Winners and Losers, 2009 US Open

For the second straight year, the U.S. Open ended on a Monday. Nope, it wasn't the methodical boxing match that was Tiger Woods versus Rocco Mediate in 2008, but it did have nearly as much excitement, with a cast of characters as unlikely as Rocco taking down Woods. Besides the champion, who was the big winner at Bethpage Black, and who ended up a dud on Long Island?

Winners

Lucas Glover -- Well, obviously. You're talking about a man that had never played well in a single major championship, winning his first by two shots over some of the best names in golf. A guy that looked like he was going to fade away in his round after shooting a 38 on the front nine in the final round, only to play his final nine holes even par, including a clutch iron shot on the par-4 16th to set up his only birdie of the day. Sure, his final round 73 wasn't exactly scorching, but it didn't have to be. Glover put himself in a position to win the U.S. Open with his second round 64, only the 14th in U.S. Open history, and never seemed to let the bad shots get to him. Also, the way he drives the golf ball, you have to expect that another hot week in a big tournament could come for the 29-year-old. Also, Glover continued a streak dating back to last year, of players double-bogeying their first hole of the U.S. Open only to go on to win the tournament. First hole at Pebble Beach, the ball's in your court.

Phil Mickelson -- Say what you want about him coming up short, or his bogeys on two of his last four holes, but Mickelson nearly won the toughest test in golf when he had no business being anywhere near the top of that leaderboard. Phil came to Bethpage with a goal in mind, but with all the baggage Lefty had and all the on-again, off-again pressure that came with the five days of golf and bad weather, it's an incredible feat that Lefty even had a chance to claim his first U.S. Open. Sure, he's now the most famous bridesmaid in U.S. Open history, but he has more important things to deal with than another win. Phil's attitude at Bethpage was one everyone athlete should want to mimic, and even without a win, he brought a lot of joy to a golf tournament that seemed to drag on longer than expected.

David Duval -- Back in the middle of May, I wrote a piece titled, "Any Chance for a Duval Comeback?" David had just shot a 66 in the first round of the Valero Texas Open but it was a point worth chatting about. At Bethpage Black this week, I think we found our answer. Resilient really isn't a strong enough word for Duval's golf at the 2009 U.S. Open. Duval played his front nines this week at Bethpage a combined 6-over par, which was low-lighted by an unlucky triple-bogey to start his round on Monday. Most would have wilted after that. "It just isn't my week," a lot of golfers would have said after their ball plugged under a lip on the first shot of their final round. Duval bounced back with five birdies over his next 13 holes, and was a nasty horseshoe lip-out on the 17th hole away from putting serious pressure Glover. If you had forgotten what made Duval the top golfer in the world at one point, go replay his final round from Monday. He didn't get bothered, he made all but one clutch putts and his confidence level might be riding high for the first time in eight years.

The Bethpage Grounds Crew -- Like offensive linemen, the grounds crew at golf tournaments usually only get mentioned when things go wrong. This week, they deserve all the praise in the world. Conditions on Thursday and Saturday were horrendous, but the crew did all they could do to make it playable, and if not for the world "mud ball," they probably wouldn't have received a single negative comment all week. From what I heard about the course, it was a swamp, but the crew made it a playable golf tournament, and kudos to everyone involved. I'm sure none of them are reading this since Tuesday is the first time they've slept in five days.

Losers

Ernie Els -- It seems like an eternity since Ernie Els won two U.S. Opens in four years. Playing in the tournament that made him a star in the mid-90s, Els played so poorly at Bethpage Black that 11 of the 15 amateurs in the field bested him. His rounds of 78-77 put him eight places from last. Ernie made three birdies in his two rounds at the Black Course, offset by nine bogeys and five double-bogeys. He has now had just one top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since early March, and his golf game looks as far from "easy" as possible.

Padraig Harrington -- Padraig, please, for the love of Irish golf, GIVE UP ON THE SWING CHANGE! The man that won back-to-back major championships last year at the British and PGA has nearly as many missed cuts (6) in 2009 as made ones (7). His rounds of 76-76 came alongside Tiger Woods and Angel Cabrera, who looked legitimately annoyed at times on Thursday and Friday waiting for Harrington to hit. Padraig is now ranked 186th on tour in total driving, 176th in greens in regulation and a measly 129th in putting average. I'd say that is the trifecta of abysmal golf.

Geoff Ogilvy -- His opening rounds of 73-67 made most experts that picked the Australian to claim his second U.S. Open title a genius. It seemed that even with the bad draw, Ogilvy had weathered the storm (sorry for the weak pun) and now was in a position to start making some birdies and move up the leaderboard. A third round 77 that included just one birdie followed by a final round 75 with just one birdie meant Geoff was 12-over in his final two rounds and far from the composed, together golfer we had all expected to see defeat Bethpage.

Mother Nature -- You couldn't have just left us alone, could you? Mud, rain, storms, wind and more rain basically made Bethpage unplayable for the first three days. If not for that impressive job by the grounds crew, the Black course would have been a really nice, extremely difficult, puddle. At one point during Jason Sobel's live chat on Thursday, a reader sent a picture of what Turnberry, site of this year's British Open, looked like. Beautiful, sunny, without the slightest hint of a rain cloud. Don't you worry. I'm sure when it's time to tee it up near Ailsa Craig next month, the rain will be pounding down on the links.