When the chance came to review the latest offering from TaylorMade, I jumped on it. My older-generation Rescue has been in the bag since 2005 and has seen better days. While I've admired Mizuno and Titleist in the iron area, I've had a TaylorMade driver and Rescue or fairway metal in my bag for many years. Their dominance in this area has been the result of superior products, not just marketing.

The TaylorMade Rescue '09 offers some improvements that are hard to pass up, especially if you're like me and have skipped a few generations. The question is, though, will this new version be good enough and retain the qualities that I've come to love and appreciate about my old Rescue? Read on to find out.

Build and Technology
The basic build and shape of the TaylorMade Rescue has not changed much in the past few years. From the Rescue Dual TP that I currently have in my bag to this model, the biggest changes are inside of the club. The one most promoted and hyped by TaylorMade is that the center of gravity has been lowered by 10 percent over the 2008 model (and probably a lot more over my older one).

You can see that not much has changed much from the face of the club. The leading edge is a bit more flat and the size of the face is a bit larger on the new '09.

The other feature of the '09 TaylorMade Rescue is on the bottom of the club. There the heel and toe has been recessed promoting two things: reduced drag and more playability. The TP version of the '09 TaylorMade offers one more piece of technology.

That one piece of technology is the new Flight Control Technology (FCT) that TaylorMade has introduced to a variety of their clubs this year. According to TaylorMade's website, FCT "utilizes a metallic sleeve positioned over the tip of the shaft. The sleeve can be rotated into different positions, changing the characteristics of the head, by loosening the bolt that secures the sleeve and shaft into the clubhead." Translation: you're able to change the loft, lie, and face angle of the club easily to fit your preference.

Look and Feel
If you've read any of my previous hybrid reviews, you'll know that I think that hybrids are a bit strange on the looks. I've never been fond of the look of my Rescue Dual TP. The good news is that the '09 Rescue has shown a vast improvement.

From the top the Rescue '09 has a solid black look with a straight line that runs parallel to the face, curving away towards the back of the club at the ends. The result is a clean and simple look.

I prefer the look of the new '09 on the right quite a bit more over my old Dual TP.

The sole of the club is equally well done. The recessed heel and toe is painted black against the steel of the rest of the sole resulting in what looks like a claw. There are much harder lines on the bottom of the Rescue '09, but just as appealing to the eye.

Feel does not disappoint either. First, when resting the club behind the ball the club does not turn at all. Some Rescues or hybrids have a tendency to open a bit, making the alignment a bit open. The Rescue '09 does not suffer from this. You can easily align yourself and not worry about the club shifting. Throwing your alignment off even by a couple degrees on a club like this can result in some wild shots.

One other good attribute that has been retained in the Rescue '09 is the feel of the ball off the face of the club. Simply put, it is solid. Since Rescues are truly between woods and irons they can take the attributes of both. The Rescue '09 has the feel of an iron when striking the ball. There is no hollow or dull feeling. A player gets good feedback with the Rescue '09 and the sound is more like an iron than it is a fairway wood.

Performance
Typically, when I evaluate a hybrid, I have in mind two main features or areas of interest. The first area is the long, high shot that I have never been able to execute with my irons. You have all manner of disaster around the green and have to carry the ball 220 yards to the green. A 3-wood is too low and/or too long. I can't carry a 2- or 3-iron that far. Any 3 iron that goes 220 yards for me is a low hook that carries 200 and rolls another 20 plus yards. My current TaylorMade pulls this shot off and I won't consider a hybrid that can't.

I received a 19° Rescue '09 which is the same loft as my current hybrid. I chose the TaylorMade because it has a higher launch angle than any other hybrid I've tested. After hitting the first set of balls with the Rescue '09 it was easy to see that it was going to be very similar to what I've been using for three years. It produces a higher ballflight than most hybrids but not a ballooning ballflight.

To compare my TaylorMade Rescues more closely, I did a test for the 225 yard shot of death. I hit a series of balls from about 225 out with both clubs. The similarity was once again evident. So much that if the clubs were painted the same I might not even know which was which. Both clubs could carry the ball onto the green without any problems. Distance was very similar as well. The biggest difference was on mis-hits. The newer Rescue '09 was a more forgiving. After just a couple shots that did not catch the center of the face it was apparent that forgivability was the main thing I was missing by not upgrading sooner.

The second area I like to review hybrids is in its "recueability" - which is the ability get you out of trouble. There are three rescue shot tests I like to run through with any hybrid. The thick rough shot is the first one I tried. There was nothing rough about it though. I was able to get the ball up out of the rough without any issues. The Rescue '09 had no problems working through the rough and getting the clubface on the ball.

Although very similar in size and shape, the new TaylorMade '09 is more forgiving than its older sibling.

The next trouble area to test was the tight lie. When I first started using a hybrid/rescue club this was one shot I was surprised that it could handle so easily. For some reason I thought the iron would manage it better but the Rescue is a much better option. The TaylorMade Rescue '09 was no exception. Again, the ball flight was still high and penetrating.

Lastly, I always like to try out a few punch shots. Whether it is getting out of the trees or hitting some wind-cheaters, a reliable low shot is a great one to fall back on. Of all the tested areas this was probably where the TaylorMade performed the most average. It was a bit difficult to control the trajectory and keep it low. Contact was not the problem. Neither was distance control. If I have a low branch in front of me, that might be the problem.

Options and Extras
17°, 19°, 22° and 25° TaylorMade Rescue '09 models are available. If you're a lefty, only the 19° and 22° are available. This gives golfers a variety of options if they are not only looking to replace a 2 or 3-iron, but possibly a 4 and 5-iron as well.

As for shafts, there are two options. The first is the standard RE*AX Superfast 85 shaft. This is their "stock" shaft and the one I reviewed. I was more than happy with the stiff model that came with it.

The head cover is very similar to the ones TaylorMade has provided in years past for their Rescue clubs. It is a solid nylon cover with a stretchy section along the back that allows the club to fit tightly around the cover. Unlike the Bobby Jones head covers in one of my recent reviews, I've never had to worry about losing this cover. Along with the functionality, the styling and look is good as well.

I was very happy with the previous headcover TaylorMade provided and glad to see they didn't change much.

Conclusion
I believe I've finally found a replacement for my old TaylorMade Rescue TP. It's only fitting that it is another TaylorMade. The Rescue '09 improves in enough areas, most importantly forgiveness, that it was an easy choice.

Anyone looking to replace not just a long iron, but (as in my case) an old hybrid, should give this a swing. I've reviewed and tried numerous hybrid and Rescue clubs in the past three or so years and only put ones by TaylorMade in my bag. Others have come close and tempted me to make a switch, but I could never pull the trigger. Only by TaylorMade mixing the old with the new was I willing to make that switch.

© dave for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

The point being, regardless of the specific merit of his assertions, he has clearly earned the right to criticize any professional athlete as he sees fit, and, further, to have his proclamations dispensed by omnipresent media outlets to the world at large for serious consideration.

For his part, Woods responded to Brown's statements indirectly in answering a question from a reporter yesterday saying, "I think I do a pretty good job as it is with what we're trying to do with the foundation." Further, he said his foundation has, "taught a lot of kids how to get back and learn… to learn how to lead, learn how to give back, learn how to teach others."

Jim Brown is known, informally, for his mentoring of young urban males who have been involved with gangs or committed crimes. Formally, Brown is the founder and CEO of the Amer-I-Can program. A portion of the organization's mission statement is worth quoting at length:

The Amer-I-Can Program will help you develop your attitude from one of self-doubt to self-determination. We believe that in addition to understanding the goal-setting process, a person must honestly examine the whys and wherefores of past behavior patterns that have negatively affected his/her life. Once this understanding has been firmly established, that person will be able to change his/her thinking from I-Can't to I-Can, by accepting the responsibility of determining the direction of his/her life.

Self-determination and responsibility, then, are the foundational elements of Brown's program. Additionally, he is focused on helping the young and disadvantaged. On the surface, at least, this ambition doesn't seem at odds with the objectives of The Tiger Woods Learning Center(s) at all.

As a caveat, before presenting any of the TWLC mission statement or the like, it's likely that even if one were to hold up the missions of the TWLC and the Amer-I-can program to Mr. Brown's skullcapped visage, he would deny the significance and import of the Learning Center.

This is because Brown's real objection to Tiger Woods is that he is not outspoken enough in any criticism of the status quo, and, further, he is too "politically correct" in his dealings with the media and any potentially divisive or "hot button" issues.

Brown would likely point to something like Woods' appearance at the Obama Inaugural Concert. Yes, Woods spoke at a potentially polemic event, but hardly in any enthusiastic fashion. Also, he did little more than the politically neutral/status quo-supporting fluff-spouting in praise of the military.

Regardless, although there is a real difference of tactics and style between Brown and Woods, I believe they share similar objectives and concerns.

From the TWLC's website:

The Tiger Woods Learning Center is here to get students thinking about the role education plays in their futures. We want to show them how to relate what they learn in school to their future careers.

To be sure, the Learning Center's mission statement lacks some of the gravitas of the Amer-I-can Program's. Woods' organization places an emphasis on education and career planning, rather than more fundamental life skills, which is the focus of Brown's.

In addition to, what I believe are, Jim Brown's objections to the Tiger Woods Persona is a fundamentally different view the two seem to share towards society as a whole. It's not my desire to put words into Tiger's mouth, but it seems to me that he sees popular society and the dominant social paradigm as fundamentally decent structures which are occasionally populated by disreputable people with destructive ideas/interests.

Brown, on the other hand, seems to think that the problems he and his foundation intend to sort out are inextricably bound up with the status quo. Again, from the Amer-I-can program's site:

Socio-economic problems are the great plague of our time. They cannot be separated from the decline of our civilization. Unless they are solved, we will face even more difficult times. With the cost of social welfare programs, law enforcement, incarceration, recidicism, and treatment escalating into billions of dollars, the most important consideration should be the saving of lives. What are the problems? Significant gaps in our educational system, poverty, gangs, killings, drug abuse, racism, political corruption, joblessness, and poor housing are just a few…

To some degree, I think Brown spends too much time "cursing the darkness" rather than creating a functional, structured and repeatably model for bringing light to it. This isn't to diminish his program or glorify Woods' efforts.

Again, I believe the stated objectives of the Tiger Woods Learning Center and the Amer-I-Can program are much more similar than different. There is, however, and obvious difference of tactics, with respect to their CEO's. Is Jim Brown right in saying that Tiger Woods does nothing for society? Absolutely not. Does he have a point when he objects to the way in which Tiger implements his vision? Perhaps.

Ultimately, though, social change is the product of institutions and organizations, perhaps fueled by the contributions of great individuals, but certainly greater than the individuals themselves.

I respect Jim Brown, as well as his criticisms. However, I believe the best response is contained in begging the following question: "Which individual, by way of the organizations which they created and left behind, will have done more to improve society in 100 years?"

© benalb for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

For example, with the death of the wound golf ball and the introduction of oversize drivers, course designers have responded to the fact that golfers are hitting it further by making courses longer. I read recently about the Pete Dye course at French Lick Resort - it measures a staggering 8102 yards from the back tees. This ridiculous golf course boasts par threes of 251 and 301 yards, no less than five par fours stretching over 500 yards, and the shortest of the par fives is 575 yards, with the longest being 657 yards of pure fun.

Obviously, I'm not a big fan of making golf courses so long that even the best players in the world wouldn't enjoy it, but that's a discussion for another day.

The introduction of the Titleist Pro V1 golf ball contributed to this technology "one-upsmanship." Wound golf balls such as the Titleist Tour Balata and Tour Professional spun at a much higher rate than the Pro V1 ball in 2000/2001. The pros on the professional tours liked this because the new ball spun less, giving them better control of approach shots, and flew higher and straighter than the old wound balls.

Course designers developed courses that are longer, and turf grass researchers started growing grasses that allow for faster, firmer greens. In the South, the advent of TifEagle Bermuda grass has made for much faster and smoother putting surfaces, sometimes making older courses with more green contours virtually unplayable. Greens that once ran at an eight or nine on the stimpmeter now rate in the 11 or 12 range.

In response to the lower spinning golf ball and the longer golf courses with faster greens, there was a need to be able to hit the ball higher and land softer from 200 yards and more. TaylorMade introduced the Rescue, a hybrid club that had some design characteristics of both an iron and a wood. The club had a lower center of gravity and a higher loft than the long irons it replaced, allowing golfers to hit the ball much higher than with a long iron. It also shared the cambered sole and bulge and roll of a wood club, making it more forgiving on off-center hits and easier for the club to glide through tall grass and poor lies.

Shortly after the introduction of the Rescue, Adams golf released the Idea irons, which replaced the two and three irons with easier to hit hybrids. Adams started to promote its clubs on the major professional tours, knowing that sales are largely driven by tour adoption and use. Simply put, if the pros use a club, the rest of us will want to use it too, and the numbers seem to back it up to a certain extent. According to the Darrel Survey, in 2004 seven percent of golfers carried a hybrid. In 2007, that number was up to over 30 percent. By comparison, 65% of PGA Tour players carry at least one hybrid, and that number grows to over 80% on the Champions tour.

At the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, the focus in terms of equipment was very much on hybrids. With the course playing very long and wet and the rough up, many players paid visits to the tour vans for help. Vijay Singh put three hybrids in the bag for the week. He carried 19, 22, and 26 degree hybrids from Adams Golf. TaylorMade unwrapped a new hybrid design at the Open and several of their staff tested them out. The new club is called the Raylor. Many may remember the old Raylor fairway woods of the past (see above). This new hybrid features a V-shaped soleplate to cut through the grass. To me it looks a bit like the old wooden Ginty club I once had. Compare for yourselves and see.

For the week at Bethpage, a total of 70 players carried at least one hybrid, and only ten players carried a two iron. In all, there were 147 hybrid clubs in play on the monster layout. There was no better endorsement for TaylorMade's hybrids than the stellar first round 64 of Mike Weir, using a 19 degree hybrid to hit it close and make three birdies along the way.

Phil Mickelson also made news, playing a Callaway prototype hybrid he helped design. The club, seen below, has a unique shape, looking almost like a wedge. This allowed Phil to actually open the face and hit the club from a variety of distances. In fact, on Friday on the 15th hole, he managed to hit the club from only 164 yards by doing just that. There is no word on whether the new hybrid design will make it into production. As he told Golfworld's Michael Johnson: "I actually [took] the back part of the hybrid out so I can open it way up and get through that thick rough. I dug in after it and was able to get it there."

Even though hybrids have been around for almost 10 years - and for decades before that if you go back to the original Cobra Baffler - and they have been widely adopted by amateur golfers around the world and on all the professional tours, television announcers can't seem to figure out what to call them. Just this weekend on the various television broadcasts, I heard hybrids referred to as utility clubs, utility irons, iron woods, rescue clubs, utility metals and hybrid long irons. It seems like golf broadcasters need to get together and standardize on one name and simply call them what they are, a hybrid.

Of course, this naming confusing also happened back when TaylorMade gave us the original confusing club: a wood (driver) made of metal. Despite the paradox, these metal clubs eventually became known as metal woods. Hybrids are here to stay, they have changed the game for many golfers and I look forward to seeing what the club companies can come up with next - that is, if the USGA doesn't step in and ruin the party.

Photo Credits: © Golf.com, © Louisville Golf, © Sam Greenwood.

© jorruss for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

In this newest volume of HTL we look at the newest inductee to the Golf Hall of Fame, see who the Aussies got to improve attendance at their National Championship, and find out who just made it into the British Open. Also on tap, we do a John Daly legal update, take a long look at the Club Pro Championship, and do a wrap-up of this week's tour winners. Read on!

Hole 1: President Golf
Dwight D. Eisenhower is being inducted into the Golf Hall of fame, the first president to receive the honor. [Link]

Hole 2: Crowd Pleaser
Greg Norman has agreed to play in the next three Australian Opens in an attempt to improve attendance. [Link]

Hole 3: Ishikawa
17 year-old Ryo Ishikawa qualifies for the British Open with a win on the Japan Golf Tour. [Link]

Hole 4: John Daly
John Daly has been ordered to pay almost $300,000 in attorney's fees to a Florida Newspaper after his unsuccessful libel lawsuit. [Link]

Hole 5: Ken Green
Champions Tour golfer Ken Green is in stable condition after having his lower leg amputated due to a severe RV accident. [Link]

Hole 6: Sorry Vijay
Vijay Singh recently offered to pay the bail for financier Allen Stanford, one of his sponsors. As a non-U.S. citizen, however, he's not allowed. [Link]

Hole 7: The Working Man's Championship
The PGA Club Pro National Championship is underway in New Mexico, check out how theses guys play. [Link]

Hole 8: Dick's Sporting Goods Open
Lonnie Nielsen goes low in the final round to win the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on the old guy tour. [Link]

Hole 9: He's Not Old, He's Experienced!
Kenny Perry wins the Travelers Championship in record fashion just edging out a couple other forty-somethings. [Link]

© NM Golf for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

After reviewing Mizuno's MP-600 last year, I was very interested in seeing what the company would do with their "average player" follow-up to the MX-560. The knock (and the only knock in a lot of people's minds) against the 560 was the sound. It had a very loud and unpleasant impact sound.

As the "MP" implies in Mizuno's lineup, the MP-600 is intended as a driver for better players. It features a neutral to open face angle at address and little or no slice correction (other than Mizuno's Fast Track weighting system, that is). The MX-700, with its "MX" moniker, is aimed at any golfer looking to maximize distance, get a little help launching the ball, and reduce, if not eliminate, a slice.

So does the MX-700 live up to its billing? Read on to find out.

Design and Technology
Mizuno has given the MX-700 what it terms a "Hot Metal" Ti-9 titanium face, plasma welded to a 6-4 titanium body. The Hot Metal face is said to have a unique, vertically aligned grain structure, designed to expand the coefficient of restitution (CoR) area and increase ball speed for long and straight drives, even on off-center strikes.

Mizuno certainly seems excited about the face technology it has built into the MX-700:

"The Ti-9 'Hot Metal' face in the MX-700 is the first of its kind, and is designed to enhance initial ball velocity from every spot on the club face." said Dick Lyons, VP and General Manager, Mizuno USA Golf. "This breakthrough face technology combined with an optimized launch angle, spin rate, COR area, and Moment of Inertia make the MX-700 the longest and most forgiving driver you're going to find."

The head is yet another from the "geometric" school of driver design. This head shape is intended to create an extremely low and deep center of gravity (CoG) and a centrally located sweet spot for enhanced vertical stability. The important part of all this engineering is that it is designed to produce low spin and a high, penetrating ball flight. Mizuno's "Power Hull" body construction places internal reinforcements to positively affect feel and sound.

Esthetics
The MX-700 has a large clubhead. Yes, it's within the limits at 460cc, but it's a big 460. I've been playing a Titleist 907 D2 for the last 18 months and the MX-700 appears much larger, as most drivers in the game-improvement realm do. The top of the clubhead stretches back from the face in a big "U" shape. That's where the club gets its high MOI (moment of inertia). It's the kind of thing that you'll probably notice the first few times you address the ball, but if the results pay off you'll probably be willing to live with it. And if you've been playing any of the other large square or U-shaped "geometric" drivers, you might even think the MX-700 looks normal or smaller at address by comparison.

Mizuno gives us a crown decal to aid in alignment. There's a large U-shaped pattern around the edge of the crown and an "MX" alignment mark in the middle. I wasn't crazy about it the first time I saw it, but I also wasn't greatly troubled by it. Suffice to say it is less intrusive than some crown decals out there.

Like the MP-600 before it, the MX-700 continues Mizuno's departure from the blue color scheme for its woods. While the 600 was black, the MX-700 is a nice charcoal accented by the silver of the alignment decal. Even the Exsar D4 shaft is now black, instead of the line's "any color so long as it's blue" color range of years past. The combination looks nice in an understated sort of way. A gold shaft decal just below the grip adds just a touch of flash.

This is purely hypothetical, but I can't help thinking that this color change may be Mizuno's way of saying, "We are getting serious about woods now."

When it comes to the sound, the MX-700 is an improvement over the MX-560. It's still a bit loud from a traditional standpoint, but not nearly as loud as its predecessor. It compares favorably with other geometric-style drivers on the market today.

Performance
To check out just how serious this Mizuno was, I headed off to the range to get a taste of how the MX-700 performs. My first drive produced an audible "wow." I looked around to see who said it and realized it was me. Seriously, the ball really jumps off the face, high and long.

As I would expect with an MX club, there's a lot of forgiveness built into the MX-700. For starters, there's a generous sweet spot built into that large face. It's very easy to get the ball into the air, and mishits around the face still travel a respectable distance. I found that I was getting more carry with the MX-700 than I have with any driver, but the ball still ran out well once if finally came down.

I felt that the MP-600 was one of the most accurate drivers I'd played. The ball went right where I aimed it more times than not. It wasn't the most exciting driver I'd ever played (it didn't seem to have that occasional exceptionally long ball in it), but it was very good at finding fairways with respectable distance.

The MX-700 in contrast is very exciting. The ball can seem to fly forever. A lot of the time that's very good, but start it in the wrong direction and that can be very bad. This is not really a criticism of the driver. It does what it's supposed to. The problem is my tendency to swing a driver too hard. Having a club that launches like the MX-700 that is lightweight, as well, just makes me want to swing harder… with predictable results. However, as long as I control my swing speed, I found it fairly easy to keep the ball in the short grass.

The MX-700 launch angle is truly amazing. For this review, Mizuno sent a 10.5° model with the stiff mid-launch shaft, as requested, but it clearly launched too high for me. (A recent change in my setup has changed my line-drive tee shots into what seems in contrast to be soaring drives. My golfing buddies can no longer tease that I can castrate a groundhog with my tee shots.)

A local Mizuno rep traded out the 10.5° for a 9.5° and I couldn't be happier. It still launches quite high for me but with a more penetrating ball flight and reasonably low spin. That means that despite the high trajectory, the ball still manages to run out upon landing (wind or soft conditions notwithstanding).

The switch also gave me the opportunity to compare the two lofts. Like many manufacturers, Mizuno appears to put a little more help for slicers into the 10.5 than the 9.5 has. I tend to fight the hooks off the tee as it is, and the 10.5 produced a few too many high left snappers. The 9.5 still favors a left-ish ball flight, but not as emphatically as the 10.5 did. With just a couple strips of lead tape (old school "movable weight technology") on the toe, the 9.5 became willing to produce a nice controllable fade, which was elusive prior to the addition.

The MX-700 is not meant to be extremely workable (and it isn't), but players who normally work their tee shots left or right will find modest success with this driver. Because of the right-to-left bias, I felt more comfortable hitting a fade (a draw could turn into a hook too easily). I just aimed down the left center, and if it faded I was in the center or right center of the fairway. And if the bias got the better of me and ball went straight or even drew a little, I was still on the short grass or close to it.

Specs and Extras
Players who already launch the ball high with the driver will be disappointed to see that the lowest loft available in the MX-700 is the 9.5°. Clearly Mizuno is aiming the MX-700 squarely at mid and high handicappers who typically need more help getting the ball in the air.

The Exsar DS4 shaft is a good performer. The stiff version that I tested was stable enough on hard swings, while still being easy enough to load on a smooth swing.

The Club is available in 9.5° and 10.5° lofts for righties and lefties. A high-launch 12° model is available for righties. All models have a lie angle of 61° and a length of 45.5" - a half inch over the semi-standard 45 inches.

Flex      Weight    Torque    Ball Flight
----      ------    ------    -----------
Stiff       59g      3.7°      Mid
Regular     55g      3.9°      Mid-High
Lite        50g      4.5°      High
Ladies      45g      5.0°      High

Standard Shaft: Mizuno's Exsar DS4™ graphite (regular, stiff). Standard Grip: Mizuno/Golf Pride M-21 58 Round. Custom options are available through Mizuno's Custom Club Department. Suggested Retail Price: $360.

Conclusions
The Mizuno MX-700 driver is a very good driver. It will be a particularly good fit for players who drive the ball straight or fade it off the tee. Those players with a low launch will find plenty of help in the MX-700. Slow swingers should consider the 10.5 or 12° version to maximize air time. The 9.5° driver could be played by mid to lower handicappers who desire a higher ball flight and a little right-to-left bias off the tee.

So is this the best Mizuno driver ever? With one qualification, I have to say yes… This is the best driver I've seen from Mizuno for the average golfer.

The MX-700 is not going to be a big hit with the lower handicappers who want to be able to work the ball or who already have draw tendencies to their swings, but it is an MX after all… not an MP. It's not meant for those guys. Still, if Mizuno were to expand this line to include a neutral or slightly open-faced 8.5° version of the MX-700, I wouldn't be surprised if low handicappers and even some tour pros started playing it by choice. I know I'd give it a shot. (And that should tell you how high I launch the 9.5° version… I don't think an 8.5° would be any problem.)

It's a shame that this driver is hitting in a down economy year. I suspect that it could sell record numbers of drivers for Mizuno, but maybe not this year. Still if you are in the market for a driver, you should absolutely take a look at the MX-700. The hot face launches like no one's business. Mizuno has not been a big name in drivers traditionally, but the MX-700 just might help change that.

© georgep for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

No, the subject today is the 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover. If you have been in a coma the last few days, his new title might come as a bit of a surprise. Still, it's true. Lucas Glover has won a major. What must Sergio think?

Glover is kind of a study in contrasts. This is his fifth year on the PGA Tour, but to most people it seems like he just dropped off the apple cart. Glover looks like a country boy who might be found fishing with Boo Weekley between rounds or hanging under the awning of the RV with John Daly. His boyish looks and aw-shucks mannerisms seem to reinforce that impression. It seems like every photo of Glover could be captioned "Opie Taylor grown up," and people would believe it.

While he does chew tobacco, there are a lot of contradictions to that image of Glover. For instance, he listens to Sinatra and reads voraciously (four books during U.S. Open week). When he speaks, his vocabulary and well thought-out replies show that he was clearly paying attention in school.

Few casual golf fans seem to know anything about him, but Glover now has three top-tens this year and is 13th in scoring. He surpasses the Tour average in most meaningful categories. In short, he's playing very good golf. And yet, here at The Sand Trap, we only have one picture of him in the archives. Clearly, he's been sneaking up on all of us.

Prior to June 22, Glover was "just" a one-time winner on the PGA Tour, who captured that title with some fairly magical play down the stretch of the 2005 Funai Classic at Walt Disney World. Now, after a meteorologically-challenged week at Bethpage Black, he's your U.S. Open champion. It's time to learn a little more about him.

Hole One: Isn't that Some Kind of Sweater?
Glover was born November 12, 1979, in Greenville, South Carolina. His middle name is Hendley. Somehow that fits.

Hole Two: Go Tiger! er, Tigers!
If you watched the first couple rounds of the U.S. Open, then you know that he along with his early round playing partners attended Clemson University (from 1998 until 2001 in Glover's case). The communication studies major was named first-team All-American in 2000 and 2001, and was a member of the 2001 United States Walker Cup team.

Hole Three: Going Pro
Glover turned pro in 2001 and played on the Nationwide Tour in 2002 and 2003. He won the Gila River Classic in 2003 and finished 17th on the money List, earning his promotion to the PGA Tour.

Hole Four: The Cardiac Kid
In his first year on tour, Glover played 30 events, made 17 cuts, and posted two top-10 finishes, but finished 134th on the money list with $557,453 and had to go to Q-School. There, on the final hole, he hit his approach to two feet and narrowly regained his card.

Hole Five: The Cardiac Kid II
Glover's first win on the PGA Tour also came with final-hole heroics. At the 2005 Funai Classic, he holed out a 35-yard bunker shot for birdie to avoid a playoff with Tom Pernice.

Hole Six: No More Cardiacs
No final hole heroics were required in Glover's U.S Open victory. With the tees on the 18th moved up to make the hole play 364 yards, Glover was able to play a 6-iron off the tee and a 9-iron into the green. An easy two-putt par followed to secure his two-stroke margin (at -4) over Phil Mickelson, David Duval, and Ricky Barnes.

I'm all for putting a drivable par four on the course for a major, but not at 18. The last hole of a U.S. Open is supposed to be about overcoming nerves to hit the tough shot when it counts, not about hitting 6-iron off the tee. But that's no knock on Glover. He made the correct decision and safely played what was presented to him.

Hole Seven: For All Your Trouble
During the pro-am at this week's Traveler's Championship, right after being introduced as the 2009 U.S. Open champion, Glover took a shaving cream pie in the face from his friend Johnson Wagner. It seems the two had been discussing the idea of imitating baseball player's habit of pieing each other during press conferences. According to Wagner, Glover said at the time, "That's a great idea. That would be so funny."

Hole Eight: Top Ten
Following his U.S. Open win at Bethpage Black, Glover went on the Late Show with David Letterman to deliver the famous Top Ten. Among the best lines: "I had Phil Mickelson in the office pool." Number one was a repeat, however… like Zach Johnson, Lucas has also never heard of himself.

Hole Nine: Quotable
For a guy that people don't know much about, Glover can rattle off some pretty good quotes under pressure.

When a reporter asked Glover how holding the U.S. Open trophy felt, he answered, "Heavy. I hope I don't downgrade it or anything with my name on there."

On his celebration following the Open:
"That's the first time I've contended in a major. And mentally, I was done. I don't think I could have thought up a good celebration, other than run over there and give my man, Coop, a big hug, and that's just what came natural, I guess."

On his reputation for being hard on himself and double bogeying the first hole at Bethpage:
"I've worked on it and my attitude's better. Something bad happens, let it go. Walked over to the second tee and said: 'Hey, it's the U.S. Open. It's going to be a long week.'"

Even his caddie, Don Cooper, is quotable, especially when speaking about Glover: "People have a vision of him, and they think, 'redneck,' and he's far from that. He's a very smart man. He can do a crossword puzzle before I can brush my teeth."

Photo Credits: © Stephen Szurlej

© georgep for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

A breakdown of "hits and misses" after the jump.

Hits
We were correct in our collective assumption that the winning score at this year's Open would be under par. Indeed, the -4 score which prevailed was the lowest winning total since Retief Goosen won with the same total at Shinnecock in 2004.

Call us crazy, but we didn't see the emergence of Lucas Glover as a Major winner on the radar screen. However, we did all right with our estimation of contenders, picking four of the players who finished in the top ten. T.M felt that Hunter Mahan would either "miss the cut or make a run." Indeed, he did the latter, finishing just four strokes back. Additionally, we foresaw Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson, and Sergio Garcia playing well. They did, with Phil making a serious run at victory (and, perhaps predictably, coming up short).

Paul Casey, Brian Gay, J.M. Singh, didn't play the weekend. The Staff correctly identified these trunk slammers. On a side note, Michael Campbell shot 77, 79 to miss the cut. Does anyone think this guy will contend for anything again, aside from "Worst Ethnically Inspired Shirt Design?"

Whimsical as some of our "Wouldn't it be greats…" were, a few instances of our wishful thinking actually matched up with the reality of the Open. Primarily, T.M and John's prayers for the appearance of David Duval, the contender, rather than David Duval, the 800+ ranked player in the world, were answered.

Hoping that Phil Mickelson would play well in spite of his wife's affliction was a common theme amongst the predictors. As was already stated, Mickelson played quite well under the circumstances, adding another second place finish at an Open to his collection.

Erik hit the nail on the head in his estimation of the most overused terminology of the week. "I just hope,"" he wrote, "the terms we don't all get sick of this week are 'rain' and 'soggy' and 'soft' and 'storm." I think we heard all of those cascading off the announcer's tongues a fair deal more than we would have liked to, paired with images of a washed-out Bethpage Black.

Misses
All four of us who picked Tiger Woods to win the Open missed. Tiger fought (surprise) a balky putter all week and finished the tournament at even par. Our logic seemed flawless: Tiger as a horse for the course, coming off a victory, at a Major… Nevertheless, he wound up in a tie for sixth.

George picked Phil Mickelson to win, which, although it was a "miss," certainly came closer than the remainder of our crack staff's picks: Geoff Oglivy, Jim Furyk, and Steve Stricker.

No one was more off base than Donald with their pick of a contender. The aforementioned saw John Merrick as a "pretty good under the radar pick." Merrick finished two rounds at +10. Under the radar, to be sure, but also over the cut line.

Jim Furyk and Angel Cabrera were also identified as contenders by Erik and George, respectively. In short, they weren't. Cabrera's combined 161 on the weekend just didn't get the job done. Sorry, George.

I have decided to suspend all future speculation in regards to the play of Sergio Garcia. I was certain he would miss the cut, and handily, but he pieced together a very respectable week, considering he didn't appear to make a putt outside of 13 inches all week.

Donald saw Vijay who has "lost a few miles off the fastball" (whatever that means) missing the cut. Singh certainly didn't put together the world's most compelling week, but he made the cut, resulting in further abuse of Bethpage's driving range.

To wrap up, and in hindsight, we should have had an additional category for speculation: "How many times will Johnny Miller inspire you to utilize the mute button during the U.S. Open telecast?"

© benalb for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 117 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week's Show Notes - links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information - just read on.

Off the Tee

No links this week, but the podcast is unedited, uncut, and completely live. It's also 40 minutes long, so… enjoy?!

Colophon

This show was recorded with Audio Hijack Pro over a Skype connection. We then used Soundtrack Pro to edit the show and GarageBand to produce the AAC file from the AIFF file, to add the artwork, and so forth. Feeder was used to create the XML file.

Note: This is an AAC (MP4) file, an open file format. iTunes - free software - can play AAC files, as can numerous other players, though we heartily recommend iTunes.

You Can Contribute

If you'd like to submit a listener question that we can answer on the air, send the question to podcast@thesandtrap.com.

© iacas for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

Softspikes, the leading manufacturer of plastic cleats, has held that position for over 15 years. Its products are in use by 70% of PGA Tour players even though the PGA Tour still allows the use of metal spikes. That number amounts to more than 300 victories and 44 straight majors. The Softspikes brand has become one of the golf industry's greatest success stories. Pride Manufacturing Company purchased Softspikes, LLC in December 2003, launching the non-metal spike revolution. Today, metal spikes account for less than 1% of the spike market, and the vast majority of U.S. golf courses have banned the use of metal spikes.

Softspikes introduced the original Black Widow spike about a decade ago, and one would think that there isn't much room for improvement after 10 years. I mean, what could possibly be done to improve a little piece of plastic that attaches to the bottom of our golf shoes? Apparently a lot!

In late May, Softspikes released the Black Widow Tour golf cleat, along with a website to promote the new product and a Facebook fan page to boot. The website – blackwidowtour.com, is designed to promote the new spike, the first adjustable spike in golf.

According to the website, it will allow the golfer to adjust the cleats to their swing, balance, and weight distribution. The main innovation in the new spikes are the "support rings" that enable golfers to customize the level of comfort of the spikes. The spikes have eight teeth, or traction elements, along with four large flexible legs to provide a high level of traction. The cleat is completed by four cushioning areas that absorb shock and distribute weight among the cleats. Combined with the support rings, this allows the golfer to turn the ring to change the spikes' effective performance.

The two main settings are Tour-Comfort and Tour-Firm. The Tour-Comfort setting provides maximum flex, comfort and extreme traction, where the Tour-Firm setting provides traction through a firmer, spike-like feel by providing more impact resistance. You can even adjust each spike individually, to create custom settings. The website shows a few examples, such as setting the cleats on the outsides of the shoe to the firm setting for better lateral support during the swing, and comfort setting on the inside for better cushioning while walking. Another possible custom setting places the firm cleats on the outside of the right foot, creating a more stable platform during the backswing. The new Black Widow Tour cleats will retail in the $12 to $15 range.

We have seen the rise of adjustable shoes, with the FootJoy BOA lacing system, and we have seen adjustable clubs with the TaylorMade R9, Callaway i-Mix, and various other adjustable hosel clubs. It only makes sense that we now have adjustable spikes, right?

While it's hard to argue with the market dominance of the Softspikes brand, it remains to be seen if adjustable spikes will really catch on. Wouldn't it be great to see a PGA Pro attribute his win at a tournament to his new adjustable spikes? How will the rules look upon a player who takes off his shoes and adjusts his spikes to changing turf conditions? Maybe I'll throw a set of these technological wonders into my Eccos and put them through their paces… (pun intended). See you next week!

© jorruss for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

The leaderboard at the start of today's play looks like this:

Pos   Player        Total     Thru
---   ------        -----     ----
T1    Glover         -7         1
T1    Barnes         -7         1
T3    Mickelson      -2         2
T3    Mahan          -2         2
T3    Duval          -2         2
T3    Fisher         -2         1
 7    Weir           -1         3
T8    Woods           E         7

Can Tiger Woods post a score of -4 or so? He'd need to go -4 on his last 11 holes. He'd be there now were it not for his double-bogey-par-bogey finish to his first round. Will Phil Mickelson's aggressive play nab him his first U.S. Open? Thus far his many birdies have been offset by bogeys and doubles. What about David Duval? Unless he shoots a final-round 85, you've got to consider this his coming back party regardless of where he finishes.

And finally, will either the untested Lucas Glover or Ricky Barnes manage to hold on? Stay with us as we live blog the final round of the 2009 U.S. Open from Bethpage Black.

08:56:11: Golf Channel voters give Barnes a 5% chance to win, Glover 28%, Phil 31%, and Tiger Woods 17%. I'm thinking that 17% is about 10% too high - at a minimum.

09:02:22: Phil hits the green on the par-three third. Ricky Barnes is still in the rough at the second. The overhead camera shows us the long wet skid mark down the middle of the fairway. Barnes has 139 yards and appears to be going at it.

09:03:26: Barnes pulls it off, somehow, putting it on the middle of the green.

09:06:19: The green has not yet cleared at the eighth and Tiger is waiting to hit. But first we see Peter Hanson nearly hole out at the fifth to go to E. Then back to Barnes. Phil's birdie putt misses. Barnes again and his somewhat shaky putting stroke. Greens are running low to mid 13s. Barnes putts… and misses short.

09:09:31: Tiger at the eighth. First swing of the day. Finally a back pin position but Tiger comes up short and catches the ridge, and it rolls back into the fringe. FAIL. Glover misses his birdie opportunity at the second, but rolls in the three-footer for par.

09:14:43: Phil misses the fifth left. Duval is buried under the lip at the third - this could almost end his chances. He aims at the flag and the ball trickles backwards into the bunker. Tiger's birdie putt, as Johnny predicted, comes up short.

09:17:34: Duval will double or triple bogey the third. Mahan hits it into the bunker well short of the fourth. NBC deems it necessary to show Tiger tapping in for par instead of the many other shots they could show. Barnes and Glover wait at the tee.

09:19:00: Mickelson stares at the ball in the bunker 60 yards short of the fourth. He apparently hit it there. Duval misses his double-bogey putt at the third. He triples. Does his day end as he falls to +1?

09:20:47: Phil goes bunker to bunker to bunker, leaving his third short and plugged in the greenside bunker. Glover tugs one way left at the third. Left and long - he might have a good angle for his pitch. First bad swing of the day for Glover. Mahan pops it out of the bunker and nearly holes it for eagle at the fourth. He'll get to -3 and be in third alone.

09:22:41: Barnes hits into the right-hand bunker. "Tough pars for these guys at three" says Gary Koch. Can someone with such a swing reliant on timing win the U.S. Open? Phil splashes out and has a chance to save par. Peter Hanson at the sixth buries it to get to -1. Back to back birdies to start the day.

09:23:39: Bubba Watson at the fifth, from the fescue, nearly holes out. Par. Phil, for par at the fifth, eight feet. Makes, but that's one of the two par fives Phil probably expects to birdie. Mahan closes out his birdie putt and moves to -3.

09:25:48: Tiger's in the fairway (NBC didn't show his drive). Barnes from the bunker at three, plays well, should par. Four feet. Glover from the rough, "it's being supported by a bunch of grass behind it" says Koch. He splashes out, barely gets the ball onto the green, and faces 25 feet for par. Tiger is "baffled by the wind" according to Dottie Pepper. Is there anyone in the game who cares more about a 1.5 MPH wind than Tiger Woods? Yawn. Stevie and Tiger debate a 9I and Stevie really doesn't like it. Tiger thinks it's downwind, and Stevie says it's across. Tiger goes with the 8I because Stevie doesn't think a 9 will get there. Tiger hits the 8. It hits in the rougha nd jumps forward, probably a bad break, but the right club. 20 feet for birdie.

09:28:41: Glover's par putt comes up wide right. He'll fall to -6. Phil at the fifth, driver, in the fairway. Barnes, from four feet, barely sneaks it in the left side of the cup. He leads by one. Ross Fisher hits the green at the fourth.

09:32:35: Barnes stripes one at the fourth. Tiger's birdie putt misses right and rolls well by. Glover slips off the tee and the ball winds up way left in the fairway bunker. His foot slipped 12 to 16 inches, easily. Ross Fisher's eagle putt goes way left. He should birdie. Mahan hangs the ball way, way right on the fifth.

09:34:36: Phil from 205. Stares it down. Creeps onto the front of the green with a 3I. Duval, for birdie at the fourth, makes to get back to even. He's in better position than Tiger, but how many U.S. Open champs overcome a triple in the final round to win when they trail by four or five shots?

09:35:39: Tiger lines up his par putt. NBC talks about all the children that seem to be born at this time of the year (do the nine-month math, guys… just sayin'). Tiger converts, but duh. Tiger makes the turn seven back of Barnes and T10. Glover lays up to the upper fairway.

09:37:06: Barnes is playing a 265 shot. He talks about "erring" to the grandstand to the right. He hits a huge snap hook. He gets a good break as the ball rolls through the back of the green but nearly at the flag. It settles into an old divot or something.

09:38:29: Bubba at the sixth nearly holes out. He'll birdie to get to T6, -1. Mahan's third at the fifth, 20 feet for par. Tiger at the 10th. He blocks it out to the right. Intermediate cut just off the fairway, a long way back. 10 will play long today.

09:39:21: Bones complains about the cameras as Phil lines up a long birdie putt. Up the hill, 40 feet. Someone rudely shouts for Rory. Phil leaves it short and left. Hicks: "New York is in full throat this Monday morning."

09:41:00: Commercial. I hate the ESPN animation of the driver swinging. Who clips the grass like that when they hit a driver? The shot's nearly a pop-up, too.

09:43:09: Barnes' ball is not in a divot but it's in a tiny hole of some sort. It's on a downslope too. He semi-chunks it but it gets out okay. Ten feet for birdie. Tiger from 220, comes up 30 yards short in grass. Horrible. Dottie said the ball was sitting down. 10's gonna play tough today if Tiger has 220 in and can't get there.

09:44:05: Mahan fails to save his par. Glover fails to birdie at four. Ross Fisher at the fifth, punching out from under the trees back to the fairway. Mickelson at the sixth, a par four they've moved up, and yet both he and Tiger - who need to make runs - hitting an iron. He hit driver the other day when the tees were back. 370 yard hole, and Phil hits the ball so far left he's in the huge thick gunk. Johnny points out that he hit it exactly where he was aimed. "That was something I'd see on a Wednesday pro-am." Hicks doesn't think it'll even be playable.

09:46:50: Tiger on the upslope, pitching to an upslope, comes up 20 feet short. Bogey and back to +1, even for the day? This might end Tiger's day. Barnes runs his birdie putt three feet by and left, fast walk. Fisher at the fifth, scrambling, hits a wedge that sucks back to 30 feet - not a great effort. Barnes taps in for par at the fifth.

09:48:44: Barnes finds the fairway nicely at the fifth. Playing back into the wind, Koch tells us. "He's looking for better traction on this tee shot." Har har. Glover hits it well to the right and the ball sits in the intermediate rough, barely kicking out of the thick stuff above the bunker. Tiger from 20 feet, misses right. Johnny points out the number of putts he's missed right this week.

09:50:21: "Mickelson is going to have to take an unplayable lie" says Rolfing. Mahan hits it to six feet. Phil gets to drop above the bunker in a matted down area. He'll be hitting three. He drops as David Fay tells us he chose one of three options. Fisher falls back to -2 after missing his par putt. Duval converts his par to stay at E.

09:52:33: Tiger at 11, 410, up 25. Tiger slips but still finds the fairway. He needs to go at least -4 from here, doesn't he? With an eagle at the 13th? Phil hits from the matted down area where the spotters were standing, 130 yards, 25 feet for par. Johnny: "A guy like Glover or Barnes could shoot 75 or 76 and still win" because of the wind.

09:54:08: Barnes at five duck-hooks one way left on his approach. He hits it into the trees and it pops out into the long thick stuff like he saw on the second. He motions the wind, but all of his horrible shots have been huge duck hooks. Glover from 205, "perfect lie," finds the front bunker.

09:55:37: Bubba Watson makes a long par putt at the seventh to stay at -1. Rory has a birdie putt at the fourth to get to +1. Phil misses his par putt right and rolls it three feet by. He'll fall back to -1.

09:57:07: First reference to Johnny's 63 at Oakmont. Yawn. 175 yards to a front right pin for Tiger. He comes up just shy on the front fringe. Mahan gets to -3 at the sixth. Solo third, four off Barnes' lead as Barnes hits from the hay one hole back.

09:58:31: 65 yards for Barnes. "Good lie." Barnes hits it short and in the long rough between the bunker and the green. Commercial break.

10:01:28: Glover has a buried lie under the lip of the bunker. He takes an unplayable lie. Miller: "They could come out of this with two sixes, and that would completely change the championship." But Glover hits it to three feet. Weir at the seventh - holes out from the bunker to get to -2. First time we've seen Weir today, despite his several-shot advantage over Tiger.

10:02:45: Speak of the guy, with a putter, "very slow." Leaves it short and dead on line. Barnes chips from the rough where he had a good lie to tap-in range. Bogey bogey for Glover and Barnes, -5 and -6 respectively. Fisher chunks one at the sixth. Board bunches up a bit.

10:04:41: Mahan with a hybrid from 232 at the seventh hits it to about 20 feet. Mickelson hooks one long and left at the seventh. 60 feet away.

10:05:29: Barnes hits one into the super-thick crap way left on the sixth with his 5W. Ross Fisher makes a four-footer to stay at -2.

10:11:41: Glover pops the ball out on the green, ten feet shy. "That's his first good bounce," says Johnny. Phil chips at seven but leaves it ten feet short. Mahan's birdie bid misses low. Barnes debates and we go to Tiger at 12, from 185. 6I. Tiger just carries a ridge but has 25 feet for birdie. He hasn't made those all week. Mickelson's par bid slides by right. Back to back bogeys.

10:13:19: Barnes debates with his caddie. "I'd rather go with the steeper club" he's heard to say. 101 yards. The grass grabs the hosel and sends the ball left into "even deeper stuff." "It's like a catcher's mitt over there" says Johnny.

10:16:50: Barnes from the rough, puts it onto the green "somehow" to 15 feet. Mahan at the eighth comes up well short. Mike Weir is shown missing a par putt to fall back to -1. Tiger at the 12th from 20 feet or so. Murph: "they're missing it left." Tiger misses it left. Johnny: "He's doing things the other guys are doing. He's made his whole career doing things nobody else can do." He's +1 right now and basically needs eagle at the 13th.

10:18:19: Duval puts a "skanky looking swing" on the ball and sends it WAY left. Barnes makes five, and Dan Hicks says he's "still Houdini." Phil's well short at eight. Glover misses his birdie putt.

10:19:50: Glover and Barnes are tied at -5. Mahan is -3, Fisher is -2, and Hanson and Weir are at -1. Mickelson, Ames, Duval, and Watson are at even. Tiger and Rory and countless others are at +1.

10:20:58: Duval plays his third and hits "half a blader." Johnny says Duval isn't getting any luck at all. Glover hits a good tee shot that goes into the left rough. Phil's long birdie putt comes up well short, right to Phil's "misses far too frequently" range. Barnes hits a good straight ball.

10:22:43: Mahan's birdie putt getst o the hole and then rolls ten feet by. Tiger at 13, hits a "good drive" according to Stevie. Left center of the fairway. The hole's only 550 today and downwind. Fisher fails to save par, falling back to -1. "We're losing some red numbers on this board in a hurry."

10:24:20: Mahan three putts. Mickelson is not yet in for par. He falls back to -2. And we go to commercial again. I guess we'll assume Phil makes his putt? He must, as the usopen.com leaderboard updates his standing: T7, even par, through 8. Tiger is T9 at +1 through 12.

10:26:55: "While we were away" Glover hits a shot from that left rough, great shot to 15 feet at the seventh. Barnes from 231, walks as he hits it, kicks into the bunker. We see video of Phil making his par putt.

10:27:56: Duval, from 226, hits 6I well short where everyone else is today at the eighth. Fisher hits it where Duval did, "one club short" Johnny tells us.

10:29:10: Tiger has a 3I in his hands, from 243, to a left side pin. "Sets up so nice for a big high draw" Dottie says. Tiger swings, center of the green, 25 feet or so for eagle. He needs to make it to have any chance of doing anything. That or he needs an ace at the next hole.

10:30:17: Barnes hits his bunker shot chunky and has 12 feet for par. FAIL. Murphy: "I think he just barely hit it on the clubface." Johnny Miller thinks Tiger's still in it. "3 under could be in a playoff."

10:31:48: Murphy says the audio guys said Barnes shanked it. Glover's birdie putt misses.

10:32:40: Duval makes the long birdie putt at the eighth! He's back to even par. True to the way he's played the rest of the week, he's bouncing back. Barnes tapped in for bogey. He's -4, with Glover at -5 through seven. Tiger knows he's got to make his eagle. Everyone else on the leaderboard has enough holes that they can just play steady golf.

10:34:31: Phil from 139 at the ninth nearly holes it! Three feet for a sure birdie to get back to -1 for the tournament. Hicks: "That wakes up the crowd, who has been behind him all week."

10:36:38: Tiger's eagle putt. He misses low, never high enough. Murphy thinks it "lacked an ounce of speed." The tap-in par will get him back to even. Glover finds the popular spot at the eighth. Mahan from the bunker at the ninth saves par. Phil taps in to get to -1, T4. Tiger's T7. Glover 1, Barnes 2, Mahan 3. Others at T4 are Hanson, Weir, and Fisher. Others at T7 are Watson and Duval.

10:39:02: Barnes from 226, with a 3I, walks quickly again after hitting it. He hits the tree and finds himself in the deep rough front right of the green. Barnes is collapsing, slowly but surely.

10:39:40: "The hitting area at 14 is like one of those little swimming pools you buy at a hardware store" says Johnny Miller. There's a small backstop behind it, but you need some juicy spin to pull it back. It'll swing big time if you leave it behind the pin. Tiger's gotta fire at it. Only 127 yards today. Tiger 8 of 11, 8 of 13, and 21 putts today. Wind a little downwind. Shot is away, ball pulls back to six feet short of the pin after landing six or eight feet past the hole. Could get him to -1 before he hits up the dangerous 15-18th.

10:41:47: Barnes from the long rough short of the eighth under the gree, flops it to the back fringe. Blarg. Likely a bogey to drop him back to -3.

10:42:29: Ross Fisher at the ninth, -1, from the fairway. Puts it inside of Phil's shot. He'll get to -2 at the turn. Ross Fisher could win the U.S. Open? Blah. Hate me for it all you want, but Ross Fisher doesn't play on the PGA Tour. Same with Lee Westwood. Same with Angel Cabrera for the most part - I like guys who we see on the PGA Tour rather frequently to win majors - not people we only hear from two or three times a year. Duval hits it to 12 feet at the ninth.

10:44:12: Glover's long birdie putt from Duval range, with the flag in, comes up six feet short. "Not the leave you want" says Johnny. Weir at the 10th from 220+, with his hybrid, bounces it right onto the green and nearly jars it! It rolls out 12 feet by the cup.

10:45:29: Barnes is +4 through 7 holes and is just about to go to +5 through eight. He pulls his putt and taps in for bogey. He'll fall back to -3. Lucas Glover has six feet for a two-shot lead. Phil hits a good drive at the tenth, way back in the fairway. Mini-popup Mark Rolfing believes. Rolfing then talks about Mahan's "perfect personality for a U.S. Open."

10:46:53: OK, Glover's par putt was only five feet. He makes it. Mahan at the tenth carries Phil's by only 10 or 15 yards - both are well back. Tough hole.

10:47:39: Tiger sizes up his six footer for par. Hicks: "He has not been under par at any point of the championship. Has a chance to do it here." Johnny talks about his pushing putts all week and that this is a flat putt. "He and Stevie looked at it from both sides, and not just once" says Dottie. It's in. Tiger is -1 in the final round of the U.S. Open and -2 for the day, but I have the feeling he's really going to rue his finish in round one and the many, many missed putts this week.

10:49:09: Duval misses a birdie putt. Fisher makes. Glover's drive runs through the fairway into the super long stuff just off the fairway at the ninth. Barnes takes the tee, two back. Hicks talks about Tiger never coming back to win a major. Barnes hits a good tee shot that draws into the hill right of the fairway bunker at the ninth.

10:50:37: Glover -5, Barnes -3, Mahan and Fisher -2, Woods, Hanson, Weir, and Mickelson at -1. Duval is alone at E.

10:52:50: Weir catches the lip at the tenth, just, and stays out. A good par. 251 for Phil Mickelson at the tenth, with a hybrid, a "very bad shot" says Rolfing. He's in the hay well left of the green. Johnny tells us it's the "seventh time he's entered the final nine of the U.S. Open and he's never broken par."

10:53:38: Tiger stripes a drive at the 15th up the left side, fairway. Mahan from 235 (toldja it was 15 yards) finds the front corner of the green. 4.67 stroke average at the tenth.

10:54:36: Glover from the gunk right of nine. He has a go at it but he runs through the end of the fairway. "What was he trying to do there?" asks Johnny Miller. Why try to hit it that far? The pin's up front. I can't imagine he wouldn't have been better off laying up to a spinnable yardage in the fairway. Barnes has a stock 8I from the upslope. Ball starts right, but he plays a draw. Ball right at the flag, bounces, but stays right in the rough just short of the green.

10:56:15: Henrik Stenson at 18, with the hole up front, makes a birdie to finish at +1. He posts +1. That has almost no chance to win unless a tornado touches down and they don't suspend play, but he's the leader in the clubhouse.

10:56:57: "This is one of the best breaks I've ever seen in a U.S. Open." He's on a flattened out path in the hay. Wow. It even helps that he's left-handed as he's on the far left side of the path.

10:57:38: The pin is right at the 15th. Couldn't they put it in the bowl? It seems like we've had the same pin position at 15 in each of the four rounds. The holes must be within 10 feet of each other. Tiger hits, takes his sideways step, and goes long, over the back of the green. Johnny says it was "one club too many."

10:58:32: Mickelson hits it to two feet. He'll save par. The golf gods may want Phil Mickelson to win his first U.S. Open with that lucky break.

10:59:20: Glover's third rolls out to 40 feet or so - he couldn't get any spin on it. Duh. Mental mistake there I think. Barnes does a good job to put his third to four feet for par. Mahan's long birdie putt comes up short, outside of Phil's fortunate third.

11:00:50: "Lie is better than average" Dottie tells us. A bogey ends his chances, slim as they already are. We see a lot of the ball. Johnny talks about the deep soling. Tiger again chunks it out, eight feet short. "It's the good lies that get you because it's sitting up two inches." Mahan's par putt lips out. He'll fall to T5. Mickelson taps in and stays at -1. Mahan's back to -1.

11:02:50: Leaderboard says -5, -3, -2, and then a bunch at -1. But Glover misses for par and rolls it eight feet by. He makes the come-backer to get to -4. Duval at the tenth, balk, runners advance.

11:03:37: Seven players within 3 of the lead. Dival over-cuts his second, short and right in the bunker. Barnes holes his par putt with his shaky putting stroke.

11:04:15: Tiger with a putt that would be "a real energy vacuum if he didn't make" says Dottie. Breaks right all the way. Tiger is lined up left. Will he push it again? Ten feet. He misses the putt by a foot! What a horrible, horrible putt. The putt snapped left - not sure what Dottie and Johnny were talking about.

11:05:21: Phil at 11, fairway metal, splits the fairway. Barnes at the difficult 10th duck hooks another one like yesterday. This time he's in the primary rough. Guess what folks: the U.S. Open has returned. The guys are being beat up. Barnes shot 40 on the front nine; Glover shot 38. Glover finds the fairway but will still have 230 or so left. No birdies in the final round for the last pairing.

11:09:24: Mickelson from 173. Downwind still. Left, front of the green, front right hole. "Big clump of mud on the front-right part of the ball." Ross Fisher at ten with a long birdie putt. Nearly in, easy par. Johnny: "You talk about under the radar. World rank is 29th."

11:10:35: Mahan hits to ten feet. Chance to get to -2. Tiger at the 16th, doesn't watch it, good swing. Center cut. Koch: "He's gotta birdie two of the last three to have any chance." That'd get him to -2. I still think it's going to take at least -3.

11:11:40: Barnes has 234 to the green. He takes the aggressive route again, Koch points out. The ball comes out high. The ball rolls through the back of the green, but it was a tremendous shot to get it to the green. Koch talks about the chipping area but he'd rather be there than just about anywhere else.

11:12:33: Glover has 231 to the hole. Miller points out that Glover is -6 on the back nine this week. With a 4I, front of the green, 40 feet for birdie. Phil's 30 footer for birdie slides by left, tap in par to stay at -1, T4. Mike Weir at 12 with a hybrid, hole playing to 4.3, finds the green 40 feet right of the hole.

11:14:06: Tiger at 16, wind pushing right and helping, with an 8I, and not a full one. Tiger stares it down, it takes a big hop, but stops quickly and 15 feet short of the cup.

11:14:40: Mahan to get to -2 from 12 feet, BANG. In. As usual, we go to commercial just as something exciting happens. Some guy's going for the fat of the green and then dances. Do people buy still buy Top Flites? And if so, do these commercials help? (I guess it got them a mention here, so it must help a little.)

11:17:23: Barnes chips to five feet. Hunter Mahan at the 12th, crushes one right over the bunker. Tiger takes his practice strokes halfway, eyes it up from behind the hole, and Dottie tells us the putt goes right. Glover for birdie from long range, slides by right, tap-in par and a good start on the back nine.

11:18:28: Tiger still eyeing up his putt. Stevie didn't help with this read. "Tendency has been to miss left and over-read the break" says Koch. Tiger's putt… is rammed by six feet long and left. Over-read, over-stroked.

11:19:21: Fisher doesn't get a bounce at 11 and finds the front rough just in front of the pin. Phil's lengthy birdie putt misses, pars. Tiger's par putt from six feet finds the bottom of the cup. Two to play, -1 on the day and E in the tournament. Needs a pair of birdies at the least.

11:20:35: Duval finds the green hole high 15 feet right at 11. Barnes converts his par at the tenth. Mahan is in a good pairing with Phil Mickelson at the 12th. Phil's 30 yards past Hunter. Mahan's caddie says "a big full five. The four, if it catches a gust, is way too much." 223 yards. "Mudball" says Mahan. The ball hops out into the fringe, somehow.

11:22:21: Fisher saves par nicely. That ball really popped up in the air. 194 for Phil, 7I or so, doesn't carry the ridge. "May have hit the eight" says Rolfing. Barnes hits into the heavy, heavy gunk well to the right at 11. Johnny: "That could be unplayable with the wind blowing against him."

11:23:27: Pin middle of the green at the 17th. Tiger, 211, 4I. "Clever hole location" says Johnny. Wind slightly in and to the left. He stares at it. Dead on line, right at the hole, eight feet short. Right up the hill.

11:24:21: Glover finds the fairway. Duval's birdie putt from 15 feet just slides by left. He'll stay at even par. Duval will not shoot 85, he will not disappear, and this should serve as his coming back party. My how quickly that happens.

11:25:33: A five-minute gap before we switch to NBC? What's up with that? We're going to miss some crucial stuff - birdie putts (Tiger, Phil), Barnes' lie at 11… way to go, ESPN and NBC. Then I remember to fire up usopen.com. They're showing a scenic shot of the fifth hole. Great. Then they show a test pattern. Then the fifth hole again. Great.

11:29:04: Video comes back on usopen.com with Bob Costas planning things, like "after Phil go to the leaderboard, right?" Tiger only managed to par the 17th, though, the leaderboard tells us. FAIL.

11:30:40: The TV coverage begins but he pushed it right. Phil's birdie putt at the 12th goes in and Phil gets to -2 where he started the day. I'm already thinking back to the great break Phil got at the 10th. Phil, who is on a reachable par five, is T3 with Mahan and Fisher. Weir is alone in sixth. Tiger and a few others are at T7.

11:33:39: "Not even a prayer for that putt" says Johnny as Glover's birdie putt strays right. Tiger with a driver at the 18th, the hole is up 57 yards, and he finds the right intermediate cut just against the collar. "Maybe he'll hole it" says Johnny Miller.

11:34:49: Barnes misses a putt, "that was a bit yippy there" says Maltby. Weir finds the green with his third the 13th. Glover -4, Barnes -3, Phil, Mahan, and Fisher at -2, Weir at -1, and Woods, Ames, Watson, and Duval at E. Tiger has the least amount of holes to play (half) in that bunch.

11:36:48: Duval pitches out of a bunker and nearly holes it. Glover at the 12th, long and straight. Weir misses his birdie putt at 13. Barnes finds the fairway at 12, right of the bunker. Fisher from the back of the green for birdie, just misses right. "He's not going away, Bob" says Johnny.

11:38:16: Tiger with a pitch shot at the 18th. Large tuft of grass right behind the ball. Tiger puts it to 15 feet. "He'll have a birdie look, but the 15th hole cost him this week" says Hicks.

11:38:48: Mahan hits it over the pin and into a thick lie at the 13th. He could get up and down for birdie. Phil's even closer. Ross Fisher lips out an 18-inch putt for par! Phil's iron from 229 gets to near tap-in range for eagle. Phil Mickelson, 2009 U.S. Open Champ?!?! I'd call it an 85% possibility at this point.

11:40:16: Afterthought Tiger at 18: misses just right. He'll close out the week at even par. "Leader in the clubhouse," but forget it. No chance. 74 69 68 69. Weak. Johnny: "It was all chipping and putting this week. The rest of the game was good."

11:42:35: Glover -4, Phil, Mahan, Barnes -2 (with the near tap-in for Phil at 13), Weir and Fisher at -1, and Woods, Watson, and Duval at E.

11:43:36: Mahan with the super flop - that took balls - to five feet at the 13th. Barnes at the 12th, going left, into the heavy junk. Glover from 203, hits and steps back, back fringe and rolls onto the green. Mahan's putt doesn't even touch the hole. He'll par and that may make Phil doubt his line.

11:45:01: Weir to six feet beyond the flag at the 14th. We go back to Phil's short eagle putt - three or four feet? - at 13. Inside right the announcers agree. To tie for the lead and… it's in! He's -4. Murphy says "Happy Father's Day." That was yesterday, Bob.

11:48:22: Lucas Glover's birdie putt is always left at the 12th. He still has a reachable par five to play, and Phil's going to play the tiny 14th. Weir's putt at that hole slides by high. Par, T5, -4.

11:49:26: Phil's approach, right over the hole, long and coming back. 12 feet for birdie. Mahan finds the junk just short and right of the hole.

11:53:22: Mahan plays a great shot from the rough at 14. He'll save par. We're "treated" to NBC's lame "Pin Point" technology. It can't hold a candle to Golf Channel's AimPoint. Phil's putt never has a chance, and he taps in for par. The overhead view tells us his putt was more like 20 feet.

11:56:12: Glover pulls it into the rough on the 13th. Fisher knocks in his short eagle putt at the 13th to get to -3, one shot back. We didn't see his approach, which was better than Phil's. Johnny: "You're going to be more famous than Susan Boyle if you win." I google "Susan Boyle."

11:58:09: Glover hacks out of the rough. That's got to hurt on this hole. Weir from the rough at 15, with the hybrid again, almost finds the putting surface. Barnes goes for the green at the 13th. He doesn't like it. He finds the center of the green, it funnels to the back, 25 feet for eagle. He's -1.

11:59:47: Phil driving at the 15th, stares and leans, into the thick stuff left. But the ball is sitting up. Mark Rolfing calls it prematurely a "good shot." Is there anyone in the game who mis-calls things as often as Mark Rolfing? That ball's 15 yards outside the fairway.

12:00:29: Fisher to 30 feet at the 14th. Mahan at the 15th, quick tee pick-up, and also well left. The wind is pushing balls left there. David Duval with a sand wedge at the 14th. Dottie has fallen back to this group. Duval nearly flies it in the cup and stays above the hole. Big breaker but only six feet or so for David Duval.

12:01:53: "Glover will have two wedges in a row, and he could take it away from Mickelson if he's successful" says Johnny. His approach is pin high in the fringe, 12 feet from birdie.

12:04:07: Shankopotamus commercial. "So I don't have to subsidize your lack of golfing skills."

12:05:53: Fisher nearly ties for the lead at 14. Weir's putt at 15 moves by. Glover, for birdie, at 13. He leaves it short. Ouch, Lucas Glover. Seriously, ouch. What are you thinking?

12:06:42: David Duval, birdie at 14, -1. Only three back. Weir taps in for bogey at 15. +2 in the final round. Barnes makes a birdie at the 13th to get to -2 - the first birdie in that twosome all day.

12:07:55: Rolfing says it's not a great lie. He has a hybrid or fairway wood from 201. Ball finds the back fringe, a "beauty for Mickelson" says Hicks. Great lie again for missing the fairway.

12:08:50: Mahan from 179, a better lie than even Phil's, two back at -2. He finds the left side of the green and then the ball rolls back into the bowl and nearly off the front of the green.

12:10:56: Barnes at the 14th, a wedge, really long over the top of the flag. Johnny wonders why the ball isn't spinning. They're 3/4 shots - why would they spin? Fisher at the 15th, wind pushes it well left, into the long stuff. He's -3 but may not stay there for long.

12:12:35: Lucas Glover takes his time at the 14th. He tugs it past Barnes' ball and it sits in the fringe. Mahan from the bowl, comes up just short, a good putt. Tiger three-putted that one, after all.

12:13:22: Phil aims 45° right of the hole. He taps it. The ball immediately moves left. He gets it to near tap-in range - there was a little bit of mud on his ball. He's still above the hole with a delicate putt to save par, three feet. Rolfing talks about the pace. Hicks says "he has missed his share of putts of this distance in the majors."

12:14:57: Phil Mickelson misses! He has just as long coming back for bogey. Dan Hicks shrinks. His bogey putt, up the hill, goes in. He's -3 now.

12:16:26: Glover handles the tricky putt at 14 well and should tap in for par. Ross Fisher, from the hay at 15, has a decent lie. "He can advance it but no chance to get on the putting green" says Dottie. He hacks it up the fairway. Duval from the same spot as Phil, 5I, catches the slope and gets the hard kick to the right. He'll have a 15 footer for birdie at the 15th, across the side slope.

12:18:07: Barnes' birdie putt at 14 slides by high. Lucas Glover taps in for par. He leads the U.S. Open with four to play.

12:21:14: Mike Weir re-tees hitting three from the 16th as we see him walking out of the trees. His U.S. Open is over. Oh, and Tiger's still the leader in the clubhouse, but that's still got no chance of holding up. Not without a Winged Foot finish by about six or seven players.

12:22:00: Glover's tee shot at 15 finds the rough right at 15. The 2½" rough. His ball appears to be sitting up as well. Phil is forced to wait at 16 for Mike Weir - this could have an impact on the outcome. Glover may have to wait as well.

12:22:42: Ross Fisher for par at 15, from a long ways back, his ball hits Duval's coin and comes up six feet short. It bounced twice - once before the coin and once when he hit the coin. Duval didn't learn much from that given how short Fisher left the putt.

12:23:50: Duval's putt to get to -2. BAM! Duval goes to -2, two back of Glover and one back of Phil Mickelson!

12:24:30: Mahan off 16, a good drive, left side of the fairway. Hunter is -2. Phil, with a driver, picks up his tee. Ball is right next to Hunter's in the fairway. BTW, Soren Hansen finished up at some point at even par to tie Tiger in the clubhouse. Officially, Henrik Stenson won't win the 2009 U.S. Open.

12:26:15: Barnes has 206 from the left intermediate cut. He's at -2, T3. Phil looks at the guys playing 15. He gives some thumbs-up to fans as he strolls down in his chocolate marshmallow outfit.

12:28:04: Barnes hits right at it, bounces by the stick, rolls into the fringe. Weir, we're told, made double. He can chip in, Johnny says. Glover next to play, a "really good lie," 194 yards. He's aimed right, plays a big draw, urges it to go with a big swing, but he's in the lower tier He has to putt across that bowl as the ball stays to the left.

12:29:24: Mahan from 170, 8I downwind, clanks off the flagstick and nearly moves all the way back to the front right bunker! Horrible break. Phil leaves it well short, 30 feet. Terrible break at the worst time for Mahan, -2.

12:32:52: Barnes gives his chip a good chance but it stays out. Duval drives off 16 and the marshal signals a straight ball. Well down the center of the fairway.

12:33:24: Roger Maltby explains flag tending courtesy as Glover putts from well outside where Barnes was. Glover has a long putt. He gives it a rap, it rolls well, well past the hole. He basically has the same putt that Tiger missed, the duck-hook putt.

12:34:18: Phil at the 16th, never had a chance, and rolls it well past the hole, six or seven feet. Mahan, on tape delay, nearly holed his chip but it races 10 feet by the cup. Four shots in a row all speeding by.

12:35:24: Glover misses low - better than Tiger, but still low - and three-putts the 15th. He falls to -3. Tiger's still the leader in the clubhouse (sarcasm, guys). Mahan misses his par putt and it rolls by three feet. Barnes knocks in his par putt and sits one back at -2. With Duval and Fisher.

12:36:33: Mickelson has eight feet for par. He knocks it in. Maybe that's a better strategy for Phil: hit every putt six or eight feet by. He seems to make those more often than he makes them from three or four feet.

12:38:02: Ross Fisher, still just one back, hits it inside of Phil's shot at the 16th. Duval, from a yardage they don't bother to tell us with an 8I, stares it down, tongue out, to ten feet left of the flag! Birdie gets him to -3.

12:39:13: Phil at his favorite hole on the course, perhaps, the 17th. Two birdies and a near miss birdie in round three. He birdied it in '02 too. 5I. Stares at it, but it goes left, and comes up well short in the rough on the side of the bunker slope.

12:39:57: Barnes on 16, ball moving right, fairway pretty easily. Better swings. Mahan, -1, 4I at 17. Ball gets a forward kick but it also goes down the ridge to the right, a long ways away now as the ball collects towards one of the earlier pin positions in the right portion of the green. Glover finds the fairway off the tee at 16, just past Barnes.

12:42:09: Phil and Glover, -3. Duval, Fisher, Barnes -2. Mahan -1. Fisher's birdie putt doesn't break right enough, but he taps in to stay one back. Duval's birdie putt upcoming. If he makes it I think he wins the U.S. Open. Johnny points out that he's #1 in putts for the week.

12:43:24: Duval's putt… IS IN!!!!! David Duval is tied for the lead at the U.S. Open with two holes to play! Three birdies in a row for Duval. It dripped in - beautiful.

12:43:58: Phil's chip comes out, rolls out six feet short of the cup. Another short pressure putt for Phil.

12:44:42: Wow.

12:45:46: Mahan's birdie putt well past the hole. Barnes at 16, staring at it, well short and 30 feet away, short right. Wind didn't help him enough I guess. Glover, 175, 8I the popular choice today. "Green light" says Johnny. Staring and leaning, nearly flies in the hole, six feet for birdie! Lucas Glover, your 2009 U.S. Open winner?

12:46:47: Mahan from outside of Phil's par putt, hard break right, misses high. Not a great visual for Phil. Mahan has had six three-putt greens and falls back to even par. Phil's putt… never had a chance. Bogey. -2, perhaps two shots behind Lucas Glover in a few minutes. Phil's short putting may have just cost him another major championship. He missed several in earlier rounds, too, not just today.

12:48:44: Duval with a 4I at 17. Good strike. Staring it down, licking. Nearly in the same spot as Phil's, but on a more level lie and closer to the green. Johnny talks about the "taser shock" that Duval must be feeling tied for the lead. Fisher, -2, also a 4I. Doesn't like it. Misses right of the slope near Mahan's spot, but the ball doesn't roll away as far.

12:50:05: Phil at 18, with a driver, up 57 yards. Lashes at it. Picks up his tee. Right up the center, a chip shot remaining.

12:50:28: Barnes putts and just misses his birdie putt at the 16th. He taps in to stay at -2. Tiger's still the leader in the clubhouse. He's been done playing for a long time. Tiger and Hansen are the only guys on the leaderboard under par today.

12:51:57: Glover's putt is in. He's back to -4, leading the U.S. Open with two to play. Tricky 17th and the "gettable" 18th left to play.

12:53:43: I'm rooting against a playoff. I've been on the couch entirely too much this weekend. We've had coverage from early in the morning until dark three days in a row now.

12:54:14: Duval at the 17th, jumps firm, nearly goes in, rolls three feet past the cup. He should save par. Fisher's birdie putt, like Mahan's, rolls six feet by.

12:55:41: Mahan goes long at 18 from near Phil's ball. Phil faces a second shot and he needs birdie. He nips it, deep, and it barely spins back. Not the effort Phil needed, and not a great effort at all for one of the more acclaimed short game experts. Fisher misses for par.

12:56:25: Duval, four feet for par. It lips out, firmly rejected by the hole. Ouch. Glover leads by two over Phil, David, and Barnes. Fisher is still -1. Tiger's T6 with Hansen and Mahan.

12:57:56: Glover at 17. Two shot lead in the U.S. Open. Two to play, and the last a fairly safe par. Stares it down. Solid contact. Finds the green, left side, 25 feet from the cup. Lucas Glover is your 2009 U.S. Open Champion.

12:59:13: Barnes hits just barely inside of Glover's ball. Phil at 18, birdie putt on its way, misses right. He'll tap in for par and replace Tiger as the leader in the clubhouse at -2. Bogeys at 15 and 17 will cost Phil Mickelson this U.S. Open. It's over. Phil taps in for par. We might not see Phil until the PGA (or the week before). Mahan finishes at even par.

13:00:48: Duval with a fairway wood at the 18th. Left intermediate cut. Johnny thinks that's an advantage, "cushion under the ball." Glover's best finish in the majors: T20th at The Masters. First time in a U.S. Open he's made the cut. Got in as a sectional qualifier. Got in at Columbus after The Memorial. Most recent qualifier to win was Michael Campbell.

13:02:26: Johnny: "Tiger is watching this thing thinking 'I could have won this thing half blindfolded. What did I do?'"

13:02:49: Glover at the 17th, 25 feet from the cup, left side of the green (from the tee). Putt on its way, just barely inside the throw-up zone, three or four feet. He'll knock it in - he's a gamer.

13:03:42: Barnes got a read. He's still at -2, could get to -3 with this one. Putt dies short and right - lame effort when you trail by two at the U.S. Open. But even Johnny "is nervous."

13:04:26: Duval's caddie says "good thoughts." He backs away. He says "knock it right in the hole." 60 to the front, 65 total. -2, two back. We go back to Glover.

13:04:56: Glover's par putt at the 17th. Backs off with a big breeze. Crowd oooohs. Back to Duval.

13:05:13: Up the hill, long, deep, no spin back. Johnny: "Genius hole location, with U.S. Open pressure, guys can not dial down enough."

13:05:24: Glover. In. Two shot lead with one to play. There's your winner.

13:06:32: 354 yard hole today. Does he hit two seven irons to avoid any and all trouble? He has a two-shot lead. Duval's not making his birdie putt (though, for the sake of interest, I wish he would).

13:08:04: Duval's putt slides by right. Two shot lead, Lucas Glover, 72nd hole of the U.S. Open. The top five finishers all had the "good side of the draw," I'll point out.

13:08:57: Glover with a 6I. Johnny: "Just the opposite of Van de Velde. This has some intelligence in it." Glover finds the fairway to the right side. Johnny: "A very intelligent shot."

13:10:11: Tiger's quote should be "Doesn't even par always win the U.S. Open?" Duval finishes out his par, T2, -2. Barnes hits a driver. Maltby calls it a "bullet" but it's about 30 yards short of where Phil's ball ended up.

13:12:57: Lucas Glover is going to shoot 73 or 74 and win the U.S. Open. 9I to the deep left fringe. Three putts wins him the U.S. Open.

13:15:38: Barnes almost "dialed it down enough" and has 20 feet for birdie.

13:17:43: Glover's birdie putt creeps to three feet.

13:19:53: Barnes nearly holes his birdie putt. Just misses left, may have caught the edge slightly. Glover can now two-putt to win. Stage is all his. Three or four feet.

13:20:22: Lucas Glover makes the putt, finishes at -4, and is the 2009 U.S. Open Champion.

Pos   Player        Total
---   ------        -----
 1    Glover         -4
T2    Barnes         -2
T2    Mickelson      -2
T2    Duval          -2
 5    Fisher         -1
T6    Woods           E
T6    Hansen          E
T6    Mahan           E

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