Ricky Barnes Leads the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black

Who?

Not Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, or Padraig Harrington, who have won a total of 20 Majors?

What do you mean?

Not a rising star like Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Casey, or Ian Poulter?

C'mon—I must be dreaming, right?

This wet and soggy U.S. Open may go on forever and then a day.

Am I dreaming?

Third-round play started very late Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and was suspended at 7:09 p.m.

Ricky Barnes?

I remember him from the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields outside of Chicago.

The one that Jim Furyk won.

Barnes, at the time, was a huge, chiseled V-shaped strapping youth all of 22-years-young.

This kid was bigger than Gaston in Beauty and the Beast.

His invitation to play in the U.S. Open back then?

He was the 2002 United States Amateur Champion from Stockton, California who played college golf at the University of Arizona and was a First-team All-American.

The 6'2'', 200-pounder beat Hunter Mahan in the final match 2-and-1 at Oakland Hill CC—site of last year's PGA Championship; The one won by Padraig Harrington, who missed the cut yesterday at Bethpage Black.

Earlier in 2003, he was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament. He outscored his playing partner Tiger Woods by seven shots in the opening round and finished T21.

Where has he been these past six years?

Grinding, grinding, and more grinding it out trying to make it to this stage in his golfing career.

After a T59 finish at Olympia Fields, he played in the British Open and missed the cut.

After turning professional he managed to play in six more tournaments and missed all six cuts.

He went from college prodigy to playing less PGA Tour events and more Nationwide Tour events, and then exclusively Nationwide Tour events.

But he kept grinding over the years, playing full time on the Nationwide Tour and keeping the dream alive. The progression: 2004- 15 starts; 2005- 16 starts; 2006- 28 starts and T86 at Q-School; 2007- 30 starts; 2008- 26 starts.

He was PGA Tour-driven, as the slogan goes.

Finally, he made it, and just barely, as a rookie on the PGA Tour after placing 25th on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list.

Only the top 25 receive PGA Tour cards.

Now he plays exclusively on the PGA Tour.

He has not won anything except that 2002 U.S. Amateur.

No PGA Tour victories, no Nationwide Tour victories.

Now he is leading the U.S. Open at the midpoint, after following an opening round 67 with a 65.

The first question in his first interview yesterday at Bethpage?

What does setting the scoring record for 36 holes at a U.S. Open mean to him?

How about: Where have you been Ricky Barnes?

Good to see you again.

His response to the question?

"If you would have told me I would have been 8-under and only one shot lead, I would have said, 'You're kidding me,' but I'll take it. It was solid play. And I'm happy with in the position I'm at."

No kidding. Take it and run with it all the way to the champion's presentation whenever this tournament is over. Maybe next Tuesday or Wednesday?

"With the stop and restart of play, it's been awkward."

Awkward?

Hard to deal with. Okay, got it.

Barnes has missed the cut in 6-of-12 PGA Tour events played this year.

His best finish is T47 at last week's St. Jude Classic.

Actually his best finish was when he shot nine-under at sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open in Columbus, Ohio. He went toe-to-toe with all the PGA Tour regulars playing in Jack's Memorial Tournament and survived.

This marks the first time Ricky Barnes has led a PGA Tour event after any round.

How about "surprising?"

Due to his being the last place in from the Nationwide Tour, and his poor play to date this year, Barnes' opportunities to play have been limited.

"It's tough to foresee something happening when you play two weeks and you ride the bench for two weeks because you're not getting any tournaments."

"Three years ago I finished bridesmaid in the Nationwide Tour to get my card. And obviously last year I was kind of the guy that snuck in."

"I've grown up. I obviously thought after my college career I'd be out here (on the PGA Tour) right away."

"You get kind of thrown into the pack of wolves and go to Q school and you have to earn it. But I like it. The only guy I can blame is the guy in the mirror and that's why I love this sport."

 
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really pissed off the first two or three years. And seeing other guys that you played with getting out there and playing well."

"The guys you know you competed against in every tournament and every step of the way and they're out there and you're struggling just to kind of get conditional status on the Nationwide Tour."

Who could have foreseen this?

Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover in the final twosome in the third round of the U.S. Open?

No one seven years ago when they were paired together during the first two rounds of the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. Both players missed the cut back then.

This year is a different story.

"It's (the Nationwide Tour has) obviously gotten me real ready to play out here and it's humbled me the past four or five years."

Humility is a powerful thing especially in the game of golf when you are grinding it out.

Ricky Barnes—keep grinding because as you do you get polished in the process.

Here's to hoping you shine brightly at the end of the 109th U.S. Open.

As brightly as a diamond no longer in the rough of Bethpage Black.

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]