did Lowe take away from the experience of playing in his first U.S. Open?
"I don't know what I take away," said Lowe, who shot 75-71 to finish at 6 over and miss the cut by two strokes. "I feel like I didn't play that great really at all. I hit it better than my score shows, but didn't score very well or putt very well."
Lowe, who at age 29 decided to return to playing pro golf in January, came away from Bethpage Black with the knowledge that he can hang with the best in the world. He felt comfortable in his surroundings, not intimidated at all by the hype that surrounds a major championship.
"I still felt like I had a chance to make the cut with a few holes to go," Lowe said yesterday after finishing his second round. "I probably needed a birdie or two."
One bad break came at No. 10 when his approach just missed and got plugged in a bunker. That led to a double bogey, but another foot or so on his approach and he would likely have made birdie.
"I feel like I can play out here and it just takes some time getting used to it," said Lowe, who also played in the Buick Invitational in February.
"I felt pretty relaxed all week and I'll take that into next week where hopefully the course will be a little easier than this one."
Lowe lives in Charlotte but grew up in Augusta, Ga., and lived next to Charles Howell III where they competed at an early age. Lowe will rejoin the e-Golf Tour (formerly the Tarheel Tour) this week in Charlottesville, Va.
He'll continue to play on that tour, but might try to Monday qualify for the Wyndham Championship in August at Sedgefield Country Club. Then he'll look forward to trying PGA Tour Qualifying School where he will have to go through all three stages.
"I'm looking forward to it and hopefully I won't have to hit too many 3-irons into greens," Lowe said.
Lowe said he watched a lot of the big-name golfers go about their business at the U.S. Open and he learned quite a bit. He said he got to play nine-hole practice rounds with Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk and David Toms.
"All those guys are on top of the world and all three were really nice and helpful," Lowe said. "They were very supportive and at the end of the day I shook their hands and Padraig even said to ‘Tell me your last name again because I'm going to look for you in the future.' That's means a lot."
Even though Lowe will be 30 later this year he still looks as if he stepped off the Wake Forest campus.
He graduated in 2003, tried the mini-tours for a while, and then went into the golf business as an assistant pro and later a head pro in San Diego.
Toms and Furyk knew Lowe's story about trying to play pro golf again.
"David and Jim told me I made the right choice to come out and try and that means a lot to hear it from those guys," Lowe said.
Lowe was the lone Wake Forest graduate in the field, and said he heard a few cheers from the New York crowd.
"I got a few ‘Go Deacs,' and actually got one on 17, which was nice," Lowe said.
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com
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