Phil Mickelson is building momentum at the U.S. Open at Bethpage.
Lefty is now five back of the leaders. (AP/Morry Gash).
For the second straight year the U.S. Open will finish on a Monday.
With delays due to weather, the U.S. Open at Bethpage was called Sunday due to darkness, cutting the fourth and final round of golf short.
All 60 players who made the cut have begun the fourth round, which will resume at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, 6 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday.
Before the tournament started at Bethpage this weekend, Phil Mickelson said that he was playing to bring him the trophy to his cancer-stricken wife Amy.
On Sunday, Mickelson made his biggest gains to make that a reality.
Lefty shot a third round 69, scoring a birdie on four of the last six holes of the round. Mickelson shot par twice in the beginning of the fourth, leaving him at 2-under heading into Monday.
Mickelson is now just five back of co-leaders Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover, who both finished the day at 7-under.
Now the veteran, who made a similar charge in 2002, is set to make his run at Barnes and Glover.
“If there were 30 people ahead of me I would have to shoot 8?, 9? or 10?under par to have a chance; and there are two,” Mickelson told reporters Sunday. “If I get a hot round going, I can get a little bit of momentum, absolutely I feel like I can make up the difference.”
After shooting a record 8-under after 36 holes, the upstart Barnes has faltered a bit, shooting a third round 70 and bogeying the first hole of round four.
Glover, who has been paired with Barnes the entire tournament and has been just one or two strokes behind Barnes, also shot a third round 70, but scored par in the first hole of the fourth.
Defending champion Tiger Woods is seven behind the leaders, but has made a charge, shooting a 68 in round three.
Woods has played seven holes in the fourth round and is 1-under for the round.
San Diegan John Mallinger made the cut, but is 16 strokes behind the co-leaders.
Golf Examiners from around the country have coverage of the U.S. Open here.
For more info: For more on the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, visit the official website. Visit our Golf Examiner, Dave Seanor. Follow me on Twitter.
Comments