There's nothing routine about this U.S. Open

Golfers thrive on routine, but the starts and stops at the 2009 U.S. Open have thrown off many of the most talented golfers. The weather delays are testing players both physically and mentally at Bethpage Black. 

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Maybe this is how the U.S. Open should be contested. Not purely a contest of physical skills, of being able to avoid treacherous rough or conquer monstrous yardages -- or both. 

Maybe it should be a contest that challenges your mental capabilities, your ability to adapt and deal with sudden changes in your routine. After all, the best golfers are all about routine, hitting the same shot with the same swing to the same place. It's automatic. Golfers thrive on routine. Golfers win championships because of routine.

This 109th U.S. Open, of course, has been anything but routine. The weather gods have seen to that with the kind of rainy conditions this week that had one Long Island cabbie complaining Saturday morning in his thickest New York accent, "God must hate us."

Many players, such as Tiger Woods, started their rounds, then had to stop. Other players have had to sit and twiddle their thumbs -- some on video games, no doubt, others with the remote controls in front of the hotel TV set -- for hours on end. Tee times have changed, players are guessing at what times to practice and warm up, the 36-hole leaderboard has been greatly influenced -- fairly or not -- by what end of the draw you were in.

Winning an U.S. Open shouldn't be easy. It should be survival. And survival this week has not been limited to beating par on the golf course.

"It's been a lot of starting and stopping this week," said Mike Weir, who was in the better part of the draw and finished his 36 holes in third place at 6 under. "It's just been a test of patience and trying to be in the right state of mind each time you come out ... It's difficult for everybody."

Take the case of Northern Ireland sensation Rory McIlroy, who is playing in his first U.S. Open. He was in the afternoon group for the first round and didn't play a single hole Thursday. He then played 30 holes on a long day Friday, went to bed at 11 p.m., then woke up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday to finish his second round with six more holes. He then went back to bed, albeit knowing that a long sleep would not be possible, since the weather needed to be monitored to determine when his third round would start.

Of course, 20-year-olds aren't immune to crazy hours, but rarely is a major golf championship on the line. Maybe just a college exam. Or a kegger.

"It throws you a bit off your rhythm," said McIlroy, who was inside the cut line at 2 over. "I know everyone says just take it one hole at a time, but you really do in these circumstances because you don't know how many holes you're going to get."

Perhaps the start-stop conditions are a way of balancing out a Bethpage Black course that has yielded some surprisingly low scores, including Ricky Barnes' 36-hole U.S. Open record of 8 under. The wet conditions have made the pins quite attractive to attack. But while you may be able to take dead aim at the pins, there's no telling WHEN you'll be able to do it.

Lack of routine was definitely reflected in the 36-hole leaderboard after the second round officially ended just after 4 p.m. Barnes, who has missed six of 12 cuts on the PGA TOUR this year and is still seeking to fulfill the promise he showed when winning the 2002 U.S. Amateur, was joined in the coming-out-of-nowhere group by Japan Tour pro Azuma Yano, Canadian amateur Nick Taylor and former British Open winner David Duval, whose rise to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings seems eons ago (actually, it was the late '90s).

Each of those players were at least 2 under entering the third round, exhibiting the kind of adaptability that other, more worldly pros -- such as major winners Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson and Ernie Els, each of whom missed the cut -- failed to show this week.

"It's not ideal, but it is what it is," Duval said. "You play when you're told to play and you do your best to be fully prepared and mentally ready."

But how can Duval be prepared and ready after his struggles for so many years? His last win was the 2001 British Open. The next year, he had just two top-10 finishes. Since the start of the 2003 season, he's had zero top-10s and has disappeared off the map for long stretches.

At Bizarro Bethpage Black, where the routine has been replaced by upheaval, where Barnes was 11 strokes ahead of Tiger Woods through the first two rounds (let that sink in), maybe the time is now for Duval to jump back in the spotlight.

"I'd really like for my wife and my family to see how I can actually play this game," Duval said. "They haven't seen me at my best, and I want them to."

In other words, Duval wants to change what has become routine for him the past few years. And perhaps this U.S. Open leaderboard is destined to be anything but routine, which for the past years in the majors has generally meant, well, Tiger.

Of course, this tournament is barely halfway done. The 36-hole leaders will now have the longest day Sunday -- which, coincidentally, is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. In a race to get this tournament finished by the end of the day, Sunday will be anything but routine.

"You just kind of have to go with the flow," said Taylor, the Canadian amateur.

The one who does that the best may very well end up as Bethpage's champion.