Barnes Extends Lead, Tiger and Phil Plummet at Bethpage

It wasn't supposed to be this easy. Never ever ever ever. This is Bethpage Black, where a sign hangs on the first hole telling you that if you aren't good, stay away. In the past four days, which has seen so much rain you'd feel like we were already at Turnberry, the Black course has been turned into a regular tour event, and Ricky Barnes, who has never won a professional event, is the one taking advantage.

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After setting the scoring record for 36 holes at a U.S. Open with his rounds of 67-65, Barnes birdied his second hole and poured in an improbable eagle on the fourth hole in the third round to be just the fourth man in the history of this tournament to get to double-digits under par, at 11-under. That list includes Gil Morgan in 1992, Tiger Woods in 2000 and Jim Furyk back in 2003. Two more birdie for Barnes and he will be the only player to ever be 13-under or better at a U.S. Open.

People that aren't taking advantage of the conditions are the top two golfers in the world. Tiger continues to fan iron shots and miss short putts, and even a "get outta here" chip-in on the par-3 17th, his eighth hole of the day, won't help the man get out of his 3-over hole. Maybe the bigger train wreck is Phil Mickelson, who has more on his mind than our current leader of the free world. Lefty looked to be in control the first two rounds, but the roller coaster has been in full effect at Bethpage in his third round. In his last seven holes, Phil has only made one par, coupled with three birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey.

Sean O'Hair mentioned before the third round started that this didn't feel like a U.S. Open, and the leaderboard justifies that. Of the top 14 leaders, there are only three major championship titles, and zero multiple major winners.