By Catherine Wood and David Ferguson
Lucas Glover, 29, went on to win his first major championship at a finally dry Bethpage Black with a 72 stroke total; 4-under par. Prior to this year's U.S. Open, Glover has had little success since turning pro in 2001, with only one victory on the PGA tour. By executing self-control, maintaining his swing and rhythm, and keeping calm under pressure, Glover secured victory by two strokes.
Two strokes behind came a three-way tie for second place between Phil Mickelson, David Duval, and Ricky Barnes. "There may not be a single player in the top 15," Glover said, who didn't leave the course Monday muttering "If only I had/hadn't (fill in missed opportunity here)." The trophy was begging to be taken, and at least a dozen pairs of hands let it slip away."
In the end, the long-shot Glover was the one who was able to tame Bethpage Black.
"I don't know if I have enough energy to do anything crazy. It was a long week, and that's the first time I've contended in a major — and mentally, I was done," said Glover, "I don't think I could have thought up a good celebration."
But for Glover, hosting the silver trophy is celebration enough.
Glover and Ricky Barnes had started the day as the last pairing with a seemingly impregnable 5-stroke lead, but Barnes had a horrible final round, losing strokes steadily from the outset and dropping six in eight holes from 5 through 12. He finally made a birdie on 13 and was able to par out the last five holes for a more than respectable share of second, as others who had overtaken him dropped back in the run-in.
Glover too was fighting a war of attrition with par. He picked up bogeys on 3, 5, 9 and 15, and at one point briefly trailed Phil Mickelson for the lead. It was at this point that the competition was hottest, with all six players in the final three groups in contention, and within a stroke or two of each other.
When Duval birdied three in a row from 14 through 16 he joined Mickelson and Glover in a tie for the lead at 3-under. Duval has suffered a career nightmare through the 2000s and started the tournament ranked 882 in the world, but for an instant he was once more within sight of the greatness that took him to the position of World No 1 in 1999.
The critical point came while Mickelson and Duval were playing on the tricky par-3 17th, while Glover played the mighty 490-yard par-4 16th. Mickelson bogeyed, as did Duval minutes later, to drop back to 2-under, while Glover hit a beautiful drive and iron to three or four feet on 16 to make birdie. It was the first birdie Glover had seen for exactly 18 holes, and it must have come as the most enormous relief. It made for a two-shot swing and gave Glover a two-stroke lead and a glimpse through the crack of an opening door at the US Open trophy. He mastered his trembling nerves to par out 17 and 18, and victory was his.
Mickelson had started the day at two-under, five strokes behind. Wearing a hat decorated with a pink ribbon in support of his wife, who is facing treatment for breast cancer, Mickelson dropped strokes on 6 and 7 and looked down and out. But others around him were having similar problems, and when Mickelson picked up birdies on 9 and 12, followed by an eagle on 13, he found himself in the lead. But a bogey on 15 stopped his progress, and that bogey on 17 put paid to his challenge.
So the hometown favorite and the sentimental choice once again just missed a chance at victory for the U.S. Open. This was Mickelson's fifth runners-up finish in the U.S. Open, his fourth in the New York area. But he was able to shrug off yet another ‘what-might-have been' when the lone silver medal was about to be presented in the post-championship ceremonies:
"One of you guys choose it," Mickelson said to Barnes and Duval.
"Whoever is the oldest out of you two," Barnes replied.
To which Mickelson cleverly remarked, "I got four, I'm plenty good."
Tiger Woods, who began Monday at even par, was a long shot but can never be counted out. Though he never quite managed to put himself in contention, by the time the finishers had dragged themselves over the line he was featuring on the front page of the leaderboard in a tie for 6th with Soren Hansen. Woods shot 69-68-69 for the final three rounds, but his first-round score of 74, and a deficit of eleven stokes after round 2, were too much of a handicap even for him to overcome. With birdies in short supply throughout the day, it was always going to be hard for anyone outside of the last half-dozen starters to make real headway.
Interestingly enough, Glover attributes his victory at Bethpage Black to his decision to take time away from the sport late in 2008. He took two months off in order to find perspective and work on his hot-tempered attitude. Glover came back, eager for the 2009 golf season, he remarked:
"My attitude is better. Something bad happens -- let it go. I doubled the first hole this week. Didn't slam a club. Walked over to the second tee and said, 'Hey, it's the U.S. Open, it's a long week.' I wouldn't have done that a couple years ago.''
Clearly this time away has helped him; this year was the first in four attempts that he made the U.S. Open cut. Glover said he was particularly inspired by text messages from friends and the Harmon family.
Dick Harmon, his long time golfing instructor and friend, died in 2006. At the mention of his name, Glover choked up a bit, remarking," I think about him every day. He always told me I was good enough.''
And on 22nd June 2009, Lucas Glover proved to the world on Bethpage Black that he was indeed "good enough".
(China.org.cn June 23, 2009)
