Monday, June 22, 2009

Can Barnes Hold Off Field For Open Championship?

The U.S. Open Championship concludes today--hopefully--as Ricky Barnes tries to put a disastrous third-round behind him and hold off co-leader Lucas Glover in the conclusion of the final round at Bethpage Black. Barnes held a six-shot lead at one time on Sunday during the third round, but slipped to a tie for the lead at 7-under-par when play was halted due to darkness. Barnes and Glover enter the day with a five-shot lead, but both are rookies when it comes to dealing with the immense pressure of contending in a major.

Among the notables chasing the leaders are Phil Mickelson, who sits five shots back after making a couple of long birdies to close the third round. David Duval, winless since 2001, also sits five behind and has played steadily throughout the tournament. What a great story it would be if the one-time British Open champ could make a run on Monday. Tiger Woods, who at one time was 15 strokes behind the leader, sits at even par with 11 holes to play after a frustrating Sunday with the putter.

The Open is undoubtedly my favorite golf tournament of the year--with the British coming in a close second. But for whatever reason--most likely because of the inclement weather--it's been hard for me to really be intrigued by this year's edition. Let's hope that this year's Monday play is as exciting as last year's when Tiger outlasted Rocco Mediate in an epic 19-hole playoff.

You can follow the leaderboard throughout the day here for your comprehensive hole-by-hole coverage.

On the tennis circuit, the Championships at Wimbledon is underway as Roger Federer, James Blake and Maria Sharapova, among others, take the court today at the All-England Club. Federer looks to coast to another Wimbledon title with ailing number-one seed Rafael Nadal missing this year's tournament with a bum knee.

Follow match-by-match results here all day long.

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