FanHouse RickyBarnes

Tiger Woods won five times in 2009, but for the fourth time in his 13-year career, he was shutout in the majors. That may not be cause for concern for Woods, but it gives fans and the media something to talk about. It also makes the "How would you rank the major championships?" question a lot more interesting.

With only one tournament left on the PGA Tour calender, now seems like as good a time as any to make my case. Obviously, this will be a scientifically rigorous endeavor, and I hope that you would treat the results accordingly. Or don't. Whatever, let's get to it.

In reverse order, the most exciting majors of 2009:

Kenny Perry was the story on Thursday at the Travelers Championship. He fired a first-round 61, good for 9-under and two shots clear of the field.

(Also, I have to mention how Bacon "Eddie Mush-ed" Perry midway through his back nine, sending me the following e-mail: "Kenny P is 8-under through 14 holes at the Travelers. Nobody has ever shot 59 on a par-70 course, but three more birds and Mr. Perry would be there." Shane also likes to remind pitchers that they're in the middle of a no-hitter. So, yeah, Perry didn't stand a chance.)

Ricky Barnes finished in the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour money list last season, and for the first time in his then-five-year professional golf career, he had earned his PGA Tour card.

Success has been fleeting for the 2002 U.S. Amateur champion, who was also the low amateur at the 2003 Masters. From 2005-2008, Barnes competed in just five PGA Tour events as a professional, making two cuts. This year, he's played 13 tournaments, played on the weekend seven times, including a second-place finish at Bethpage Black last week (although prior to the U.S. Open, his best finish was a T47 at the St. Jude).

Lucas Glover was born in Greenville, SC, played golf at Clemson, just won his first major -- the 109th U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, NY -- and more surprising than that, perhaps, he's a Yankees fan.

So even though Glover grew up 750 miles south of the Big Apple, he loves the city and its Bronx-based baseball team. Alex Rodriguez appreciates the support.

On Tuesday, after outlasting the field -- and the weather -- over five days, Lucas was in New York City, making the rounds, and that included a stop at the Ed Sullivan Theatre to rattle off the Top Ten List. Hilarity ensued.

Moving pictures after the jump.

Phil Mickelson has an unfortunate history of seeing bogeys on the closing holes of US Open final rounds, and the same sort of short putting troubles and misfires happened again today: after an eagle at 13 put Lefty in a tie for the lead, he followed with a par and then closed out bogey-par-bogey-par to finish two strokes behind Lucas Glover as he headed into the clubhouse.

In other words, it was psuedo-tragic scene, simply because Mickelson was easily the crowd favorite at Bethpage Black this weekend, especially considering his wife Amy's struggles with breast cancer leading up to the Open.

Tiger Woods didn't fire off his best round Monday at the 2009 US Open, but he didn't shoot poorly either, wrapping up with a 69 that left him at even par for the tournament. Unfortunately for Tiger, a three-bogey/four-birdie round probably won't be enough to land him in any potential playoff for consecutive Open titles.

That's not to say that the leaders aren't falling back -- Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Ross Fisher and Lucas Glover aren't up a substantial margin on Tiger, but at this point, it seems pretty unlikely that Woods will have a shot at any playoff that takes place.

For 54 holes, Ricky Barnes was the best golfer on the planet. And then, in the few hours between his third and final round at the 109th U.S. Open, something happened. Maybe he finally realized that this was Bethpage Black and not some podunk Nationwide stop.

Or maybe his luck just ran out. It happens, especially to guys who have spent the previous six years trying to live up to expectations. After getting to 11-under early Sunday, and leading by as many as six strokes, Barnes came back to the field and begin his final 18 at 8-under, just one shot clear of Lucas Glover.

On No. 1, Barnes pull-hooked his tee shot into the junk, and bumbled his way to an ugly bogey. On the second tee, he hit his tee shot left again, this time a shank. And before he could make matters worse, the horn sounded, suspending play for the evening.

---

---

When NBC came on the air at 10AM ET in the morning to begin its Saturday U.S. Open coverage, Al Roker told us that the rain would start around 1-2 PM, and the thunderstorms would follow a couple hours later. It never materialized, and not only did the field complete the second round (Thursday had been a wash, too), 36 of the 60 golfers to make the cut got a few holes into their third rounds.

---

---

Ricky Barnes won the U.S. Amateur in 2002, and was the low amateur at the 2003 Masters, T-21, playing with Tiger Woods in the first two rounds. In the six years since, he's bounced between the Nationwide and PGA Tours, but through 36 holes at the 109th U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, he's the best golfer on the property. (Hitting 90 percent -- 90 PERCENT! -- of the greens, and going 6-under on the par-4 holes doesn't hurt.)

In fact, his three-day, 132 total (8-under) sets the tournament record for a low score through two rounds. Lucas Glover, who had missed his three previous U.S. Open cuts is one shot behind Barnes. Mike Weir is at 6-under and the second-best story this week behind Phil Mickelson (who is currently 1-under and tied for 11th ), David Duval, is tied for fourth at 3-under.

---

---