Stat profiles for 1500 golfers
In his car ride home, Sal Johnson had some thoughts on what some of the main principles in Monday's final round were thinking on their journeys away from Bethpage
Last night I made the trek back home to Washington D.C. from Bethpage, thankfully the traffic through New York was light and it was a pleasant drive. The six hour journey gave me time to reflect on the week and what had happened.
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The hardest drive up to the Travelers had to be by Ricky Barnes. In the course of Open history we have had many shrive up and die but Barnes had to be one of the worst cases. Now before you talk about Gil Morgan playing his first 43 holes in 12 under and his last 29 holes in 17 over, look at the conditions as a reason. For Barnes, his collapse was totally due to a swing and putting stroke that dissolved under the final round pressure. Barnes had an ugly stretch between the 5th and 12th holes in which he played them in six over. In the mist of the struggle it was interesting how Johnny Miller was saying that he felt that someone needed to wake Barnes up and tell him that he still had a chance to win the Open. Guess that happened when he made birdie at 13, he played his last five holes in even par but it wasn't enough to erase the damage from his poor stretch. It's interesting with his pedigree of winning the U.S. Amateur that he hasn't done any better since, but there is no two ways about it, on his ride from Bethpage to Hartford Barnes needs to consider a way to reconstruct his swing and the way he plays the game because under the tough examination he folded big time.
For the second time this year we saw a very quiet European in Ross Fisher move up the leaderboard. He first came onto the American scene with his great run at the Accenture Match Play and he came onto our radar scope again with his run on Monday. People will not realize how close Fisher was to winning, after his eagle at the 13th hole if he could of played his final five holes in even par things could of been different but he played them in 2 over par. For his trouble he finished 5th but gained a valuable learning experience, despite not winning. Fisher did a lot of good things at Bethpage, he led the greens hit stats missing only 15 greens for the week but he needs to work on his putting, he took 127 for the week only 7 others had a worst putting week. Be interesting to see if he is not the newest Euro guy, he has the talent and the game and we may see him again in contention at the British Open, WGC-Bridgestone or the PGA Championship.
For years we have always wondered what happened to David Duval. Between 1998 and 2001 he was the second best player in the world and many wondered with some improvement if he could of step up and gave Tiger a challenge. But a combination of too much tinkering with his swing, injuries and finding a very content family life took over and he disappeared off of our radar screens around 2002. Many players from Ralph Guldahl to Mike Souchak to Marty Fleckman saw greatness only to have completely fallen flat at a crucial time and disappear out of golf. David Duval is probably the biggest player to do this, far greater than Guldahl who won three majors in a five year span and then couldn't hit the ball. The big difference has to be that Duval has been very content with his life and were it has led him. But for the last couple of years we have been hearing about this comeback and many including myself have discounted it, until this week. Duval looked great, yes a bit older since his prime but very experienced. A perfect example was the way he finished up. After a bogey to start the round on Sunday and then the triple bogey on Monday to start the day, many discounted Duval. But he never gave up and played his last 15 holes in 3 under and again, that famous what if he could of par the 17th hole. All of Duval's game came together this week, but his putting was the reason for the high finish, he was 1st with 109 putts. But the big fact is that Duval seems to be back, he has told us all year that he is happy with his game and now is putting it together to be competitive again, who knows maybe he will give Tiger a run for his money.
One person that had to have a long journey of thought had to be Phil Mickelson. He left Bethpage on his private plane for San Diego to pick up Amy and the kids and fly off to Hawaii for a bit of R&R before her surgery the first of July. For Phil, there has to be a degree of disappointment for not getting the job done. In a way his U.S. Open quest is overshadowing Sam Snead's unsuccessful Open quest and Greg Norman's quest to win the Masters. With another runner-up finish on Monday, Mickelson now has five, passing the four held by Snead, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Next year Mickelson will be 40 years old when he tees it up at Pebble Beach and history could be working against him. Only eight players have won the U.S. Open at 40 and over, so in a way this clock is ticking down. I remember several talks with Sam Snead about not winning the U.S. Open and he admitted that toward the end, anytime that he got into contention negative thoughts would enter his mind and the older he got the more it would bother him. You just have to wonder on 15 and 17 if any of those negative thoughts were on Phil's mind as he found another way not the win the U.S. Open.
Still there are other things on his mind like doing whatever he can to help his wife Amy and children be as comfortable as possible in the coming months. It's amazing how life deals cruel blows to just about anyone, if there is one person in total control of his life right now it has to be Mickelson. As he flew back to California in his own jet, which is the biggest symbol of his wealth and success, to a lovely wife and great children, to a life that would be the envy of many, it has to be hard to gaze out the window as the miles drifted by to think how much Mickelson would give for first his wife to be cancer-free and to have been able to bring home the silver trophy that she so much wanted. Phil has given golf a lot in the last decade and many hope nothing but success and a fast recovery for Amy.
Lastly we come to Lucas Glover, who frankly is one of those major question marks. It will be interesting to see how his career turns out, will he be a Retief Goosen, who after winning in 2001 won another two years later and added many titles from both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Or will Glover turn into a major failure, like Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel and Todd Hamilton have done to name of few. In talking with Butch Harmon, who knows Glover because his brother Dick was his teacher and second father for the youngster, Butch thought that maybe Dick orchestrated the victory from heaven. One of the reasons for Glover's slow rise in golf was the death of Dick in 2006, since then it's been a bit of wandering for Lucas and maybe he has found that spark with his Open win.
No too ways about it, Glover won thanks to a great tee to green game in which he was 4th in greens hit but also a great short game, he was 11th in putting. More importantly Glover kept his composure under control at the critical time. After making bogey at 15 he came back to birdie the 16th hole, with that it made the final stretch drive easier and he held up to the examination. Of course luck had a big factor in winning, Glover got the great pairing on Thursday/Friday that he was able to take advantage of the great weather and easy course conditions to start off with 69-64. In a way it sounds old to say that Glover could be the next, great. Writers tend to say this almost when any longshot wins a major, but Glover does have to game to win again, he just now has to prove it to us all.
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It could have been a great story line, instead it was a fifth U.S. Open runner-up finish for Phil Mickelson
A year ago, it was Tiger Woods limping towards victory at Torrey Pines on a bad leg that would require surgery the next week.
This year, it was another great story line. Phil Mickelson was smiling his way towards victory, awash in the cheers of the New York fans who love him, about to win one for his wife Amy just before she undergoes breast-cancer surgery, and finally breaking through in a U.S. Open after four runner-up finishes.
But that was Tiger and this was Phil. In 2008, Woods summoned his best when it mattered most, holing a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, which he won over Rocco Mediate (incidentally making a birdie on the 18th to once again erase a one-stroke deficit, then winning on the 19th hole).
In 2009, Mickelson, tied for the lead and with momentum as well as the gallery on his side, fizzled with bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes.
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Mickelson may still end up winning one. But if he does, he’ll have to block out a lot of bad memories.
There was the bogey on the 16th hole in 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2, failing to convert an easy up-and-down, to let a one-stroke lead slip away to Payne Stewart, who then birdied the 17th and won by one. Next came 2002 at Bethpage Black, where Mickelson’s biggest problem was that he started the final round too far behind Tiger Woods and finished three behind. In 2004, there was an ugly three-putt double bogey on the par-three 17th at Shinnecock Hills, where Mickelson finished two strokes behind Retief Goosen. Worst of all, there was the double bogey on the 18th at Winged Foot in 2006 to lose by one to Geoff Ogilvy.
This time, Mickelson put himself in a hole with bogeys on the sixth and seventh, but roared back with a birdie on the ninth, a 45-foot birdie putt on the 12th, and a spectacular second shot to three feet for an eagle on the 13th. The stars all seemed to be aligned. If fans could ever will a victory for a player, it was going to happen with Phil. But neither they nor he could will in his par putts from about five feet on the 15th and 17th, both of which he hit tentatively and missed on the low side.
Perhaps it’s an unfair comparison, but that was very un-Tiger-like.
There was another great story line at Bethpage Black. David Duval, a non-factor on Sunday at any tournament since 2002, also recovered from early missteps and birdied 13, 14, and 15 to tie Mickelson and Lucas Glover for the lead. A tournament that to this point had been mostly notable for rain delays had turned into, potentially, an Open for the ages.
Duval faltered with a bogey on the 17th, too, but in his case it was more understandable.
So, we were left with Lucas Glover. A deserving champion, considering his clutch birdie on the 16th hole and nerveless par on 17. It was the second career win for the 29-year-old; presumably, there will be more to come.
We were also left with memories of a final round that provided more than its share of excitement, though it couldn’t quite sustain it to the 72nd hole. And we were left with the best potential story lines sitting on the shelf, but sometimes that’s the way it goes. Especially when Phil Mickelson is involved at a U.S. Open.
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Lucas Glover was solid on the back nine and clutch on the 16th and 17th holes as he claimed the victory
Lucas Glover won the U.S. Open by righting himself to play solid golf on the back nine after a three-over 38 on the front. Fortunately for him, he entered the round with a nice lead over everyone except his playing partner Ricky Barnes, whose collapse was almost inevitable, and a 73 was good for a two-shot victory.
The stats show that Glover hit six greens on the back nine, but he was actually putting from the fringe on the other three holes. He three-putted the 15th, but delivered on the closing three holes while the other contenders faltered.
His birdie on the 16th, from five feet, was his lone one of the day, but it was just what he needed. Just as vital was his five-iron tee shot on the par-three 17th, where he hit the green, which is something that Phil Mickelson and David Duval failed to do.
Mickelson put a charge into the tournament with by going birdie-eagle on 12 and 13 to tie for the lead, but he couldn't finish. The culprit was his putter, with misses from five feet on both the 15th and 17th.
Duval's downfall was a triple bogey on the par-three third hole, where he buried his tee shot in the face of a bunker and made a triple bogey. (Glover, incidentally, also buried a shot in the face of a bunker at the fifth, but made a bogey that proved to be crucial.)
Duval put his own charge into the tournament with birdies on 13, 14, and 15 to tie for the lead, but he missed a three-foot par putt on 17. For the round, though, he had only 24 putts while hitting just nine greens.
Barnes, like Glover, pulled himself together, but in his case he didn't do so until the 13th hole. That was too late, as bogeys on the 11th and 12th had dropped him to 7-over for the round. He was 1-under the rest of the way, but it was still a 76 as he tied Mickelson and Duval for second.
Glover officially hit eight greens for the round, but was actually using his putter for birdie 13 times including five putts for the fringe. He took advantage of the soft greens to hit 52 of 72 greens on the week, ranking fourth (Ross Fisher was first with 55). Of course, the second-round 64 helped, but in the end Glover claimed his second Tour victory because he handled the 16th and 17th holes when the pressure was greatest.
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1:20 pm
The USGA moved the tee way up on the 18th hole, but they didn't make it too easy. Players could blow their tee shots past the fairway bunkers with a 3-wood or driver, but that left them with about a 50-yard pitch to a pin cut near the front.
It wasn't an easy shot to get close, and Phil Mickelson and David Duval both knocked it about 30 feet past when they needed a birdie to apply pressure to Lucas Glover.
It created an interesting choice for Glover on the tee. After making a crucial two-putt par on the 17th hole, he had a two-shot lead and selected an iron which he fit between the fairway bunkers and into the fairway.
Barnes got his second shot closer than Mickelson and Duval, about 20 feet, and hit an excellent putt which burned the left edge.
That left it to Glover, who two-putted from the fringe on 18 and claimed the victory by playing the last three holes better than any of the other contenders.
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12:55 pm
It's really getting tense now. First, David Duval created a three-way tie for the lead at 3-under with his third birdie in a row, holing a 12-foot putt on the 16th.
But that tie with Lucas Glover and Phil Mickelson dissolved quickly. Mickelson, in front of a gallery waiting to explode with delight at the par-three 17th, brought the opposite reaction as he came up short with his tee shot, pitched to five feet, and then missed that one.
Then Glover came to the 16th and made his first birdie of the day, coming at a great time. He did it with a beautiful approach to five feet and a good putt.
Suddenly, it turned into a two-shot lead for Glover when Duval reprised Mickelson's tee shot on 17, pitched three feet past, and had the putt lip out.
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12:40 pm
The drama is building at Bethpage Black. In short order, Lucas Glover three-putted the 15th hole for a bogey, knocking a 60-foot putt 10 feet past and missing the comebacker. At almost the same time, Phil Mickelson holed an eight-foot putt for par on the 16th after knocking his 30-foot birdie putt that far past. So, once again, Mickelson and Glover are tied for the lead, this time at 3-under.
Ricky Barnes, as poorly as he has played, is still in it after an up-and-down par on the 15th leaves him one behind. But Hunter Mahan got a horrible break on the par-four 16th, his approach shot clanking off the flagstick and bouncing back off the green, leading to an unlucky bogey that knocked him back to 1-under, two shots behind.
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12:25 pm
David Duval won't go away. After a birdie on the short par-three 14th, he birdied the brutal par-four 15th go get to 2-under, two shots out of the lead. He's 1-over for a round that includes a triple bogey on the third hole. Playing partner Ross Fisher bogeyed the 14th to fall to 2-over, so there is a tie for third at that figure with Duval, Fisher, Hunter Mahan, and Ricky Barnes.
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12:15 pm
Minutes after Phil Mickelson made the first eagle on the 13th hole, Ross Fisher made the second. He hit his second shot to five feet and made the putt to move within a stroke of the lead at 3-under (even for the day).
Behind Fisher, Ricky Barnes made the final twosome's first birdie of the day with a two-putt on the 13th hole. But he had made seven bogeys on the first 12 holes, including a pair on the 11th and 12th. Lucas Glover still hasn't made a birdie, missing a 12-footer from the fringe on the 13th (he couldn't clean the mud off his ball because he wasn't on the putting surface). But he's still tied for the lead with five holes to play despite being 3-over on the day.
Mickelson drove into the left rough on the 15th (he has to be worried about the drives on 15 and 16), caught a good lie and hit a hybrid club to the back fringe. He putted it to four feet, but missed that one and made a bogey to fall one back. He's now one behind Glover, but Glover still has to play the 15th, the toughest hole at Bethpage Black.
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11:50 am
It was the eagle heard around the course. Phil Mickelson elicited a roar with his three-foot eagle putt on the 13th hole, and cheers from around the course from other fans listening on satellite radio or hand-held television screens. The first eagle on the hole all week tied Mickelson with Lucas Glover for the lead. This is the second day that the tee at the 605-yard 13th has been moved up to a forward tee at 555 yards.
The tee has also been moved up on the 18th. Tiger Woods was the first contender to play there, knocking his tee shot into the short rough less than 50 yards from the flag. He ended up missing a 15-foot birdie putt, typifying his week and finishing with a 69 for an even-par total of 280. He followed an opening 74 with rounds of 69-68-69.
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11:40 am
Could this be Phil Mickelson's time? Things are going his way on the back nine, as he just holed a birdie putt from 45 feet on the 12th hole to move to 2-under and within two strokes of the lead.
Tiger Woods missed an opportunity on the 17th hole. After hitting a tee shot right at the pin on the 207-yard par three, he missed a 10-foot birdie putt to stay at even par for the tournament.
Lucas Glover has righted himself with solid pars on the 10th and 11th holes, hitting both fairways and both greens. His lead increased to two when Barnes drove to the right on the 11th hole and ended up making a bogey.
Update! Mickelson hit his second shot at the par-five 13th, playing 555 yards today, to within four feet.
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