Glover Is Champion
By Ken Klavon, USGA

He hung around throughout the weather-marred championship, staying on the leaderboard as that guy who had only two professional victories under his belt. Lucas Glover, 29, heard all the reasons why he couldn't win. Not enough majors experience. Chances were he couldn't handle the final-round pressure. He had never made a cut in three U.S. Opens.

Yet there he was, seven under par through three rounds, right on the heels of Ricky Barnes, who only had been on a record-setting run. When the players returned to the Black Course this morning due to play being called to darkness on Sunday, Glover (4-under 276) suddenly found himself as the man to catch. Barnes had become derailed, registering four consecutive bogeys on holes five through eight.

And there was Glover, hanging on feebly, but still there at the top. When he made the turn, he held a one-stroke lead on Barnes, and was two ahead of Ross Fisher (1-under 279) and Hunter Mahan (even-par 280).

As the leaderboard showcased more movement than a Daytona 500, Glover remained when the dust cleared. When he knocked in a 3-foot putt on the 18th green, he simply took his hat off, smiled and went looking for his wife and parents, who were stationed just off the green. He also earned $1,350,000.

"It was a test of patience," said Glover, a member of the 2001 USA Walker Cup squad.

"It feels great. I didn't expect this Thursday, to say the least. But I was playing well coming in. And I knew if I put four [good rounds] together I might have a chance."

Glover won because he didn't make many critical mistakes on the back nine, turning in eight pars. Barnes, David Duval and Phil Mickelson tied for second at 2-under 278.

Glover's lone error came on the par-4 15th. He wound up three-putting, the only time he did so in the championship. However, showing no signs of final-round nerves, Glover came back on No. 16 with a birdie.

"That was huge, that was huge," said Glover. "I heard the roars ahead. "It didn't bother me. It didn't motivate me or bother me or whatever, but just the way it is. After Tiger [Woods] finished, Phil's the man on the golf course, and that's fine. He was maybe three groups ahead. And I guess it's like what they used to say at Augusta; you could hear a 'Jack roar' at Augusta. You can hear a 'Phil roar.' I knew something was going on - kept my eye on the board."

Mickelson had been coming on hard, and the boisterous New York crowd loved it. On No. 16, Glover made a clutch birdie that put him in sole possession of the lead. Already well documented, Mickelson was trying to shake the ghosts of past Open disappointments. They wouldn't go away, finding him on the 17th green. Mickelson's putter became balky and he missed a putt inside 5 feet that essentially sealed his fate.

"The [putt] 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."

On the 18th green, down two strokes, Barnes tried to put pressure on Glover. He had the right touch on an 18-footer for birdie, but the ball wouldn't go in, instead barely lipping the outer edge of the hole.

"He had a great putt," said Glover. "I thought he made it."

"I'd be lying to say I wasn't nervous. I had the knees knocking pretty good on 16, 17 and 18. But I pulled it off and executed some pretty good golf shots."

Barnes, meanwhile, did his best to conceal his disappointment. At one point in the championship, he had opened up a six-stroke lead. "At the end of the day, if you have told me I would be two under and finished second in the U.S. Open, I would have taken it," said Barnes, the 2002 U.S. Amateur champion. "But I'm a little bit bummed."