Sunday Live U.S. Open Blog

All times Pacific because this is where the U.S. Open will be played 3 of the next 6 years, meaning they won't have to tee off at 3 to give Dateline a strong lead in audience...

10:06 - Here we go, skies are clear, the trophy is about to burn up in some steel mill and the over-under on reminders about Tiger never coming from behind to win a major is set at 4.

10:08 - Dan Hicks just called the 18th at Oakmont the 18th at Winged Foot. We knew what he was getting at.

10:09 - Oh, first Tiger has never come from behind to win a major mention. 1 down, 4 to go.

10:17 - Dan Hicks: "Vijay Singh is getting ready..." Vijay kisses unidentified woman not resembling his wife...dead silence.

10:27 - Think we could find some money in the USGA budget to clean up those 1973 U.S. Open films? I know, I know...we have presidential jet fuel to pay for.

10:35 - Fred Funk on No. 8 which is playing 300 yards today. "Hard to believe that this is where we have arrived." -Dan Hicks. Funk hits the green!

10:37 - Steve Elling files a Sportsline piece on the USGA's bold and potentially exciting final day setup.

10:43 - Where's Marty Hackel when you need him? Uh that mock Tiger's wearing looks like it was painted on him! And as usual, he pops out of the Buick in his spikes with the glove in the back pocket ready to go.

10:47 - The Bobby Weed design at Glen Mills that NBC is featuring is supposed to be really cool. Uh, why do I have the feeling this feature is leading to...uh there he is, President Driver faking a smile! He is so ecstatic about Glen Mills. We have a grants program for "local champions." Making the game more affordable and accessible. Walter looks down as he says that! Hmmm... And now we go to the graphic with future venues, Pinehurst, Happy Father's Day...he took his 20-month-old to the putting green. Grandson? Son? Wow, that was, thankfully we never have to do that again.

10:53 - Gary Koch makes it two mentions on Tiger never winning a major from behind! 2 down, 2 to go!

11:00 - Oh jeese Jimmy Roberts in shorts after a fun feature on Forrest Fezler wearing shorts in the Open. And you thought the pink sweater vest was bad.

11:06 - Did you know that Zach Johnson is just a midwestern guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

11:23 - Johnny 63 feature: "I would love to see a great round" today. Uh...but not a 63!

11:38 - Tim Rosaforte works through his entire segment without looking at his security blank...his cards.

11:40 - Where's Marty Hackel when you need him, volume 2: Bubba's Shrek visor. Wow.

11:43 - Tiger's hitting practice bunker shots. Doesn't that contradict the whole being positive thing?

12:00 - Tiger is ripped. Tiger rips driver down the center despite Roger Maltbie's call that it's going to miss the fairway right.

12:04 - Johnny: Tiger's Sunday final round, final group scoring average: 69.5 And never shot over par.

12:07 - Wow, Badds triple bogey on 1, Johnny: "Even Tiger feels sorry for him." Well, let's not go too far there Johnny.

12:23 - Tiger carries it 307 and misses holing it by 5 feet! Ends up in the back bunker and now appears to have no shot. Badds lays up, hits a nice approach. Aren't short par-4's great?

12:33 - Cabrera joins Ames and Tiger at +4, Baddelay one back. Dumps 9 iron into front bunker on 6.

12:41 - Tiger from the center of No. 3 fairway hits it over and down the hill, same with Badds. Cabrera bogies 6, and the flags are starting to blow. Stricker lurking at +5 after birdies on 4 and 5. Wild.

12:49 - Johnny notes the proficiency of the Aussie's on bump and run's after Baddeley's brilliant recovery on 3. Tiger then hits a squirrelly skull, leaving a chip coming back for par that he fluffs. Double bogey. Ames and Stricker are your leaders.

1:00 - Dottie notes that the breeze has really started to pick up. The sun's still out at least...what are those colorful blips I see west of town on the radar?

1:15 - Tiger grimaces at fairway lie on 5, but miraculously carries the hazard in front of the green and grinds out a par. Meanwhile Cabrera birdies the 300-yard 8th to take the lead.

1:16 - Casey had to go backwards out of the bunker on 6 and Johnny's wondering why he didn't play it back more toward the tee. Yeah, play right to that knee high fescue maybe!

1:30 - Cabrera's bogey on 9 makes it a 5-way tie for the lead, at least for the moment: Tiger, Cabrera, Ames, Baddeley, Stricker. But not for long. Ames is making a mess of 7.

1:34 - Did you know that Zach Johnson is just a midwestern guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

1:49 - Tiger makes par from the fairway bunker on 7, Badds makes double NOT taking an unplayable from an unplayable. Wow. Stricker is butchering 10. Tiger and Cabrera showdown?

1:57 - Cabrera at +4 after taking forever to hit his birdie putt on 11, Woods at +5, Furyk at +6, Stricker, Rose and Baddeley at +7. 

2:00 - I swing like a girl ads are back! I think the old man and the kid are due next. By the way, did you know that Zach Johnson is just a...sorry.

2:07 - For those of you hoping to see Dateline at it's allotted time, try next week. Tiger and Badds are at 2:10 through the tee shot on 9. 

2:15 - Cabrera hits it 397 on 12, Johnny says it may be the longest drive hit on the PGA Tour this year. Guess we need to tell Johnny about the PGA Tour's Longest Drive stat. 

2:21 - Johnny notes that the last three groups are a combined 25 over par with Badds and Tiger making the turn at a lightning 2:20 pace! Graphic also says that there are 2 rounds under par today, 1 at even and 60 over par.  

2:23 - Cabrera pars 12, stays 1 up on Tiger, three up on Furyk, four up on Bubba, Badds and Verplank.

2:26 - Cabrera sticks 8 iron on the 183-yard 13th about 12 feet away. Tiger close on 10. Looking like a two-man race.

2:32 - Dan Hicks reads plug for Lexus sponsored online post round wrapup. Johnny: "All these players were treated to a Lexus for the week. Really tough." No Johnny, tough is listening to you plug product you are paid to plug! 

2:37 - Cabrera attempts to lay up with a lofted club on 14, hits it in a leftside fairway bunker.  Tiger one ups him by hitting 115 yard approach on 11 into the greenside bunker. Furyk misses par putt on 12 to move to +8. No one wants to win!

2:43 - Tiger bogies 11, Cabrera has a two shot lead.  Breaks out a cigarette after a good tee shot on 15.

2:52 - Cabrera stiffs it on 15! Hicks calls it a "kick in birdie." Rolfing notes how much spin he was able to get out of the intermediate rough. Overheard on USGA walkie talkies: can we ban u grooves retroactively? 

2:56 - NBC300 cam captures Tiger's epic swing on 12 after his 393 yard drive. Furyk birdies 14 to move within 2...until Cabrera drains the birdie on 15!!  He's three under on the day with three to go!

2:58 - Grandstand crowd gives Cabrera a standing ovation on 16 tee. Nice touch.

2:59 - Rosaforte gets Roberto DiVincenzo on the phone for some nice background on his countryman Cabrera.

3:02 - If you want to learn more about Angel Cabrera set to some really cheesy music, check out his web site. Knowledge of Spanish will help. 

3:04 - Cabrera finally gets to tee off on 16, 8 minutes after stepping on the tee.  Gets to see Furyk stiff it on 15. Rolfing and Johnny say go to the center of the green, but Koch says it's a tough two putt. He misses green short. Rolfing calls it a "monster" putt. Koch says it's a 90 footer, Johnny says he could putt it off the green.

3:09 - Hey, I just learned this. Did you know that Zach Johnson is just a midwestern guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

3:10 - Split screen, Cabrera hits the monster putt about 10 feet, Furyk birdies 15! 

3:12 - Tiger misses birdie putt on 13 and Johnny and Hicks say it's just gotten a lot tougher for him to do this. Uh, last I looked, he has more holes to play than Furyk and he's only 2 back after Cabrera's bogey on 16!? 

3:14 - Current stroke average on 16: 3.519! 

3:15 - Koch notes that Cabrera has made two bogies and a par on 17 as he lays up in the fairway on top.

3:20 - Several Oakmont members just called Tim Rosaforte to ask if Angel can be penalized two shots for throwing a burning cigarette into the rough. 

3:21 - Tiger hits uninspired approach into 14. Furyk with the lengthy putt for birdie...almost pulls off a Larry Nelson as the NBC gang noted nicely with video. 

3:23 - Cabrera flubs the chip on 17, as Tiger stands over the birdie putt on 14 two back, Furyk on 17 tee 1 back.  

3:26 - "That's a nervous 5." Johnny Miller after Cabrera's bogey. Tiger drives it in the intermediate cut on 15. Furyk pulls out driver on 17, and goes left. Dottie notes that a cousin of Furyk's is a former club champion and they had talked about conservative lines of play before the tournament. Wow. Cabrera stripes it down 18! Wow!

3:31 - 18 is averaging 4.647! 

3:32 - Bubba birdies 16, moves to +7, two back with two to play... 

3:34 - Cabrera drives it 346 on 18, has 138 left and hits it about 20 feet past the hole. Furyk has horrible lie left of 17, advances it closer to the green but still in rough. 

3:38 - Johnny says Furyk hands Cabrera a "huge gift" by trying to drive 17. Also notes bad break for Cabrera that Appleby is "making a mess" of 18 and taking forever.

3:39 - Split screen, Furyk misses his par putt to go to +6, Tiger makes his at 15 to stay +6. Both trail Cabrera by 1. 

3:41 - Cabrera two putts! HD users get to see it in really jittery definition signal, just slightly jittery and lousy for us digital folks. 

3:45 - The dreaded hole in one USGA ad makes its appearance, the horns as schmatzy as ever! 

3:46 - Bubba gets in trouble in rough left of 17 green. A shame they didn't have more short grass around that green.  

3:53 - Furyk eliminated, Tiger pars 16, stays 1 back. Should he drive 17??? 

3:57 - Jimmy Roberts essay. Uh, what's Tiger doing??? Standing on 17 tee. What club has he pulled. Ugh.

4:00 - Tiger pulls three wood on 17 tee.  Puts it in the front right bunker.

4:03 - Dan Hicks mentions Tiger's never won a major coming from behind. Shoot, I lost count but that's at least the 5th mention by now!

4:04 - Cabrera declines NBC's interview request. Can you blame him? 

4:10 - Tiger's bunker shot ends up in the intermediate cut, settles down. Now has a few feet for par. Meanwhile, Angel sticks his Ping cap in the camera. They make u-grooved irons don't they? 

4:11 - Maltbie says its 5-6 feet for par for Tiger. He nails it.

4:14 - Is it just my cable or is your picture pretty lousy too?

4:17 - Somehow I don't picture the "millionaire's lifestyle" that The Villages is promoting includes rollerskating down a hill with other oldies, or watching a really bad version of Cabaret. 

4:20 - Uh for those of you tuning in to watch Dateline, it's going to be another 20 minutes at least.

4:21 - Stevie says he doesn't have to worry about it flying. The lie looks awful. Sure wish we could see him his this shot without such a goofy lie. He hits a great shot. No spin. Damn v-grooves...oh wait, that's 2009!

4:25 - Did you catch Roger Maltbie sandwiched in between the photographers shaking his head? Ugly scrum out there right now! 

4:28: Tiger's putt never had a chance. Angel wins! He's been on the cusp of so many...well this major! 

4:30 - But hey, Tiger and Badds nailed, 4:30 on the button for a twosome. Good times!

4:31 - NBC notes Angel Cabrera joins the list making the U.S. Open his first PGA Tour win as well. And just think of the FedEx Cup points Angel! 

4:35 - Tiger: "Angel played a beautiful round of golf." "Never really got a bunch of putts under the whole where I could take a wrap at them." "I only had one three putt." 

4:38 - My NBC signal continues to be awful, fine on the other channels. Two more readers confirm the same thing.  

4:40 - Could the club officials behind Cabrera and Driver look any more pissed?  

4:44 - NBC signs off. Just 44 minutes long!