Well the United States Open finally concluded, just a day late. A tournament victory that is supposed to be celebrated with your father on Father's Day, was pushed back to Monday due to awful weather in Farmingdale, NY all weekend. The horrendous weather started Thursday, as the 1st half of players got some of their 1st round in during the 3 hours of play. This would ultimately be a turn of events for that 1st group, including Tiger Woods.
The 2nd group that missed all the weather Thursday caught a major advantage as the course played a lot slower, and also easier to score on, evident by Mike Weir's 1st round 64, and 15 players turned in under par scores, 14 of which were in the 2nd grouping for the 1st round.
As we moved into the 3rd round, Ricky Barnes sat atop the leader board at -8 under par, a new U.S. Open scoring record through two rounds. With that the 3rd round began late Saturday night and players rushed to get as many holes in as possible before darkness or more rain would hit an already saturated Bethpage Black. At one point Saturday evening, 28 year old Ricky Barnes had stretched his score to -11 under par, and led by as many as 6, with Tiger Woods, no where near, a distant 15 strokes back. Well it wouldn't stay that way for long as he would turn in a 37 on the back 9 and finish the 3rd round with only a 1 stroke lead over Lucas Glover who was at -7 under.
With darkness looming the USGA assembled the 4th round pairings and sent them off onto the course trying to get as many holes in as possible. As the round started the leader board looked like this:
Ricky Barnes (-8)
Lucas Glover (-7)
David Duval (-3)
Ross Fisher (-3)
Phil Mickelson (-2)
Hunter Mahan (-2)
Mike Weir (-2)
Retief Goosen (EVEN)
Tiger Woods (+1)
With that being the case, they teed off and that's when the craziness began. Ricky Barnes immediately lost his lead as he would bogey number 1, while Glover parred and there was a tie for 1st at -7 under. Lefty and Mahan would remain at -2 under through their first 2 holes, while David Duval and Ross Fisher had both lost a stroke and fallen back to -2 under, while Tiger Woods made a birdie to get to EVEN, and Goose lost a stroke and fell back to +1 over. When Barnes hit his tee shot on #2 off to the right and into the deep stuff, he looked to be falling apart and the pressure had finally caught up to him. Play was then suspended due to a few players complaining of darkness, and it was even getting evident on t.v.
With play suspended this is where we stood heading towards a Monday finish:
Ricky Barnes (-7) thru 1
Lucas Glover (-7) thru 1
Hunter Mahan (-2) thru 2
Phil Mickelson (-2) thru 2
David Duval (-2) thru 1
Ross Fisher (-2) thru 1
Mike Weir (-1) thru 3
Tiger Woods (EVEN) thru 7
Many questions were to be answered Sunday night. Would Ricky Barnes continue crumbling under the pressure? Would Lefty make his move and finally get his beloved U.S. Open trophy? Would Tiger make his signature final round move? Finally, would the 882nd ranked player in the world, and a former #1 player David Duval, return to his old days and hoist the trophy come Monday afternoon?
When the players all resumed play at 8:00 A.M., all those questions would be answered. As play continued on, Ricky Barnes fell apart horribly on the front nine. He would bogey four holes in a row, and 5 of the 1st 9, shooting a 40, and fell all the way -3 under. Lucas Glover would try to hang on but continued sliding as well turning in a 38 on the front 9 and sat at -4 under, yet still had the lead. The signature story that was David Duval seemed to be coming to a halt as he triple bogied, the Par 3, 3rd, after his shot was embedded and he was unable to get it out of the sand, leading to the 6. He turned in a 38 as well on the front 9, and was sitting EVEN, hoping to make a move following the turn. The New York crowd favorite, Phil Mickelson, also saw how tough Bethpage Black was supposed to play the entire week, as he had turned in a 36 on the front 9, falling back to -1 under par. Britain's Ross Fisher had an interesting front 9 of his own as he would turn in 3 bogies, and 2 birdies on the front 9 for a 36, and sat at -2 under. Tiger Woods seemed to be waiting to make his move as he turned in a 34 on the front 9 and sat at -1 under, just 3 strokes back.
So with Glover sitting a top the leader board with a 1 stroke lead, he made the turn alongside Ricky Barnes. Glover would make par on the 1st 5 holes of the back 9 to remain at -4. Ricky Barnes just seemed like he couldn't get his game figured out as he bogied 2 of the 1st 3 holes on the back 9, and sat at -1, hoping he hadn't let his 1st major championship slip away as he had just had a 5 stroke lead not even 18 holes ago. Quietly making his move, the fan favorite picked his move. Mickelson would par #10, and 11 and then made his move. He would birdie #12 to get to -2 under, and EAGLE the par 5, 13th, and was all of a sudden tied for the lead at -4!! Not only had Mickelson begin making his move and put himself in a tie for 1st, David Duval turned his round around on the back 9, made 3 straight birdies, and was only 1 back at -3 under, with 2 to play. Ross Fisher would also eagle the par 5 13th, and was only 1 stroke back with 5 to play. Tiger Woods turned in a final round score of 69, but only sat at EVEN par and knew he was out of contention. The one man who just couldn't catch a break was Hunter Mahan. Mahan sat at -2 with 7 to play, and found himself right in contention, only to see his luck go another way. He hit a great approach that hit the bottom of the pin and rolled to 40 feet where he would make bogey, versus a 3-5 foot birdie to get to -3. He would also reach a par 3 and land on the opposite side of the slope where he would roll back down the green to a 50 foot put and make bogey yet again and finished at EVEN par, instead of having a chance to get towards the top at -4.
With Mahan and Woods being out of contention, and Barnes hanging on for dear life, it became a 4 man golf tournament. Following a Mickelson bogey on 15, Glover held the lead by himself at -4 under, but wouldn't hold on for long, as he would also bogey 15. Mickelson and Glover were tied at -3 under, while Duval, Fisher, Barnes, and Mahan all sat at -2 under par. Would the inevitable happen, where we would see a 6 man, 18-hole playoff?
As much as we all wanted to see extra golf it wouldn't happen. Glover came back on 16 and stuck his approach within 6 feet for birdie which he would sink to regain the lead at -4 under. Mahan as mentioned lost his luck and bogied #16 and 17 to finish at EVEN. Mickelson would then go onto bogey 17, and sat at -2 under par, and likely out of contention. Fisher would also bogey 2 of the final 4 and finished at -1 for the tournament. David Duval had a chance to go into the 18th back only 1 stroke, his par putt on 17 would lip out of the cup and he would fall back to -2 under and most likely out of contention. So as the final pairing moved to the 18th tee, if Glover bogied, and Barnes could make his 2nd birdie of the round, it would force an 18-hole playoff between the two. Barnes would crush his drive and be within 65 yards, while Glover laid up and played it safe. Barnes would put his approach too far and got no backspin on the ball and was looking at a 25 footer for birdie. Glover put his approach within 15-20 feet, and it looked like he would be able to 2-putt and win, as Barnes was struggling with the putter. Barnes would get his putt close but it didn't drop, and Glover lagged his putt perfectly up to the hole, and was able to save par and clinch his 2nd PGA Tour Win, and 1st Major Championship.
The final leader board looked like this:
Lucas Glover (-4)
Phil Mickelson (-2)
David Duval (-2)
Ricky Barnes (-2)
Ross Fisher (-1)
Tiger Woods (EVEN)
It was tough luck for Phil Mickelson, as he broke the record with his 5th 2nd place finish at the U.S. Open, and you can only wonder when Phil will get his U.S. Open. Everyone who caught the final round Monday morning all saw how tough Bethpage Black was supposed to play this weekend, and shouldn't have been shocked.
Everyone also has to be encouraged by the possible return of David Duval. He came into the tournament ranked at 882nd in the world, but rose to 142nd following his great weekend. You can only hope this is the start of the return for Duval, who was once the #1 ranked player in the world. He says that he's been always playing well, his scores just didn't reflect it, but did feel that this was a turning point.
You make the call. Did Glover win the tournament, or did everyone else come up short?
Finally, we all are hoping for the best as Phil Mickelson's wife, Amy, will begin her chemo therapy July 1st, after being recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and we are all praying for you Phil and Amy!!
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