BLAKE WASN'T THE ONLY 1 WHO WENT INTO TANK

Leftover thoughts on last week's U.S. Open . . .

- Everyone talks about Jay Don Blake going into the tank in the final round with his 76. OK, maybe he did. But look at some of the more prominent players and their final rounds. Former Open champs Scott Simpson, Larry Nelson and Jack Nicklaus all had 75s. Greg Norman made three straight back-nine double bogeys on his way to a 76. And, of course, who will ever forget the 78 by Tom Kite? At least with Blake, it was more expected.- Why has the U.S. Open seemed to turn into a battle of survival lately, instead of a battle of birdies? All Curtis Strange had to do to win was play even-par golf while everyone else fell around him. Last year Nick Faldo just needed 18 straight pars to make it into a playoff with Strange, who could only manage a 72. Long gone are the days when a Johnny Miller could shoot a final-round 63 to win the U.S. Open.

- Local golf fans wondered why they never saw Blake on TV Sunday after he hit into the water and made a double bogey at the fifth hole. Of course, it was frustrating for the locals who were interested in Blake after his success all week. But it was understandable. The ABC golf coverage has always emphasized the leaders to the exclusion of everyone else, and once Blake was out of contention, he was out of the picture, literally.

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BLAKE MAY BE BACK: You'd figure after the recent success of Blake on the PGA Tour, there would be no way he'd be back to defend his title at the University Hospital-Utah Open.

The International is played over in Colorado the same week, and this year, that tournament has changed its format to allow golfers two rounds minimum instead of one. So golfers won't be able to miss the cut in Colorado and still make it to Utah, as in the past. That's how Blake ended up in Utah the past couple of years.

But when asked at last week's U.S. Open about the possibility of defending his title, Blake said, "I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably come to Utah."

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JACK THE SENIOR: With Jack Nicklaus about to turn 50 (in January), there's been a lot of speculation about how much he will play on the PGA Senior Tour next year. Nicklaus is very busy in his golf course design business and he's still good enough to compete respectably on the regular tour.

According to Golf Digest, Nicklaus will probably play in Senior events that are played on courses he's designed, which means he'll play maybe five or six.