Lucas Glover played the steadiest all week, and was able to hold off several players to win the 109th U.S. Open. This automatically gives him a 10 year exemption into future U.S. Opens as well as a 5 year exemption to the Masters, British Open, PGA Championship, and the Players Championship.
Ricky Barnes came out of nowhere to lead the tournament, and at one point had his score to eleven under par with a six stroke lead. Unfortunately, the U.S. Open pressure got to him and he had a disastrous final round, shooting a six over par 76. Finishing in a tie for second is fantastic considering where he came from and gives him automatic exemption for the tournament next year at Pebble Beach.
The biggest surprise of the week had to be David Duval, who came to the tournament as the 882nd ranked player in the world. The ranking is quite misleading, however, as he was the number one player in the world a decade ago. He came back strong, and overcame a lot of bad breaks, including a ridiculous plugged lie under the lip of a bunker which lead to a triple bogey on his first hole of the final round. This was a great showing for Duval and hopefully he is back to stay.
Phil Mickelson made a great run but came up just short in the tournament that he wants the most. This was his 5th runner up finish in the U.S. Open and this would have been a great story had he been able to win for his wife Amy, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. There has been a huge amount of support for Phil and Amy and hopefully she will be recovered as soon as possible.
