Even for Tiger, comeback would be minor miracle
Bethpage Black
Tiger Woods
Phil Mickelson
Tiger Woods didn't shoot himself out of the 109th U.S. Open in the second round yesterday at Bethpage Black. But Woods certainly didn't shoot his way into it, either, leaving him in need of a record-tying comeback if he's to win a 15th major championship.
Woods shot 1-under-par 69, a stellar score in most U.S. Opens, but as you might have heard, this Open has been anything but typical.
Yesterday's weather turned out better than expected and surprisingly, given the forecast, all players finished 36 holes.
Forty-four of the 60 who made the cut even started their third rounds before what seemed like the week's 109th heavy dousing halted play at 6:55 p.m. Play was suspended for the day at 7:13.
In addition to the weather, players had to battle another element - rowdy fans. As rain fell and beer flowed, players were showered with comments you are more likely to hear at a baseball game than a golf tournament.
Today's weather forecast is not good, but with everyone having finished 36 holes, the possibility - inconceivable three days ago - of a Sunday finish exists.
One of those who started his third round was Phil Mickelson, who followed his opening-round 69 with an even-par 70. But after parring the first hole of his third round, Mickelson was still 10 shots behind leader Ricky Barnes, who set the 36-hole Open record with an 8-under 132. Barnes, a non-exempt Tour player who shot a 5-under 65 after his opening-round 67, had not begun his third round.
Play is set to resume at 7:30 this morning.
Woods parred the first hole of his third round to stay 11 shots behind, a 36-hole deficit that has been overcome once in the history of this championship. Lou Graham, in 1975 at Medinah, came from 11 back to win the Open, defeating John Mahaffey in a playoff.
"I'd like to," Woods said of the prospect of matching that feat. "There's no doubt. I'm hitting it well enough. I just need to, obviously, make a few more putts, and get it rolling."
Woods has found that difficult on Bethpage's spongy greens, but the leaders, a collection of accomplished pros and unaccomplished ones, have not. One shot behind Barnes, the 2002 U.S. Amateur champion, is Lucas Glover. He shot a first-round 69 and followed that with this championship's second 64, matching the course record set in the second round of the 2007 New York State Open by Metropolis head pro Craig Thomas. Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, shot 70 after his first-round 64 and is two behind.
Sweden's Peter Hanson, Japan's Azuma Yano and David Duval, the 2001 British Open champion who came into the week ranked No. 882 in the world golf rankings, are all at 3 under.
Fifteen players were under par after 36 holes, a rarity for an Open.
"It's been crazy," Barnes said. "From shooting 8 under in a USGA event to having this much rain to not even starting the third round until Sunday pretty much. But there's nothing you can do. It's kind of like being stuck in an airport and they won't refund you. But you'll come back and you'll get to your destination every once in a while.''
A perfect segue to the overriding question of the final day: Will it be the final day?
Mike Davis, the USGA's senior director of rules and competitions, said the championship caught a break with Saturday's weather and exactly 60 players making the cut, helping pace of play.
"We had an incredibly lucky day today," Davis said. "We would have been happy just to get through Round 2. We got through that and then we had the miracle of all miracles where only 60 players made the cut. That's going to allow us to go in groups of two. If we don't have weather tonight that causes us a delay in the morning, we'll actually be able to re-pair and put the leaders together."
Davis said if there are no weather-related issues, the third round would end around noon, allowing for a final-round start at 1 to 1:30 p.m. That would enable the championship to end around 7. Again, that's if there are no delays. Should there be, Davis said it's possible there wouldn't be new pairings for the fourth round.
"If it really got bad, we'd just keep them in the same groups as they're playing in Round 3,'' Davis said. "And that's not ideal because you literally could have the winner of the U.S. Open finishing on the ninth hole. But we want to get done with this thing, so we would do that if we needed to."
Somehow, with what the weather has done to this Open, that kind of ending somehow would seem appropriate.
