Barnes Falls Back, Leaving U.S. Open Title Up for Grabs

FARMINGDALE, N.Y., June 21 -- Ricky Barnes didn't want to even acknowledge it, because although he has not been in this position -- or anything resembling this position -- before, he knows what a collapse feels like, looks like, smells like. So when he finished the third round of his U.S. Open by missing a short putt for par, he tried to shrug it off by saying, "I hit two good shots."

Creating such a facade with so many nerves jangling inside is understandable. But consider, now, what Barnes had to sleep with Sunday night. He once, in the third round of the Open, had a six-shot lead over the entire field. He departed Bethpage State Park's Black Course Sunday night having played one full hole in his final round, and the lead was gone. He will complete this rain-delayed Open on Monday, beginning the day tied with Lucas Glover at 7 under par, and his first shot will come at 9 a.m. from the long rough on the second hole.

"If I go out and do the same thing," Glover said between the third and fourth rounds, "someone is going to have to really come back low from behind . . . to catch me."

The Open completely transformed Sunday, from a let's-find-out-who-this-Barnes-fellow-is inquiry to a wow-he-might-blow-it train wreck. Because this tournament has been so disrupted by rain, the leaders were forced to play their entire third rounds -- which Barnes and Glover both did in even-par 70 -- and then return to the course in the twilight to start their final 18.

So much, though, happened in between. When Barnes reached the midway point of his third round, he was at 10 under -- and had already given a shot back after reaching 11 under with an eagle at No. 4. No other player, at that point, was any better than 4 under. There were leader boards strewn around the course. He had to see them, to sense his advantage.

"Just a little bit," he said. "Everything is kind of in the background when you are looking around. I knew where I was at, and I knew where my competitor [Glover] was at. . . . I didn't figure anyone else was chasing us right away."

Indeed, it took time. Glover, a laid-back Clemson alum, entered the third round just a shot back of Barnes, but struggled through a hideous stretch in which he made bogey, double and then bogey. Yet he held it together, and by the time Barnes was stumbling -- five bogeys over his final 12 holes of the third round -- Glover was back in it, 3 under on the back nine.

"I'm pretty pleased," Glover said.

As is a large chunk of the field, in part because the tournament is still to be determined. Barnes helped contribute to that, because after making that bogey on 18 to complete his third round, he opened the fourth with a hack-it-around bogey as well. Of the seven players under par when fourth-round play was halted at 7:58 p.m., none had completed more than three holes. Thus, this stretched-out Open is left with a slew of contenders, even if Barnes and Glover sit five shots clear of anyone else.

"Ricky and I, we are playing better than everybody right now," Glover said.

The group at 2 under included David Duval, the former world No. 1 who is experiencing a renaissance week. It included Britain's Ross Fisher and Hunter Mahan of Texas. And, most ominously, it included Phil Mickelson, the No. 2 player in the world, who fired a third-round 69 to creep back into the picture and make himself a factor.

"If there were 30 people ahead of me, I would have to shoot 8, 9 or 10 under par to have a chance, and there are two," Mickelson said. "If I get a hot round going, I can get a little bit of momentum -- absolutely I feel like I can make up the difference."

That, then, is what this Open -- played with such an uneven feel -- comes down to. Mickelson and others will be lurking, waiting to see if Barnes and Glover falter. And Barnes and Glover, together in the final group of a U.S. Open, will be putting up that facade, trying not to collapse.

"I don't think there's very many people that think I can or will do it," Glover said, "so that's fine."