Stat profiles for 1500 golfers
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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