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An amazing 109th US Open that like last year once again drifted on to the reserve Monday saw 29-year old unheralded American Lucas Glover clinch his first Major at Bethpage Black, New York.

The South Carolina native who had never before made the cut at the event held his nerve to shoot a 3-over 73 beating the trio of Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Ricky Barnes by two strokes on a thrilling evening of golf.

Mickelson had an outstanding morning to come from 5 strokes back to take a share of the lead with Glover on a couple of occasions in what would have been a real life fairytale come true. Phil birdied the 9th and 11th, before hitting a sumptuous drive on the 13th that took him to 5-feet of an eagle putt which he d uly sank to join Glover at 4-under for the championship. By this stage the fanatical Mickelson support at the Championship was approaching 'Ewing vs. Jordan' levels as a chant of 'Lets go Phil' ran through the galleries. However in true Mickelson fashion two bogeys at the 15th and 17th pushed him two behind Glover, and he ended the day at an even par 70, for his fifth 2nd place finish at the US Open.

It was an amazing tournament for David Duval as well, as the 2001 Open Championship winner came back from nowhere, ranked 882nd in the World after many dismal years on the tour to slip into contention for a major right out of the blue. Duval too started Monday on 2-under, stranded on the 3rd overnight. After starting the day with a triple bogey to disappear from everyone's radar, Duval played brilliantly on the back nine, hitting three consecutive birdies on 14th through 16th as all around him were dropping shots left, right and center. He joined Mickelson and Glover at 3-under for the lead momentarily, but an unfortunate bogey on the 17th (where his par putt burned the lip) pushed him back one just as Glover hit a birdie on 16th to regain his two stroke advantage. Maybe the tournament didn't end as he would have hoped, but it was truly a delight to watch Duval in full flow after so long. "I'm pleased and encouraged with how I played, but disappointed with the result. I came in this week wanting to win this," said Duval.

However, the disappointment of the day had to be overnight co-leader Ricky Barnes who shot a bogey riddled last round of 76 to drop out of contention, till a late charge and misses from the chasing pack brought him back in with a slender chance. Barnes held sole leader at 7-under when Glover dropped a shot on the 3rd, and held onto a one-shot lead on the 5th when the pair of them made bogeys. However that was the beginning of the end for Barnes as the bogeys flowed like water from a tap as he made four consecutive ones to drop to 3-under and two shots behind Glover. Glover made it interesting dropping a shot himself on the 9th, but a series of pars through to 15th kept him in the lead. Barnes dropped another couple of shots on the 11th & 12th, his last for the day, as finally with the pressure off him, he started to play more like his usual self, and came close on a number of occasions to actually head back up the leaderboard. Barnes even had a birdie putt on the 18th, to put pressure on Glover who was putting second, which he pushed agonizingly wide. A fantastic three and a half days for the former US Amateur champion, but a case of so near but yet so far. As the result sank in, Barnes said, "At the end of the day, if you have told me I would be two under and finished second in the U.S. Open, I would have taken it. But I'm a little bit bummed."

Tiger Woods finished the day at 1-under to end level for the championship, and shared the clubhouse lead with Dane Hansen as the final three groups played out the drama that unfolded. Consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th were the highlights of his day, and at 1-under going into the 15th the great man looked like he just might have a chance to sneak an improbable win. However the superman of golf too dropped a shot on the 15th, and he never really picked up any momentum thereafter. Speaking after finishing his round a disappointed Woods said, "I gave myself so many chances, and I made nothing. To miss that many putts, well, I missed them all week. It's just the way it is."

Glover, who was left with a three putt to win on the last hole, truly set the tournament alight with a 6-under 64 in the second round to follow up on his opening round 69. He made eight of nine pars on the back nine today to hang on to his slender lead, and didn't let the big names appearing next to his at different stages on the home stretch affect his performance. "It was a test of patience today," said Glover as he accepted the trophy. "It was tough, we got the full value of the course. But the golf course played fantastic and it was just hard."

Speaking about handling the pressure Glover added, "I'd be lying to say I wasn't nervous. I had the knees knocking pretty good on 16, 17 and 18. But I pulled it off and executed some pretty good golf shots."

File Photograph Copyright: Russ Glasson (Glover), Eric Yaillen/OGA (Barnes)