Barnes finds safe harbor at rainy Open

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Is it possible, in the midst of the puddles and postponements that have marked the U.S. Open, between the fragmented rounds, the split tees and ever-changing refund policies . . . is it possible Ricky Barnes’ ship has come in?

If so, there are no shortage of places to dock at boggy Bethpage State Park.

The heavy stuff that was predicted for the area didn’t arrive until 6:50 p.m. EDT on Saturday, allowing for the entire second round to be concluded, allowing for a 36-hole cut to 60 players, even allowing for the third round to begin.

For the second day in three, a deluge brought a premature end to the day, with 49 players on the course, modestly into the third round.

In the meantime, a significant imbalance emerged. As with all championships, the field of 156 was divided into two segments to begin the championship — 78 morning tee times, 78 afternoon tee times.

For fairness and integrity, those segments are flip-flopped in the second round, i.e. the second flight for the first round becomes the first flight for the second round.

Thus, those who never teed off in the downpour and disruption Thursday played most of their golf under dry conditions Friday and Saturday.

Bottom line, the second wave enjoyed mostly docile conditions on a spongy, receptive golf course.

Once the entire field had completed the first two rounds Saturday, the contrast between the playing partitions was dramatic. The “second wave” was 204 strokes better.

“Yeah, we had a great end of the draw,” said Phil Mickelson, who rode the second wave to cards of 69-70 and was still 1 under one hole into his third round. “There’s no doubt.”

Not everyone was singing in the rain. Tiger Woods was 3 over and 11 shots behind after completing 37 holes.

Woods had a second-round 69 to go with his opening 74, facing the same 11-stroke climb when the third round began. The biggest comeback in U.S. Open history after 36 holes is 11 shots, accomplished by Lou Graham in 1975.

No one embraced the luck of the draw better than Barnes. The 28-year-old followed up a 3-under 67 in the first round with a 5-under 65 on Saturday, sailing to the leaderboard masthead at 8 under par. Such things have been predicted for Barnes ever since he won the 2002 U.S.

Amateur, but the University of Arizona product has bounced around the professional tours without a win or a deposit on that promise.

With the possible exception of an umbrella, nothing is handed to you in golf.

“The guys in basketball are going to get drafted in the top 10,” said Barnes, who hit 31 of 36 fairways through two rounds. “He’s going to get a three-year stint and settle down in the NBA, probably come off the bench and earn his stripes that way. But he’s going to get guided.

“Here, you get kind of thrown into the pack of wolves and go to Q-school, and you have to earn it. But I like it. The only guy I can blame is the guy in the mirror; that’s why I love this sport.”

Bethpage loved back. Barnes’ initial 36-hole score of 132 is the lowest in the 109-year history of the championship. “It’s pretty cool,” said Barnes, who beat Hunter Mahan in the ’02 Amateur final. “Obviously, at the beginning of the week, you didn’t think that score was out there,” Barnes said.

“With some tees moved up and some soft greens, it helped. But if you would have told me I would be 8 under and only have a one-shot lead, I would have said, ’You’re kidding me.’ But I’ll take it.”

True enough. The golf world anticipated a blood-letting this week. Word was Bethpage would batter the combatants, reduce them to a quivering Jell-O, punch holes in their handicaps.

The last time the Open was played at the public facility, Tiger Woods won with a score of 3 under par and was the only man still standing in red numbers.