Video: John previews the US Open.

CAPITAL AREA FANS MAKE MOST OF FIFTH DAY AT THE OPEN By John Craig

FARMINGDALE, NY – Ordinarily, the horns you hear in the New York/Long Island area are car horns — lots of them. But this week, the air horn was the repetitive sound. It signaled suspensions and re-starts around the golf course and over the five days of the 109th U.S. Open.

So when the air horns echoed around Bethpage State Park Monday morning, fans erupted with cheers to see the finish of the USGA’s National Championship, which would eventually go to Lucas Glover.

And standing behind the first tee to watch Drew Weaver’s and Jim Furyk’s tee shots as they resumed play were some buddies from the Capital Area, Jack DeNyse of Niskayuna and Jack Geary of Albany.

“I took the day off from work,” Geary said. “I enjoy these events. I’ve been to the PGA 2003 in Rochester. They’re just so much fun.”

THURSDAY’S TICKETS RE-USED

They used Thursday tickets to get in Monday. DeNyse and another friend drove down Thursday in a nuisance rain. By the time they got to Bethpage Black the skies really opened up.
“Two people sitting on 18 with a PING umbrella, that was all you saw,” DeNyse said.

Play was suspended at 10:16 AM Thursday and never resumed as the rain cascaded down.
“We saw an approach shot up 18 and that was it,” DeNyse said. “We got on the hill behind 17 green and as soon as we got set up they blew the horn.”

They waited it out with passes to a hospitality pavilion but play was done for the day. 
“The only people loving it had to be the merchandise pavilion,” he said. “Everyone was going there.”

When the USGA, under public backlash, reversed its ticket policy — allowing re-entry if there was Monday golf — he called Geary and they set out at 4:30 AM down the Thruway to catch a shuttle bus at Jones Beach.

Geary, 53, is an electrician and serves as the director of security for the Times Union Center.

“For me, it’s nice to be on the other side of the event, Geary said. “You don’t have to worry about anything. They’re so organized at these events.

“It’s a real power of example, crowd-control and everything,” Geary added. “It’s well run. These guys know how to do a tournament.”

FOLLOWING PHIL

After Furyk sent his ball into the gloomy Monday sky, the men set out to find some of their favorite golfers, including Phil Mickelson.

“It’s the chance of a lifetime, it really is,” Geary said. “I’m a huge Phil fan and he’s not out of it.”

As for playing the famous public course, which has no hosted two U.S. Opens in seven years, Geary shook his head.

“I wouldn’t attempt to play this course,” he said. “That sign scares me off,” referring to the sign posted at the first tee that reads: “WARNING –The Black Course is An Extremely Difficult Golf Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.”

DeNyse is more optimistic.“Pretty close to 100,” he said. “I’m not saying I could break 100, I might threaten it for a while, for a while.”

PHIL’S FINISH

The two men certainly made the most of reusable tickets. At 11:45, Mickelson
 eagled the 13th to tie for the lead. But bogeys on 15 and 17 dropped him back from the lead.
 “The one on 17 was not a good putt,” said Mickelson. “I needed to give it more speed because it was slightly uphill and I didn’t hit it firm enough at all.”

At 1:00, however, Mickelson was the leader in the clubhouse at two-under par. He would finish tied for second for the fifth time in the U.S. Open.

“I feel different this time,” he said. “I don’t know where to go with this because I want to win this tournament badly.”

His fans, including the two Jacks from the Capital Area, did too.

 DUVAL TIED FOR THIRD AS PLAY HALTED By John Craig

David Duval is tied with four others for third as play was called for darkness Sunday night.
After his third round, Duval, 37, talked about staying in contention and returning to the spotlight in a Major ten years after being ranked number-one in the world.

“I like to think I enjoyed it immensely, you know, eight, ten years ago when I was on top of the world,” he said. “But with a life that’s a little more complete, I probably honestly enjoy it more now. I have no less desire at this point than I did back then. However, I probably feel like I don’t simply do it for myself anymore. And that’s a nice feeling.”

Duval is still here after 95 players missed the cut including current big names-in-the-game like Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, David Toms, Ernie Els, Luke Donald, Rory Sabbatini, Zach Johnson and 2005 U.S. Open Champion Michael Campbell all missed the cut.

He is one of 60 players to make the cut after the second round concluded Saturday evening, the lowest possible number of golfers.

“The benefit I have heading into the [final] round is that I also know the other side of it,” said the 2001 British Open Champion. “I know what the awful golf is about, too. I’m going to go out and play and I’m probably going to hit a lot of good shots in this next round and hit a couple squirrelly ones, too. I’m sure I’ll miss a couple of fairways.

“But I feel comfortable in what I’m doing and confident in what I’m doing and that’s all you can ask for.” Duval is tied with Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan and Ross Fisher, all at two-under par. The leaders are Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes at seven under par.Play resumes Monday morning and the USGA hopes it will finish by early in the afternoon.

 

UALBANY ALUM ‘REVERES’ HIS TIME AT BETHPAGE By John Craig

FARMINGDALE, NY – Long Island has long been a feeding ground for the University at Albany. A large number of students come up from the Island to Albany each year to go to school. One man who made the trip in the mid-70’s is volunteering this year at Bethpage Black at the 109th U.S. Open.

“They call me the Reverend,” said William Graham, better known as Billy, who lives in Rockville Center now and grew up in Massapequa, NY.

Friday the pleasant man with thick, gray mustache was found behind the wheel of an SUV as part of his volunteer job at Bethpage State Park. He has been part of a crew that shuttles some players and their families back and forth to the golf course.

“I haven’t met anybody of any consequence,” he said. “I had friends of Jim Furyk who were out here visiting, but it’s been kind of slow.” Graham is part of an army of 5,500 USGA volunteers who give up a week to work the National Championship. They have to commit to four six-hour shifts (give or take the way the Open is going this year) and then get to spend the day on the grounds watching the action if they choose.

A FAN FOR YEARS

Graham is a golf fan who had been going to Major golf tournaments for years — including three U.S. Opens at Shinnecock, the 2002 Open at Bethpage, PGAs, a Ryder Cup – as a fan so he decided to volunteer. He graduated from then Albany State in 1976 with a degree in Mathematics and Accounting and works in banking.

“Great school,” he said of his alma mater. “My friends from Albany and I, we go to Myrtle Beach every year,” Graham added. “They’re from Florida, Rochester, Poughkeepsie, Albany, Boston, all around. We get together every year.”

In the Capital Area, he used to play golf at Western Turnpike, Town of Colonie and the Albany Municipal Course, before it was redone and is Capital Hills now.

“When I played there they actually had ball washers that were steel buckets with brushes with a piece of wood with a hole in it,” Graham said. “You’d move it up and down.”
As for Bethpage, he was thrilled when the USGA decided to stage its biggest event here.

“This course before the USGA came here was a real dump,” he said. “It was hard as a rock, the sand traps had all kinds of [stuff] in there, it really wasn’t in good condition at all and they just did a wonderful job fixing up and making it nice. I think it’s great for Bethpage.”

As for Bethpage, the 2009 version: “I’m rooting for Phil Mickelson.”

 

NOTES AND QUOTES FROM SATURDAY AT BETHPAGE
By John Craig

TIGER WOODS’ largest 36-hole comeback is nine shots. He is 11 back at three-over and teed off at 6:42 PM off the tenth hole.

“My score doesn’t reflect how I’ve been playing and it is what it is,” Woods said. “But you never know. I’ve got 36 more holes over the next probably three days.”

LUCAS GLOVER, a shot back, is in the final group with RICKY BARNES. Both played together for the first two rounds of the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black and both missed the cut.

Glover tied the course record of 64 in the second round. “I liked it in ’02, I just didn’t play well…with the graduated rough [this year] and the soft conditions, and I hit my long irons and mid-irons very good Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So I had a pretty good vibe coming into Thursday.”

Overheard at the driving range Saturday morning from a fan: “Seattle’s like beautiful every day. They’re like burning up wondering what that thing in the sky is.”

MATTHEW JONES, who shot a 78 in the first round, withdrew on Saturday because of a back injury. He was two over par through nine holes of the second round.

STEVE STRICKER is paired with Phil Mickelson in the third round. Both are seven shots back. He said conditions on the golf course were not bad. “It’s just enough of a rain to be bothersome, but the course is holding up great. The work that they must have done here to get this place ready for [Friday’s] round, I’m losing track of days, but had to be unbelievable the amount of rain we had and the way it’s playing, it’s remarkable.”

MIKE WEIR is in the second to last group of the third round, two shots off the lead. He finished his second round Saturday morning and went back to the hotel until he found out when he’d be headed back out. “It’s been a lot of starting and stopping this week. It’s just been a test of patience and trying to be in the right state of mind each time you come out not to let things change too much. It’s difficult for everybody.”

NOT BROTHERS: Soren Hansen of Denmark and Peter Hanson of Sweden played their first two rounds together. Many in the media tent have dubbed them “The Hansen Brothers,” but they’re not.

Said Soren, a member of last year’s European Ryder Cup team: “I think both Peter and I are helping each other a lot out there and we are both playing well….I really feel like this golf course suits me a lot. It really fits my eye and I can’t wait to get back out there.”
Soren Hansen is nine shots back. He’s playing the third round with Retief Goosen.
Said Peter: “I think we have been trying to push each other along a little bit, apart from the fact that he is hitting it about 35 yards past me this week….the job they did to get the course playing again was unbelievable.” Peter Hanson is five shots back. He’s playing the third round with David Duval.

PHIL’S THOUGHTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIHY7Xv6d14

Phil Mickelson stuck his tee shot to about three feet at the par-3, 227 yard third hole Friday afternoon, much to the crowd’s delight. They were ready for a birdie from the fan favorite. It was Mickelson’s 12th hole of his first round.

He had to wait until playing partners Retief Goosen and Ernie Els played out and then Mickelson missed his birdie putt.

However, Mickelson turned right around and birdied the monstrous par-5, 517 yard.
He said that was where he got his putting turned around: “From there on out, every putt started on line and had a good, tight roll. They didn’t all go in but they all had a chance.” 
Phil on how long the 2009 Open may take: “They’ve made it very clear we’re going 72 holes, however long it takes. And it’s nice knowing from a player’s standpoint because it allows you to play a certain way. I wasn’t out there pressing [Saturday], forcing birdies, thinking this might be 54 holes. Knowing that it’s 72 is helpful.”

Saturday, after the suspended second round was over: “If I can get hot with the putter I like my chances in the next few rounds,” he said after finishing his round Saturday morning.

On Bethpage: “I wouldn’t say that it hasn’t shown its teeth. This is a very difficult golf course. It’s long. The rough is very difficult and just a few yards off the fairways in spots is literally lose your ball or unplayable lie.”

In case you didn’t believe him: “Ernie Els, one of the best players in the game, was 15 over. It’s not easy. But if you hit good shots, with the greens being soft, you can actually get balls close to the hole and make birdies.”

ROSS FISHER’S DOWNTIME

Ross Fisher, from Wentworth, England, made the cut at two-under. He is renting a house this week with, among others, Graeme McDowell. The 28-year old said it was strange not playing on Thursday. They went out for breakfast instead.

“It’s a strange thing to do,” Fisher said. ‘You’re supposed to be here working and it’s tough to do anything.”

So, to pass the time they watched movies including “The Dark Knight” and “The 40 Year Old Virgin.”

“It was a movie that you could really just unwind,” he said. “We were all in hysterics pretty much all the way through the movie. That’s what it’s all about.

“Yes, it’s a big week but at the same time you need to chill out and relax and have some fun. At the end of the day, it’s only another golf tournament, that’s the way I look at it. It’s a Major, but you’ve got to try and treat it as just any other golf tournament.”

BARNES BOYS ARE AT THE TOP
By John Craig

FARMINGDALE, NY – After two rounds in the books over three days at the 109th United States Open, a record has been set. Not for how long it’s taken to play the first two rounds, rather what the score is: 132.  Ricky Barnes, 28, is the man at the top at eight-under par.
“It’s pretty cool,” Barnes said. “Obviously at the beginning of the week you didn’t think that score was out there.” Barnes credits the tees being moved up and soft greens after the area has been pounded with wet weather over the past few weeks. He hit 31 of 36 greens in regulation.
“Pretty stress-free,” Barnes said. He had just one bogey in two rounds. His 132 is one better than the record previously held by Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields in Illinois. Furyk won that Open.

CADDY INSIGHT

To get a true picture of a golfer, ask his caddy. In Barnes’ case, that’s also his brother, Andy, who is three and a half years older than Ricky.
“It’s not like this is his first rodeo,” Andy Barnes said while balancing the golf bag and holding keys, a wallet and Ricky’s USGA issued access badge in his right hand.
“He knows what to expect, he knows how hard it is. He knows it’s not going to be easy the next couple of rounds.” Ricky Barnes, from Phoenix, Arizona, is playing in his fifth U.S. Open. In 2002, he missed the cut here at Bethpage Black, with rounds of 78-75, 13-over par.
“I keep telling him hard work will pay off more than talent will,” Andy said.  The family is renting a house near Bethpage State Park and has packed ten inside.

TRANSFORMATION

Ricky Barnes transformed himself from, what Andy estimates was a kid brother 5-foot-5, 220 pounds as a freshman in high school to College Player of the Year at Arizona, now standing at 6-foot-2, and “a lean 205 pounds,” said Andy.

“I still think he has a blend of power and finesse,” Andy said.

Barnes worked hard on the Nationwide Tour to earn his Tour Card – he had the second most top-tens last year — but has not fared well in his first year so far, missing six of 12 cuts. His best finish was a tie for 47th last week at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, TN.
“They say every shot counts but every shot really counts out there on the Nationwide [Tour],” Andy said.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really pissed off the first two or three years,” Ricky Barnes said. “Seeing other guys that you played with getting out there and playing well…and you’re struggling.”

Andy, 31, is the assistant men’s golf coach at the University of Arizona.
“It’s a tough living out there,” Andy said. “It’s like beating your head against the wall for years.”

FOOTBALL AND GOLF

The Barnes boys are no stranger to professional sports. Their father, Bruce, was an All-America football player at UCLA. He was one of two punters drafted into the NFL in 1973. The other was Ray Guy.

Bruce Barnes played for the New England Patriots in ’73 and ’74 and then a handful of games with the Green Bay Packers. Nowadays, he still lives in Northern California and plays golf with Jim Plunkett at Cypress Point, Spyglass and Pebble Beach.

Andy said he took his brother everywhere and they played every sport they could. He knows “when to kick him and when to put him in his place.”

And there’s mutual admiration.

“At the end of the day, I have his respect as a caddy and a brother,” Andy said.Barnes is trying to become just the 12th man to win the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open. Others to have done it include Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods.

The Barnes boys will be back at it at the final pairing of the third round, with Lucas Glover, who is a shot back.

“Everything’s a process,” Andy Barnes said. “Hard work beats talent every day.”

 

Duval Returns to New York for Golf & More by John Craig

FARMINGDALE, NY — Despite the fact that he was born and raised more than 1,100 miles and an 18-hour car ride away, many Capital Area golf fans still consider David Duval one of their own.

Editors Note: More more US Open stories visit our site http://usopen.capitalareagolf.com/

“That’s great,” Duval said Saturday morning with a brief smile when reminded of his Schenectady fans. It’s the city his father Bob was born in and where his father and grandfather both played and taught the game of golf.

“We certainly have ties to the State of New York,” Duval said. “We play so many wonderful golf courses in this area.”

Just after 8:30 AM, Duval hit a seven-iron to the 18th green and made the 15-foot birdie putt to finish his second round at even par at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black here on Long Island.

“It’s very loud and vocal and I’m just happy I’m giving them a good show so far and I’m hoping to give them a good show for a couple more days,” Duval said.

In his first round played here Friday afternoon under sunny skies, he lit up the course and caused quite a buzz, shooting a 67. That tied his best scoring round in 14 Opens played. He shot a 67 in round one at Pinehurst in 1999.

DUVAL’S SECOND ROUND

Duval bogeyed four of his first six holes in his second round and saw his three-under first round whittle away. He was one-over after six but birdied the seventh with a nicely placed six iron at the par-4. The seventh is supposed to play 525-yards, the longest par-4 in U.S. Open history, but has yet to reach that length due to wet conditions and hole location.

Duval played with Darren Clarke and David Toms for the first two rounds. They never saw the course on Thursday, when rain suspended play after just 3 hours and 16 minutes.

He scored par on 8, 9, 10 and 12 and birdied 11 before darkness suspended play Friday night. He finished his round Saturday.
“Precision is needed so much more in these events that it’s easier for me to really get focused in on targets and go from there,” he said.

He spun a wedge to five feet for birdie on the par-5 13th and on 14, drained a 25-foot birdie putt. He sandwiched a bogey in between pars on 15 and 17 and then rolled in a putt for an even par 70 to the crowd’s ovation at 18. He’s three-under for the Championship, five shots back of the leader.

“I came here prepared to play, feeling like I had a chance to win the golf tournament and put myself in position to play a couple of rounds and have a chance,” Duval said.

17 OUT OF 120

Duval earned a spot into the Open at Bethpage Black by qualifying. It’s the first time he had to do that in 14-years. Back on June 8th, he shot 66-69 in Columbus, Ohio at the 36-hole qualifier. He was one of 17 out of 120 to earn a spot.

“My day in Columbus was a big boost for me because I put that much more pressure on myself to qualify to get here so it made it that much harder,” he said. “I managed to control myself and play real well that day to get in. You just keep working and keep plugging along.”

Today, he says the pressure’s off.

“I’m more relaxed because I’m comfortable with how I’m playing but the equation is pretty simple here and most U.S. Opens,” he said. “Even though it is soft, you still have to be a little leery of firing at flags and such. Try to hit it in the fairway and then try to pick the best spot on the greens to hit it to and go from there.”

The last Open he was in was the last time it was held in New York, 2006 at Winged Foot.

“I feel like in some small way maybe I have some connection with the folks around here,” he said. On Tuesday, he played his only practice round, the back nine and was greeted with cheers at and between every hole, stopping to sign as many autographs as he could. He even rushed to the 15th hole late because the gauntlet of fans was so deep behind the 14th green.

DUVAL’S PATIENCE

His climb to the top as the world’s number one ten years ago and then fall has been well documented but tough to explain. He fell hard after winning the 2001 British Open.

Bottom line, the 6-foot, 180-pound 37-year old says he loves to play the game and compete. He now makes his home in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado with his wife. They are raising five children, three of them from his wife’s previous marriage.
“I’d really like for my wife and my family to see how I can actually play this game,” he said. “They haven’t seen me at my best.”

He says he came in very prepared to play.

“Patience is crucial in this game and I feel like I’ve been patient for many years,” he said. “If anything I feel my patience has been tested over the past six, eight, 10 months when I really felt like everything was falling together but nothing good was happening for me.”

A PERSONAL TRIBUTE

If you look closely at Duval during the coverage, you’ll see pins on both sides of his shirt collar. One is an apple given to him by some New York State Troopers on Tuesday he was talking with early in the week at Bethpage Black. He had been hanging out, chatting and signing some headcovers. They gave him the pin and asked if he’d use it.

“I said, heck yea,” he said.The other is a New York City firefighting pin he bought in Manhattan on Wednesday.
He passed up a practice round to go to the New York City Fire Museum on Spring Street in SoHo.

Duval’s father-in-law Joe Cipri, a firefighter for 30 years, is a sculptor too.

“He did a 9/11 memorial dedication statue that’s on display in the museum,” Duval said. “I hadn’t seen it.”
Cipri’s sculpture is a fireman holding a baby. It was dedicated and sits on the second floor of the museum.
“He’s certainly well respected,” Duval said of Cipri.

HIS OPEN HISTORY

Duval first played in a U.S. Open as an amateur at Medinah in 1990. He attended Georgia Tech and turned pro in 1993.
His best Open finish is tied for seventh in both 1998 and 1999 around the time when he challenged, and at one point was, number one in the world. He’s earned over $500,000 during his years at the U.S. Open. He doesn’t put much stock into the traditional Father’s Day finish of a U.S. Open.

“You’re not thinking about that, you really aren’t,” he said. “It just happens to coincide and I’m glad that most of my family is with me so we’re just going to keep at it and hopefully finish before Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Duval’s father, Bob, is not here yet. Bob Duval plays occasionally on the PGA Champions Tour. Back in March of 1999, both father and son won tournaments on the same day. Bob Duval grew up in Schenectady and went to Florida State University and turned pro in 1968. David was born in 1971.For close to 30 years, Bob was a teaching and club pro mostly in northern Florida.

As for whether this Open will finish on Father’s Day, Duval joked, “Not this year.”

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