Even after the U.S. Open trophy fell like a rock from the grasp of his very sweaty, very cold and very dead stone hands, the never-winner never whimpered.
Save your sympathy. Ricky Barnes, who led the Bethpage field by six at one point Sunday, still exuded more sunshine than the entire tournament he choked away for good yesterday. Hardly anyone wins a U.S. Open, ask Phil Mickelson, and Barnes may never have the chance again, but he acted as if being there was solace enough, as much as it hurt.
“It was a great week,” Barnes said. “If you told me I would have been 2-under, if you told me I was second, bridesmaid isn’t too bad. But when you’re right there, it’s a tough one to swallow.”The 28-year-old son of a former Patriots punter — a 2002 U.S. amateur champ who never finished in the Top 10 in 35 PGA Tour events and is ranked 519th in the world — was nearly an all-time Cinderella.
“A lot, lot more good came out of this week than bad,” Barnes said after his final round 76 ended his Open at 2-under, tied for second, after he set the 36-hole Open record at 132.
It started slipping away Sunday night, with a bogey on the final hole of his third round, and another on the opener of the final round. But it was No. 5 through No. 8 that sank him, four straight bogeys, and two more on 11 and 12.
When the time came for the runner-up silver medal to be awarded, there was only one to distribute among Mickelson, David Duval and Barnes. Mickelson told Duval and Barnes to choose between themselves.
” ‘I’ve got four. I’m plenty good,’ ” Barnes said was Mickelson’s reasoning. “We got a kick out of that. But you know you’re doing something well, though, when you’re getting a silver medal.” At least he can feel he has a golf future again. Barnes won $559,830 yesterday, by far the bulk of his lifetime PGA Tour winnings of $733,503, in addition to the $601,544 he’s earned in his Nationwide Tour career.
“I’m probably going to get into the tournaments I shouldn’t be in,” Barnes said. “Guys out of my category aren’t in the British Open right now. That qualified me.”
