Glover grabs U.S. Open title with one key birdie

~ Mickelson made a charge, but couldn't hold on to the momentum.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Lucas Glover steadied his hands for a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole, an anticlimatic finish to five dreary days at a U.S. Open filled with more delays than drama.

The unlikely champion turned to soak up a beautiful sight beneath gathering clouds Monday at Bethpage Black.

"I just looked at the scoreboard to make sure this was really happening," Glover said.

Some 24,000 fans, speckled with mud from a long walk soiled, could relate.

Lucas Glover walks across the 18th green Monday before winning the U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park's Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. (CHARLES KRUPA ~ Associated Press)

Glover never lost the lead over the final 12 holes, even though the attention always was on someone else. He closed with a 3-over 73 for a two-shot victory in a U.S. Open that might be remembered more for the week than the winner.

The stage belonged to Phil Mickelson.

Lefty charged into a share of the lead with a startling bid to finally win the Open, his final event before a summer of uncertainty as his wife battles breast cancer. A fairy-tale finish turned all too familiar, however, when Mickelson missed two par putts over the last four holes and wound up setting the wrong kind of record by finishing second for the fifth time in the American national championship.

"Certainly I'm disappointed," Mickelson said. "But now that it's over, I've got more important things going on.

"And," he added, pausing, "oh, well."

Phil Mickelson takes a drop in the rough off the sixth fairway Monday during the final round of the U.S. Open. (MIKE GROLL ~ Associated Press)

Next came David Duval, out of nowhere. Winless in eight years, he ran off three straight birdies on the back nine to tie for the lead as the No. 882 player in the world tried to show why he was No. 1 a decade ago.

His hopes ended with a 5-foot par putt on the 17th that spun 180 degrees out of the cup, and his silver medal was no consolation.

"I stand before you certainly happy with how I played, but extremely disappointed in the outcome," Duval said. "I had no question in my mind I was going to win the golf tournament today."

Ricky Barnes was the long shot who didn't last very long with the 54-hole lead. He shot 40 on the front nine to turn over control to Glover, and wound up shooting a 76 to join Mickelson and Duval in a tie for second.

Glover didn't have a compelling storyline, just the kind of golf that wins a U.S. Open in any conditions.

He made only one birdie in the rain-delayed final round, and it could not have been timed any better. Tied for the lead with three holes to play, he split the middle of the fairway and had 173 yards left to the hole at No. 16.

It was a smooth 8-iron, like thousands he has hit on the driving range. It landed 6 feet from the cup.

"The putt was all you could ever ask for under pressure," Glover said.

His caddie, Don Cooper, helped him with the read and told him, "There's no way we're missing this."

"It would have went in a thimble," Cooper said.

Glover arrived at the 17th tee in time to see that Duval had made bogey and that Mickelson earlier had dropped a shot there, too. Suddenly, he was two shots ahead, and he made sure the U.S. Open didn't have a surprise ending.

The 18th tee was moved forward to play 364 yards, and the record will reflect that Glover hit a 6-iron off the tee and a 9-iron to the green on the final hole of his U.S. Open victory.

No matter. His name is on the trophy, right under Tiger Woods, in the same company as so many greats.