Down to the Wire

Friends,

The United States Golf Championship, aka the U.S. Open, ended today...on a Monday...uncharacteristically. This was due to the torrential rains, on and off -- Thursday through Sunday, that had grounds crews regularly squeegeeing water off of the greens. Tiger was the prohibitive favorite coming in, having won the Memorial tournament a couple of weeks ago, and he played well, but...he couldn't make a putt that mattered to save his golf life and ended up even par, four shots behind the winner. Ahh, but there was some great drama, as Phil Mickelson, the sentimental favorite came roaring back on the back nine to tie for the lead. But, Phil is just bit by the 2 bug, as he had a couple of bogeys late and finished tied for 2nd -- the record fifth time that he has been second in the U.S. Open. Then, there was David Duval, the last #1 player in the world that anyone can remember before Tiger, back in the mid-90's. He is currently ranked eight-hundred and eighty something in the world, after having fallen on some serious golf hard times over the past several years. He also finished tied for 2nd, his best finish in a tournament in years. And, he couldn't have picked a better tournament to do it in. Here's hoping he is all the way back. This leaves two relative no names -- Ricky Barnes, and Lucas Glover. Ricky had a commanding lead at the end of the third round, but like so many young golfers who have big leads going into the last day, he couldn't maintain it and fell into a three way tie for 2nd. And this leaves...drum roll, please -- Lucas Glover. Lucas who? Is he related to Danny or Crispin? Probably not. But, hey -- the win matters to him and his family. He had one career PGA win before this weekend...and now he has two. And #2 will always keep his name in lights to a degree, because it was a major championship. So, hats off to Lucas Glover...he withstood a hard charge from a number of players -- some of them quite notable, as mentioned -- and won going away. Good show! Blessings,

Don