Monday, June 22, 2009

Glover Wins The U.S. Open...Phil Chokes

Lucas Glover won the U.S. Open today at Bethpage Black with a 3-over 73 in the final round. Glover finished the tournament -4, two strokes ahead of fan favorites Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Rickey Barnes. He made his only birdie of the day on the 16th hole and never looked back, earning a cool $1.35 million in the process. This is only his second PGA Tour victory, but his third top 10 finish of 2009.

Phil just didn't have enough at the end of the day, finishing even par for the final round and -2 for the tournament. He eagled 13 to put himself in a tie for first, but bogeys at 15 (missed a 3-foot par putt) and 17 (missed an eight-footer) sealed his fate. This makes five second-place finishes for Lefty at The U.S. Open, a record I'm sure he's not too proud to hold. Poor Phil, always a bridesmaid...

Personally, I would have liked to see David Duval pull this one out. His decline from No.1 in the world to his current ranking of No.882 has made him a bit of a joke on tour, having not won a PGA event in 8 years. Hopefully his play this week gets him going again. Duval finished the day at +1.

Rickey Barnes held the lead for 54 holes before imploding during the final round. It probably had something to do with that hat he was wearing. He still played well enough, however, to hold on for a second place finish.

Tiger finished even par for the tournament, four strokes out of the lead in 6th place.

3 comments:

  1. Phil used to be the ultimate bridesmaid, but now he's won three majors. He, and everyone else, knows that he'll never be as good as Tiger, but he's definitely the best of the rest. It's too bad that he won't be playing in the next few majors.

    Also Namesake, I wouldn't necessarily call this a 'choke' because he had the best final round of anyone who finished in the Top 5, but the bogies on 15 & 17 did make me throw up a little inside.

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  2. I think it's a choke in the sense that the win was within his grasp and he let it slip away. He had the lead with 4 holes to play and couldn't close the deal.

    He does have 3 majors under his belt, I was referring more to his US Open history. He also has a bigger rack than most bridesmaids.

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  3. I didn't get to see it but it seemed like an incredible comeback but once he caught Glover the missed puts killed him. There was no pressure on him coming back but once he caught him, he was expected to win.

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