A worthy champ
posted by LW, Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I don't know Lucas Glover, but I wish I did after watching the aftermath of yesterday's U.S. Open and reading accounts of it.
Until yesterday, my perception of Glover was colored by the images I saw of him during golf tournaments: quiet, serious, and that's about it.
Didn't know he's read more books in the past week than I have in the past year. Didn't know he's serious about his wine and his music. Didn't know that, despite the soft-spoken exterior, he has a good and endearing sense of humor.
Glover, obviously, wasn't the fan favorite at Bethpage. But the Phil-crazed masses on hand probably walked away with a healthy dose of respect for Glover after listening to his interview with Bob Costas on the 18th green.
Here's a cool column from one of my former colleagues at The Post and Courier. Bryce Donovan is one of the funniest humor columnists I've read, and today he makes his debut on the sports pages to reflect on his friendship with Glover.
Things like this don't ever happen.
I mean, you dream they'll happen, but even in the dream you kind of know it's a stretch.
But then one of your best friends wins the U.S. Open by two shots and you're speechless. Absolutely lost. Should I call him? Text him? (I chose both.) In the haze that follows, you make another call to one of your work buddies to share your happiness and that's when it hits you: Oops. I was supposed to be sick today.
Ron Green Jr. of The Charlotte Observer was on hand to witness Glover's out-of-nowhere win. He also has some thoughts on Glover the person.
Sure, he doesn't smile a lot and he keeps his head down while he's playing golf but he earned this moment and a lot of people are happy for him.
He's not who you may think he is. Sure, he's a son of the south, living in Greenville, S.C., but he's a man of the world. Books. Wine. Music. Those are things Glover cares about.
Not as much as he cares about Clemson athletics but he lives in a big world.
Bob Gillespie of The State speaks with Glover's grandfather, Dick Hendley, plus Larry Penley and Jonathan Byrd.
Bart Wright weighs in on the hometown boy's triumph, and Penley says he knew Mickelson would pull his typical el-foldo act:
“He made a run, but he's still Phil Mickelson,” Penley said. “Honestly, I wasn't worried about Phil; I was worried a little bit about Tiger (Woods). If he got within a stroke or two, it might have got real interesting, but it just wasn't his week.”
Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News captures the sights, sounds and emotions of yesterday's climax.
Glover had taken it all on this day, taken the pressure of being in the last group of the Open, the pressure of trying to win his first major, the pressure of what Mickelson was doing up ahead of him.
He followed the birdie at 16 with a Hogan-like 4-iron into the 17th green. He wasn't going to leave his Open there the way Mickelson and Duval had. Glover is a right-to-left player, but now he played a left-to-right shot like a champ, the ball riding the wind. Made par there. Two up with one to play.
They were playing the tee up on No.18, mostly because of a Long Island Sound's worth of rain last week. Glover hit a 6-iron down the right side and a 9-iron to the back of the green, two-putted from there, hugged his caddie, his wife, his parents in that order.
Bill Rhoden of the New York Times says Glover was the right champion.
And Thomas Boswell of The Washington Post hits on how excruciating it must be for Mickelson to come up short yet again, all the while watching a relative unknown come out of nowhere to claim the Open trophy he covets.
As this day ended, the image of Mickelson was what remained most vivid. He could grasp that he hadn't won, but seemed stunned that the man ahead of him was Glover, who had never remotely contended in a major championship before.
"It's usually a progression [to win a major]. But it was very impressive play," said Mickelson, gracious. "I never saw him hit a shot."
Yes, but as he played the pivotal 17th hole, and Glover played the 16th hole just 200 yards away, Mickelson heard Glover play the most crucial hole of this Open. Those guttural groans of commiseration for Phil as Glover made his final birdie -- that may be the hard memory that Mickelson remembers longest.
Congrats to Glover, who has a lot more fans this week than he did last week. I consider myself one of the new ones.
LW
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Breaking away from Daddyland for a few minutes...
I don't know Lucas Glover, but I wish I did after watching the aftermath of yesterday's U.S. Open and reading accounts of it.
Until yesterday, my perception of Glover was colored by the images I saw of him during golf tournaments: quiet, serious, and that's about it.
Didn't know he's read more books in the past week than I have in the past year. Didn't know he's serious about his wine and his music. Didn't know that, despite the soft-spoken exterior, he has a good and endearing sense of humor.
Glover, obviously, wasn't the fan favorite at Bethpage. But the Phil-crazed masses on hand probably walked away with a healthy dose of respect for Glover after listening to his interview with Bob Costas on the 18th green.
Here's a cool column from one of my former colleagues at The Post and Courier. Bryce Donovan is one of the funniest humor columnists I've read, and today he makes his debut on the sports pages to reflect on his friendship with Glover.
Things like this don't ever happen.
I mean, you dream they'll happen, but even in the dream you kind of know it's a stretch.
But then one of your best friends wins the U.S. Open by two shots and you're speechless. Absolutely lost. Should I call him? Text him? (I chose both.) In the haze that follows, you make another call to one of your work buddies to share your happiness and that's when it hits you: Oops. I was supposed to be sick today.
Ron Green Jr. of The Charlotte Observer was on hand to witness Glover's out-of-nowhere win. He also has some thoughts on Glover the person.
Sure, he doesn't smile a lot and he keeps his head down while he's playing golf but he earned this moment and a lot of people are happy for him.
He's not who you may think he is. Sure, he's a son of the south, living in Greenville, S.C., but he's a man of the world. Books. Wine. Music. Those are things Glover cares about.
Not as much as he cares about Clemson athletics but he lives in a big world.
Bob Gillespie of The State speaks with Glover's grandfather, Dick Hendley, plus Larry Penley and Jonathan Byrd.
Bart Wright weighs in on the hometown boy's triumph, and Penley says he knew Mickelson would pull his typical el-foldo act:
“He made a run, but he's still Phil Mickelson,” Penley said. “Honestly, I wasn't worried about Phil; I was worried a little bit about Tiger (Woods). If he got within a stroke or two, it might have got real interesting, but it just wasn't his week.”
Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News captures the sights, sounds and emotions of yesterday's climax.
Glover had taken it all on this day, taken the pressure of being in the last group of the Open, the pressure of trying to win his first major, the pressure of what Mickelson was doing up ahead of him.
He followed the birdie at 16 with a Hogan-like 4-iron into the 17th green. He wasn't going to leave his Open there the way Mickelson and Duval had. Glover is a right-to-left player, but now he played a left-to-right shot like a champ, the ball riding the wind. Made par there. Two up with one to play.
They were playing the tee up on No.18, mostly because of a Long Island Sound's worth of rain last week. Glover hit a 6-iron down the right side and a 9-iron to the back of the green, two-putted from there, hugged his caddie, his wife, his parents in that order.
Bill Rhoden of the New York Times says Glover was the right champion.
And Thomas Boswell of The Washington Post hits on how excruciating it must be for Mickelson to come up short yet again, all the while watching a relative unknown come out of nowhere to claim the Open trophy he covets.
As this day ended, the image of Mickelson was what remained most vivid. He could grasp that he hadn't won, but seemed stunned that the man ahead of him was Glover, who had never remotely contended in a major championship before.
"It's usually a progression [to win a major]. But it was very impressive play," said Mickelson, gracious. "I never saw him hit a shot."
Yes, but as he played the pivotal 17th hole, and Glover played the 16th hole just 200 yards away, Mickelson heard Glover play the most crucial hole of this Open. Those guttural groans of commiseration for Phil as Glover made his final birdie -- that may be the hard memory that Mickelson remembers longest.
Congrats to Glover, who has a lot more fans this week than he did last week. I consider myself one of the new ones.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.