David Duval And Phil Mickelson Tie for 2nd in the 2009 U.S. Open

Gambling News - June 22, 2009 - Written by Jimmy

Lucas Glover is your new United States National Golf Champion. Monday, he took the 109th U.S. Open Championship by shooting 4 under par, for the tournament. Glover shot a 3 over par, 73, in the final round, but was still able to hold off Phil Mickelson, David Duval, and Ricky Barnes. This was quite an improvement over Glover's performance, at the Memorial, where he shot +4, tied for 45th. Glover played hard all day, and really stuck together down the stretch, he is definitely deserving of this title.

Phil Mickelson ended up at -2, missing some crucial putts down stretch. On the 18th, Mickelson just missed a birdie putt, that would have put him at -3, which at the time, would have at least given him chance to put pressure on Glover. Mickelson really wanted to get the monkey off his back by winning this U.S. Open, but came up a little short once again. Mickelson does have two majors two his name, by winning the Masters twice, but has been unable to come through in the National Championship. Mickelson had added incentive to win, as his wife, Amy Mickelson, is fighting cancer, and was wishing to hold the Silver Cup. This is Mickelson's fifth 2nd place finish, in the U.S. Open.

One of the best stories, of the 2009 U.S. Open is David Duval. For the 5 days that the tournament stretched, Duval was solid. It seems as though he has found his game again, and has ridden some of his demons. Duval performed on the biggest stage, and finished tied for 2nd, at 2 under par. Duval also had a good chance of catching Glover, sitting at -3, entering the 17th, but a par putt that ran 90 degrees around the cup, before falling out. That putt would drop Duval to -2. He couldn't come up with at birdie on 18, which would have claimed him a sole 2nd place finish. This was Duval's first top 10 finish since, 2001. Duval has been as high as the number 2 player in the World, to as low as the number 881st player in the World.

Entering play on Monday, Ricky Barnes was tied with Lucas Glover. That wouldn't last long, as Barnes began bogeying holes, which included a stretch of 4 consecutive bogeys. At point, in the third round, Barnes had managed to get to 11 under par, after the 4th hole. From the 5th hole, to the end of the tournament, Barnes would make 12 bogeys over 32 holes. Barnes sprinkled in a few birdies, here and there, but was only able to finish at 2 under par, tied for 2nd place. Even though he struggled, Barnes still had plenty of opportunities to win, however a few putts coming down the stretch, let him down. On the 18th green, Barnes struck a beautiful putt, which was tracking right for the hole, and then stopped breaking. The putt burnt the edge, and Barnes chances for getting to 3 under.

Tiger Woods took the course this morning, several holes in front of the leaders. At one point, as Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover were backing up, Tiger managed to drain consecutive birdies, to get to 1 under par, and tied for 4th place. At that time, he was only 3 strokes back, but that wouldn't last long. After back to back birdies, Tiger came back with a bogey, which dropped him to even, with only 2 holes to play. Tiger would only make par, as he finished even, tied for 6th overall.

This is the 2nd U.S. Open to be held at Bethpage Black, and it is the only public golf course where a U.S. Open has been held. At this time, the USGA has no plans to return to Bethpage Black, but there will most likely be something scheduled soon. The 2010 U.S. Open will be held at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California, from June 17th to June 20th, 2010.