There is Joy in Mudville at the U.S. Open

Here we are three days into the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black with only a little over two rounds having been played. All three days have ended in transition, some players competing in one of the first three rounds and others not at all.

One thing is certain the cut finally came late Saturday.

Of the 156 golfers that started the tournament with the dream of becoming the national champion of the United States only 60 remain in the running.

One other thing is certain.

There is joy in Mudville for a variety of reasons.

Records are being broken and broken again as the tournament progresses.

Mike Weir was on track Saturday to set a new record for the lowest score of the opening 36 holes in a U.S. Open. After an opening six-under 64 on Friday he went the wrong direction with an evening two-over front nine.

He rallied Saturday morning with three birdies to get on track to beat the record of seven-under 133 before bogeying the 16th hole getting to the clubhouse.

Lucas Glover finished up a second round 64 on Saturday to follow a first round 69 to tie the 36 hole record set by Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh at the 2003 U.S. Open contested at Olympia Fields outside of Chicago.

Then later in the day Saturday Ricky Barnes, the 2002 U.S. Amateur Champion posted a 65 that combined with his first round 67 set the new record at eight-under 132.

Canadian Nick Taylor equaled the U.S. Open record for low score by an amateur with a five-under 65, matching the 65's carded by James McHale (1947) and James Simons (1971).

With Ricky Barnes (minus eight), Lucas Glover (minus seven) and Mike Weir (minus six) atop the leader board at the conclusion of play early in the third round at the end of Saturday another reason for joy is that of the play of David Duval.

"Double-D" opened with a three-under 67 in the first round showing the talent he possesses and demonstrated way back when to win 13 PGA TOUR victories including the last tournament he won—the 2001 British Open at Royal Lyntham & St. Annes in England.

The previous world No. 1 golfer opened the second round by missing a short birdie putt and then bogeying three holes in a row and four of the next five holes.

He looked like an unranked amateur muffing a little chip shot into the easy par-five 4th signature hole. Then he chipped through the green and was lucky to walk away with a one-putt bogey.

He could have folded but he did not.

He gutted it out and made a 30-footer for birdie on the longest par-four ever in U.S. Open history. He has never lost his touch on the greens.

Nor has he lost his length off the tee. After a monstrous drive on No. 11 he pitched close for a tap-in birdie.

He went on to birdie the par-five 13th hole and finished the round with another laser iron and 20-foot putt on the difficult finishing hole at Bethpage Black.

He started with four bogeys and finished with four birdies shooting an even par 70 to remain at three-under and tied for 4th place with Peter Hanson and Azuma Yano.

There is joy coming from Europe as Lee Westwood (minus two, T7) and Sergio Garcia (E, T17) still in the hunt to end the European drought in the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin's victory in 1970 at Hazeltine GC.

Finally there is joy in the ranks of all golfers long in their golfing years.

It turns out the "Heartbreak Gang of Three" has heart and all three members made the cut.

Rocco Mediate, the playoff loser to Tiger Woods last year at Torrey Pines, Kenny Perry who lost the Masters with a two stroke lead with two holes to play and Tom Lehman who played in the final group in four consecutive U.S. Opens without winning even one played together in the heartbreak pairing.

Even Fred Funk age 53 made the cut to further demonstrate age is only the factor you think it is in the game of golf.

There is magic in the ability of the grounds crew in being able to prepare and maintain the golf course despite torrential rains.

Hopefully, they will do their magic one more time overnight. The field including the 20 players yet to tee off in the third round will complete 36 holes and the 109th U.S. Open on Sunday.

Then there will really be joy in Mudville.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]