Notebook: Soft conditions make scoring easier than usual

By John Bush, PGA TOUR Staff

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- The second round of the U.S. Open resumed at 7:24 a.m. on Saturday and was completed at 4:05 p.m. The third round began at 5:30 p.m. with twosomes off of split tees, and was halted for the day by rain at 6:55 p.m. Play will resume at 7:30 a.m.

• The cut came at 4-over 144, with 60 players advancing to the final two rounds. It equals the second-lowest cut in U.S. Open history, as the cut also fell at 4 over at 1993 at Baltusrol, and at 3 over in 2003 at Olympia Fields.

• Ricky Barnes, 2002 U.S. Amateur champion, posted a second-round 5-under 65 to move to the top of the leaderboard. At a U.S. Open-record 8-under 132, he sits one stroke in front of Lucas Glover (64) and two clear of Mike Weir (70). His round fell just one shy of his TOUR-best 64 recorded during the second round of the 2003 Las Vegas Invitational.

• The third-round pairing of Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover will be familiar for both players. They were paired together during the first two rounds of the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. Both players missed the cut, with Barnes recording rounds of 78-75 and Glover posting 74-77. Their playing partner was John Maginnes (79-69-73-78--tied for 59th).

• The 8-under 132 total is a new opening 36-hole record at the U.S. Open, breaking Jim Furyk (67-66) and Vijay Singh’s (70-63) record at Olympia Fields in 2003, and Lucas Glover’s mark from earlier in the day.

• Ricky Barnes’ 8-under 132 36-hole total is the second-best start of his career. He opened with 67-64 at the 2003 Las Vegas Invitational before a third-round 76 led to a missed cut at the 90-hole event.

• Barnes has a total of 15 sub-70 rounds during his PGA TOUR career, with four coming in the past two weeks. In addition to rounds of 67-65 at Bethpage Black this week, he opened with rounds of 67-69 last week en route to a season-best tie for 47th at the St. Jude Classic.

• Barnes is making his fifth start at the U.S. Open. In four previous starts, he has finished tied for 59th in 2003 and missed the cut in 2000, 2002 and 2007. In six previous major championship starts, Barnes only previous sub-70 round before this week was an opening-69 en route to a 21st-place effort at the 2003 Masters, his best showing in a major.

• Barnes, a 28-year-old native of Stockton, Calif., is making his 37th start on the PGA TOUR (30 as a professional). He has made the cut in 13 of those events (10 as a professional), with a tie for 14th at the 2004 FBR Open his best outing. In 2009, he has made the cut in six of 12 starts and sits No. 197 on the FedExCup points list. Barnes earned his card by gaining the last spot among the top 25 players on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list.

• This marks the first time Ricky Barnes has led a PGA TOUR event after any round. His previous best standings through 36 holes came at the 2003 Masters (tied for third/finished 21st) and the 2004 FBR Open (tied for fifth/finished tied for 14th).

• Tiger Woods, at 3-over 143, entered the final round 11 strokes behind Barnes. The largest come-from-behind victory at the U.S. Open in the final 36 holes was recorded by Lou Graham at the 1975 U.S. Open at Medinah. He was 11 strokes behind 36-hole leader Tom Watson before storming back to win.

• Tournament-leader Ricky Barnes is one of seven former U.S. Amateur champions in the field. The others were Matt Kuchar (missed cut), Justin Leonard (missed cut), Billy Mayfair (tied for 41st), Phil Mickelson (tied for 12th), Ryan Moore (tied for 12th) and Tiger Woods (tied for 41st). Eleven players have won the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur during their career.

• Canadian Nick Taylor equaled the U.S. Open record for low score by an amateur with a 5-under 65, matching the 65s carded by James McHale (R3, 1947, St. Louis CC) and James Simons (R3, 1971, Merion GC).

• The U.S. Open has been won by an amateur eight times: Francis Ouimet (1913), Jerome Travers (1915), Charles Evans Jr. (1916), Robert T. Jones Jr. (1923, 1926, 1929-30) and John Goodman (1933). The last amateur to win a PGA TOUR event was Phil Mickelson at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open. The leading amateur through 36 holes is Nick Taylor, who is tied for seventh.

•Lucas Glover, just one behind Barnes, is making his fourth start at the U.S. Open. He made his first Open start at Bethpage Black in 2002, missing the cut with rounds of 74-77. He also missed the cut in 2006 (75-77) and 2007 (71-80).

• Glover, a 29-year-old native of Greenville, S.C., is playing in his 12th major championship, with five made cuts in 11 previous starts. He posted his best finish at the 2007 Masters (tied for 20th).

• Lucas Glover has made 11 cuts in 14 appearances on the PGA TOUR in 2009, including a season-best runner-up finish at the Quail Hollow Championship and a tie for third at the Buick Invitational.

• With rounds of 67-70, David Duval sits five strokes behind Barnes’ lead. The 2001 British Open winner has made the cut in just six of 20 starts in major championships since his victory at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, with a tie for 10th at the 2001 PGA Championship and a tie for 16th at the 2006 U.S. Open his only top-25 finishes. Most recently he finished tied for 39th at the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale. Duval posted all three top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open in consecutive years (tied for seventh in 1998, tied for seventh in 1999, tied for 2000).

• Nationwide Tour member Michael Sim is tied for 24th after rounds of 71-70. With wins this season at the Stonebrae Classic and BMW Charity Pro-Am, Sim is just one win away from earning an instant promotion to the PGA TOUR.

• Two of the three Champions Tour members participating this week will make weekend appearances, with both currently tied for 51st: Fred Funk (70-74) and Tom Lehman (71-73). Eduardo Romero, with rounds of 76-71, missed the cut.

• The 36-hole leader/co-leader has won 36 times at the U.S. Open, most recently Angel Cabrera in 2007.

• The second-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 11 of 24 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Brian Gay at the St. Jude Classic.

• Past champions of the U.S. Open and their results through two rounds: Geoff Ogilvy (73-67/tied for 16th), Jim Furyk (72-69/tied for 24th), Retief Goosen (73-68/tied for 24th), Angel Cabrera (74-69/tied for 41st), Tiger Woods (74-69/tied for 41st), Ernie Els (78-77/missed cut) and Michael Campbell (77-79/missed cut).

• Bogey-free rounds were posted during the second round by Lucas Glover (64), Ricky Barnes (65), Geoff Ogilvy (67) and James Nitties (69).

•The scoring average for the second-round morning wave was 71.69, compared to 72.36 for the afternoon wave. The first-round averages were as follows: morning wave 74.75 and afternoon wave 72.87.

• The par-4 12th hole played the toughest during the second round, yielding a 4.403 average. The par-5 fourth hole was the easiest for the second consecutive round at 4.664.