One of 2009’s quartet of unexpected major winners is looking to claim the trophy again, now his wife has helpfully sent it back Ask the person sitting at the next desk who won last year’s US Open and it’s a fair bet they won’t remember. Not without resorting to Google, at least. Even Lucas Glover seemed to be having trouble remembering he had won it leading up to the defence of his title at Pebble Beach today, admitting earlier this week that he had forgotten to return the trophy, leaving the PGA to politely ring his wife and ask her to send it back. Glover’s victory amid the mud of Bethpage, only his second ever on the tour and coming four years after his first, was the stuff of fairytales. Ranked 71 in the world at the time, the then 29-year-old had even double-bogeyed his first hole of the tournament. But “I didn’t slam a club,” he said at the time, “didn’t do anything. Walked over to the second tee and said: ‘Hey, it’s the US Open. It’s going to be a long week.'” So it proved. As the rain on Long Island, New York, continued and the tournament dragged on into day five, the weather was generating more publicity than Glover. He and the rookie Ricky Barnes were five shots clear going into the final round, but it was first Barnes who caught the eye as his game imploded; then came the charge of the world No2, Phil Mickelson. When Glover hung on at four under par to win by two shots from Barnes, Mickelson and David Duval, no one had really expected him to be there. One year on, at Pebble Beach in California this week, when Mickelson left the press room to be replaced by Glover, 83 out of 100 journalists followed Lefty out of the door. In fairness, 2009 was a somewhat under-the-radar year for major winners, with longshot champions also coming at the Masters (Angel Cabrera), the Open (Stewart Cink) and the US PGA (YE Yang). And Glover certainly does not seem to mind the lack of attention. “It’s been a little busy, but it’s been fun” Glover said when asked what winning a major had meant. “It’s hard to believe it’s been a year. Phone rang a little bit more. I signed a few more autographs, but nothing too crazy. And that’s probably the way I would want it.” After winning at Bethpage he missed the cut in the next major, the Open at Turnberry, but was an impressive fifth at the US PGA, then tied for 36th at this year’s Masters. Glover even won the off-season PGA Grand Slam of Golf, beating Cabrera, Cink and Yang in Bermuda. But in the run-up to the defence of his title he has managed only two top-10 finishes on tour and will be desperate to avoid entering the hall of infamy, alongside Mark Brooks and Steve Jones. Brooks and Jones won the PGA Championship and US Open, respectively, in 1996, but neither have won anything on tour since. There is, however, a caveat when writing off Glover. One of his top-10 finishes came when he finished third in last month’s Players Championship, two shots behind the winner, Tim Clark, but two ahead of England’s Lee Westwood and seven ahead of Mickelson. After hitting at Pebble Beach this week, Glover felt back to where he was a year ago. Perhaps the forgotten man is recalling his best form just in time to pen a sequel. US Open Golf guardian.co.uk
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Lucas Glover tries to recapture – and remember – US Open-winning form
