U.S. Open: Mickelson’s Near Miss, Barbaree’s Clutch Cut, and Olesen’s soggy Injustice
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Friday at Oakmont delivered drama, heartbreak, and a few clutch performances as players battled brutal conditions to make the cut.
OAKMONT, Pa. – As the afternoon stretched into evening, a pervasive sense of struggle hung heavy in the humid air at Oakmont. The U.S.Open, known for its demanding nature, lived up to its reputation, pushing players to the brink with its brutal test of skill and mental fortitude.
The second round crawled at a snail’s pace, with rounds stretching to six hours.The course proved exceptionally challenging, with a score of four-over-par outperforming the field. Despite being the best weather day of the week, the heat and humidity sapped the energy of weary professionals, while the eventual downpour only compounded thier difficulties. Players found themselves constantly battling thick rough, awkward bunker positions, and difficult lies.
And lightning flashed as Phil Mickelson arrived at the 18th green on Friday evening, with one momentous putt left to hit. That’s actually not a metaphor – that’s literally what happened. There was plenty of attention on Mickelson at this tournament as it’s his last exempt start in an event where he’s finished runner up six times. And he’d been battling hard and playing well for 32 holes before a double at No. 15 and another at the drivable par-4 17th, where he’d gone from six over par (one shot inside the cut line) to eight over (one shot outside) after two chips and three putts. But he’d nearly landed his approach in the hole at No. 18, and now he faced a 15-footer as the weather turned worse.
The scene on the green was unusual. Mickelson’s playing partner, Brian Harman, teetered right on the cut line and seemed uncertain about continuing. He spent several minutes analyzing his 40-foot putt, needing two putts to secure his weekend spot. Eventually Harman spoke to Mickelson about the weather, prompting speculation about a potential suspension of play. However, Mickelson declared his intention to finish, nonetheless of the outcome.
Harman eventually rapped his putt down the hill to three feet. Mickelson’s effort went wanting, breaking across the cup and leaving a tap-in that may prove to be his final stroke at a U.S. Open. If it is, consider it a fitting finish – heroics, double bogeys, thunder, lightning and one shot too many. Maybe it was a metaphor after all.
Clutch-putter Philip Barbaree Jr.
“Make it you’re in, miss it, you’re headed home.”
Made cuts are all about context,and the context around Philip Barbaree Jr.’s weekend tee time makes it that much sweeter.
Big-picture, there’s the fact that the Americas Tour pro is 0-for-7 lifetime in made cuts at the Korn Ferry Tour level or higher. There’s the fact that, as mini-tour whisperer Monday Q Info points out a made cut at the U.S.Open allows him to skip the first stage of Q-School. There’s the fact that he will get a chunk of this weekend’s $21.5 million purse.
Small-picture, there’s the fact that Barbaree had one of the final tee times on Friday. That means he played one of the slowest, longest and, eventually, wettest rounds. It was getting dark and pouring rain when play was called as he faced a 30-foot par putt on Friday night. It was still raining when he played his final hole on Saturday morning, and when he faced a nervy five-footer with very clear stakes: Make it you’re in, miss it, you’re headed home.
Two more days for Philip.
Wet, upset Thorbjorn Oleson
If there was a poster boy for the soggy injustice of a late Friday tee time it was Thorbjorn Olesen, who was six over par as he played his tee shot at No. 9 in the pouring rain and impending darkness. It went wayward, bouncing into the long, thick, impractical grass of the ditch left of the fairway. He looked especially miserable as he spent several minutes trudging thru the knee-deep grasses looking for a ball he was certain to have to drop anyway; I wondered if he was killing time, hoping they’d blow the horn. But mercy didn’t come.
Eventually Olesen took a drop and was left with 226 yards up the hill through the rain, needing bogey to make the weekend, to keep himself in the tournament, to earn valuable points as he chases a return to the European Ryder Cup team, along with everything else. He hit that approach into the right bunker, short-sided to a front right pin. Now needing an up-and-down to secure his precious bogey, Olesen’s shot looked good in the air but landed one foot short of where it needed to, catching in the rough and screeching to a halt.
Double bogey. Missed cut.just seconds after his final putt fell, the horn blew, suspending misery until the morning – too late for Thorbjorn.
There was beauty in the battle, his and others, fighting for six hours through the rough and tough and rain in pursuit of something special. it probably didn’t feel that way.
