2009 U.S. Open Clippings, Monday Final Round Edition

Doug Ferguson's game story and his lede:

Halfway through his third round, Ricky Barnes had a six-shot lead and a smile to match in the U.S. Open. Ten holes later, with darkness gathering, he couldn't get off Bethpage Black fast enough.

Larry Dorman's NY Times story includes a revealing image of Ricky Barnes after his first hole bogey (before halting of play) and this lede:

The 15 hours of daylight during the year’s longest day was not enough to illuminate a finish to the soggy United States Open at Bethpage Black on Sunday. But just before it died, it lighted the corners and cracks of the games of the co-leaders Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover and gave some insight into what may happen on Monday when final round continues at 9 a.m.

Thomas Bonk on Phil Mickelson's state of mind. Sean Martin also weighs in on Phil. As does Bill Pennington.

Bob Harig on the final pairing. You'll love finding out who Barnes is sandwiched between on the world ranking.

John Strege tells us things we might not know about Ricky Barnes. I definitely forgot about his interesting path to the final pairing of the US Open.

Ian Poulter Tweets from the course (between rounds) to show us mud on his ball. The heartbreaking image is here.

SI digs up a 2003 profile of Barnes.

Gary Van Sickle makes final round picks.

Bill Fields reminds us of some other strange majors while Steve Elling says this one is pretty much the worst, not that it's anyone's fault.

Mark Soltau compiles the best quotes of the day.

TV Times are here.

And mopping a few items missed yesterday:

Michael Buteau talks to Pete Bevacqua of the USGA about the importance of Tiger Woods to golf: “He’s our own TARP money." And shares this:

Because organizers sold less than 50 hospitality tents, which range in price from $32,500 for a table of 12 inside a course-side pavilion to $230,000 for a 40-foot-by-40-foot shelter, the association was left with about 1,500 additional daily and weekly ticket packages to sell to the public.

The tents that were sold remain shrouded in anonymity. There are no visible marquees because the occupants do not want to be known.

“Everybody is afraid of being seen out here,” Bevacqua said. “Until people understand how effective a tool this is, corporations will still use this as a tool, but they don’t want to draw attention or exposure to themselves.”

Newsday notes on Tiger's hecklers Saturday.

"We're on Long Island, baby, where men are men!" one fan yelled. "Put that umbrella down!" The taunts were mixed with cheers from the majority of the crowd. Woods did not respond to the people who were heckling him but tried to quiet the crowd with a "sshh" hand gesture, putting his finger to his lips, as golfers prepared to tee off on the adjacent 12th tee. "Suck it up, you've got your own video game!" someone shouted at Woods.

The best sports fans in the world.