AP
To work the U.S. Open, standard bearers had to sign up over a year in advance.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- While the masses clamor for viewing space outside the ropes, there are several lucky volunteers who get to see Tiger Woods up close and personal inside the ropes. And I'm not talking about the marshals that see him play one hole. I can beat that.
I'm talking about the standard bearers -- the guys that carry the scoreboards along with each group, so the fans watching can see where the players stand on the day and overall.
The standard bearers get access to everything inside the ropes on the golf course. They have a spot on the tees, walk the fairways and stand beside the greens. There probably is not a single spectator at the 109th U.S. Open at Bethpage that would not trade spots with the standard bearers.
Jim Steigerwald is in charge of all of the standard bearers at this year's Open, and he remembers the excitement of being inside the ropes alongside the players.
"I did it for Tiger's group at Shinnecock in '95," he said. "I had Tiger, Nick Price and Ernie Els in the first round -- what a group, what an experience!"
Now Steigerwald is in charge of who gets to walk with Tiger on the Black Course. Does he have to deal with any bribery attempts from volunteers that want to walk with the world's No. 1?
"It's constant," he said.
All of that goes for naught, though, because the assignments get made three to four months in advance of the tournament.
Steigerwald pairs names with group numbers, and it is only once the USGA announces the tee times that the standard bearer actually finds out who he or she gets to walk the course with.
Like everything else at this year's event, the weather has wreaked havoc on his assignments. It has causied some people to cancel, forcing Steigerwald to make last-minute adjustments, such as placing himself in one group.
Kyle Decanio, 32, of Setauket, N.Y., was the beneficiary of one of those cancellations. Someone else was assigned to Tiger's group for Round 2, but did not show up.
"A kid cancelled," Decanio said. "When that kid bailed out, I stepped up."
Did he know who was in the group before he volunteered to step in?
"Uh, yeah, that had a little to do with it," he replied with a smile.
So, what was the experience like?
"He's such a nice guy, very polite," Decanio said. "He introduced himself, said, 'Hi, I'm Tiger.' What am I supposed to say to that? 'Uh, yeah, I know.' It was just very cool."
In Round 1, while all the players were bemoaning having to come off the course mid-round and wait around in the clubhouse to see if they would go back out or not, there was one person who was on cloud nine.
Matt Leslie, a 20-year-old from Albany, N.Y., was the standard bearer for Tiger's group in Round 1, and he said he had a blast hanging out with the players while they waited out the rain on Thursday.
"I sat next to [Tiger] in the emergency trailer on seven [after play was initially suspended Thursday]," Leslie said. "He's such a different person off the course. He was laughing, joking, eating Chex Mix just like anybody else. It's like night and day between on the course and off."
Leslie also got to wait around with his group until play was suspended for the day. He expected to get to walk 18 holes with the best golfer in the world, but getting to hang out with him in the players' lounge was, to put it mildly, icing on the cake.
Leslie and his dad worked the merchandise tent at the U.S. Open last year at Torrey Pines. Needless to say, he had a little more exciting time this year.
So, did he grease the wheel a bit to get into Tiger's pairing?
"You know, I went up to [Steigerwald] and asked if $20 was enough to get me Tiger's group," Leslie said. "He just laughed and asked my name to see who I had. I said 'Matt Leslie,' and he looked up Leslie and said I was in Group 7 off the first tee. It was complete luck of the draw that that was Tiger's group."
Leslie said that he signed up to volunteer at Bethpage before the start of the 2008 Open. So, if you want to walk the course with Tiger at Pebble Beach next year, sign up now and put "standard bearer" as your first preference. You might just get lucky enough to go inside the ropes for 18 holes with the world's best.
Who knows? Maybe you will even get to hang out with him, too.