An Open for the ages

In the court of public opinion, the 109th U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park was Tiger Woods’ to win. Woods, who won one for the ages last year at Torrey Pines, was playing in his second major with a healthy knee.

Don’t forget the year’s previous tournaments, in which he posted seven top-10 finishes
in eight events and garnered two wins.

Don’t forget that this was Bethpage Black, the course that hosted the 2002 U.S. Open and posed problems for players from the tee to the green.

This was the course where a plethora of players couldn’t even reach the fairway due to the 250-270 carry required to reach the short stuff. If Tiger was keeping it straight and sinking putts, forget it.

However, it was about more than winning a major for some, including the previously No. 882-ranked player in the world in David Duval and Phil Mickelson.

Duval, who at one time was the top player in the world, fell off the map with a historic
slump. Missed cuts became as common as playing in the final group on Sundays for the former U.S. Open champ.

For Mickelson, golf was just something else this weekend and will be for weeks to come. His wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this month and will begin her treatments this week. While we saw Mickelson this weekend, he stated he’ll skip next month’s Open Championship at Turnberry.

When the rain stopped coming down and the tournament came down to the final few holes on Monday afternoon, the championship went from one of the most boring of all time to one of the greatest.

All week, the story had been how the course was winning. The greens were tough to read, the doglegs were demanding, the bunker lies were suicidal and players couldn’t even get in a full round without halting because of the weather. Even Tiger himself was over par for the better part of the national championship.

But then the gallery’s two favorite stories began to take shape and surged toward the front Sunday evening.

Both Duval and Mickelson began to sink birdie putts, and Lefty holed one for eagle. Duval birdied three times on his final back nine and was tied for second with just a few to go. Mickelson even tied eventual champ Lucas Glover for the lead at -3.

And we thought Tiger and Rocco’s bout last year was a storybook ending.

But then reality unfortunately set in, as Duval took an unplayable lie from a bunker and Mickelson missed a costly, downhill 4-footer for par. These inauspicious events and the poise of first-time champ Glover were enough to etch his name on the trophy.

In the words of former Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets head coach Herm Edwards, it’s why you play the game – to see there are more important things than a four- or five-day golf tournament.

Who could have written a better ending to this story? Sure, we would have liked to see Mickelson win one for Amy. After coming off 18, Lefty himself said it correctly.

“Oh well,” he said. “I’ve got more important things in my life now.”

Thanks for a classic ending, Mickelson, and we hope to see you soon.