Outcome of final few holes will have long-lasting consequences

After four dreary and draining days, the U.S. Open now will be defined by what transpires on Monday. And, Helen Ross says, the handful of holes left could change a lot of lives forever.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- With more stops and starts than the Long Island Railroad that connects this narrow peninsula of toney villages and hamlets to the glitz and glamour of the Big Apple, the 109th U.S. Open has struggled mightily to find its identity. 

For four dreary and draining days, Mother Nature has dictated the headlines, but the championship will now be defined by what transpires Monday morning on the soggy and saturated Black Course at Bethpage State Park.

Not since 1983, when Larry Nelson held off Tom Watson at Oakmont to win his second major, has a U.S. Open finished regulation play on a Monday. Like the movie "Groundhog Day," though, this renewal of the nation's oldest championship has receded into near redundancy that will be rescued only when the champion is crowned.

The rains that reduced the beastly Black Course into a long but unusually languid challenge have turned the actual competition into a blur of early wake-up calls, long days and use-the-last-second-of-daylight finishes. Bubba Watson, who actually got in 18 uninterrupted holes on Saturday, said he's never hit so many range balls after all the stops and starts.

"We can't even remember what day we're playing," defending champion Tiger Woods said. "It's all a blur."

What the 60 players who suvived the cut do know, though, is that Monday could be a life-changer for many of those in red numbers on the leaderboard. For others, like Woods and Phil Mickelson, it's another chance to add to their legacy. Still others like David Duval, who has plummeted from No. 1 to 882 in the world, are seeking to rewrite a Cinderfella story.

On the life-changer list is Ricky Barnes, who already has put his name into the U.S. Open record books with the lowest opening 36-hole score. He continued the assault when he moved to 11 under with an eagle at the fourth hole on Sunday -- only the fourth player in history to reach double-digits under par.

Just as quickly, though, that advantage -- and what was once a six-stroke lead -- disappeared as Barnes started finding fescue and the thick, lush rough. He led by just one at 8 under when the third round was completed before a bogey on his first and only hole in the fourth dropped Barnes into a tie with Lucas Glover, who is seeking his first TOUR win since 2005.

"I got some nerves going," Barnes admitted. "But that's golf. I think if you don't have a little bit of nerves when you're in the heat of competition -- and especially in the last group -- you're not human."

A win Monday by Barnes wouldn't be the most shocking this side of Francis Ouimet, but it would be stunning just the same for a young man whose last win came in the 2003 U.S. Amateur. With a major breakthrough, the PGA TOUR rookie who has had trouble getting in tournaments this year and hasn't finished higher than 47th, could secure his future for the next five years.

"You can hit it far, you can hit it long, you can do all these different things, but you've got to be consistent day in and day out," Woods said when asked about Barnes' long road to the TOUR. "That's one of the reasons why he's changed his game and one of the reasons why I think you've seen him score much better now."

Glover, who played against Barnes in college but has had more success as a pro, had never made the cut in a U.S. Open before he came to Bethpage. His accurate and lengthy drives, though, have served him well. He's been resilient, too -- rebounding from a bogey-double bogey stretch at the turn with three birdies on the back to stay in touch with Barnes.

Glover and Barnes played together in the first two rounds of the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage and they're doing the same in the last two this year with much, much more at stake. It's a good pairing for the two friends, although the dry-witted Glover says Barnes was wearing "cooler" pants and acknowledges the crowd was clearly in his friend's corner.

"I don't think there's very many people that think I can or will do it anyway, so that's fine," Glover said candidly, hoping to let his clubs show differently on Sunday.

There certainly are plenty of people pulling for a victory by Phil Mickelson, though. The New York crowd has adopted him and offers encouragement at every turn -- as much for his wife Amy, recently diagnosed with breast cancer, as the man who wants to bring home the big silver trophy to put in her hospital room.

Mickelson is making plenty of birdies, too, including seven in the third round, four of which came in his final six holes. So if he can just eliminate the mistakes it wouldn't be out of the question to see Mickelson come from five strokes back to claim the third leg of the career Grand Slam after four runner-up U.S. Open finishes.

"If I get a hot round going, I can get a little momentum, absolutely, I feel like I can make up the difference," Mickelson, who has 16 holes remaining, said.

Woods is hardly waving the white flag of surrender, either. He's bidding to become just the second player in 70 years to successfully defend his U.S. Open title and the only player to do so in all four majors. Not to mention, close the gap on Jack Nicklaus' major record to just three.

Woods started the final round nine strokes behind -- which is significant because he has never rallied from more than five over the final round on TOUR. But he's played his first seven holes in 1 under to move to even for the tournament and when Barnes bogeyed the first hole, suddenly found himself just seven back.

"Obviously it's not totally in my control," Woods, who is running out of holes, said. "Only thing I can control is whether I play a good one or not."

So far, so good, and the others best do the same.