BROOKLINE, Mass. — Matthew NeSmith stares out at the scoreboard about 50 yards ahead on the par-3 16th. They take pictures of these kinds of scenes. The skies are gray. The trees are blowing. He looks deep, deep, deep in his thoughts. It’s his album cover.
Is he thinking of where he was playing? It’s U.S. Open Saturday. That’s heavy stuff. He’s played in only one of these before this week. Or is he thinking of where he is, period? At The — cap the ‘T’ there, please — Country Club. That’s historic stuff. Of course, there was the fun fact that at this U.S. Open, at The Country Club, on that leaderboard, he was right there, in the mix.
Nah, man, just staring.
“I’m just kind of blank staring at the leaderboard,” he said Saturday, as he and a reporter walked over to the range here. “I’m so A.D.D. I get lost a little bit.
“But no, it is very cool walking the fairways, playing with a good friend of mine, one; and two, late on a Saturday of a U.S. Open, with the No. 1-ranked player in the world where there’s obviously some hype around and watching him make eagle on 8 and watching everybody go crazy, it was cool.”
