With the US Open title in sight once again, Mickelson on the move at Bethpage Black

Here comes Lefty: Mickelson on the move at US Open

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Phil Mickelson, Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes were on the move Monday at the U.S. Open.

Only Mickelson was going the right way.

With a 5-foot eagle putt at the par-5 13th, Mickelson — who came to Bethpage Black desperate to deliver the silver trophy to wife Amy, who’s about to begin breast cancer treatment and wants that chalice in her hospital room next month — moved into a tie for the lead with Glover on Championship Monday at the season’s second major.

Making up three shots in a two-hole span, Mickelson was 4 under through 14 holes, Glover 4 under through 11. Mickelson was 2 under in his final round, Glover 3 over with no birdies on his card, and the five-shot lead he and Barnes arrived with Monday morning was long gone.

It didn’t take long for dramatic change at Bethpage Black.

Ross Fisher was 3 under through 13 holes, one stroke ahead of Hunter Mahan. Mike Weir was 1 under, along with Barnes, whose collapse was bordering on epic.

Barnes led the tournament by six strokes at one point Sunday, getting to 11 under and becoming only the fourth player in U.S. Open history to venture double digits below par.

He couldn’t stay there, not even close. Barnes — never a winner on the PGA Tour — went on to make 12 bogeys in a 24-hole stretch spanning the third and fourth rounds, blowing every bit of his lead and then some. He was 7 over through the first 12 holes of his final round.

Defending champion Tiger Woods missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole by the slimmest of margins, epitomizing his week. Each of his last three rounds were in the 60s, capped by a 1-under 69 on Monday and he finished at even par, still lamenting how he dropped four strokes over the final four holes of his rain-slogged opening round that ended Friday.

“I striped it this week. I hit it just like I did at Memorial, and unfortunately I didn’t make anything,” Woods said, referring to his PGA Tour win two weeks ago. “I hit so many putts … my good ones are not going in, and then my bad ones aren’t even close.”

After all the rain almost made the Black course seem benign with soft fairways and greens, Bethpage had its bite back Monday.

Birdies were rare. Wind was ripping in some areas. And mudballs — players’ biggest fear this rainy week — were increasingly common.

David Duval was in the middle of the fairway on the par-4 7th, with mud coating many of the dimples on his ball. Sure enough, his second shot turned dead left, sailing 40 yards past the gallery line and nestling behind a tree — adding to a frustrating day for the former world’s No. 1, who started tied for third place and then made triple-bogey at the par-3 third hole.

It was the harbinger of what awaited at Bethpage. Just about everyone was dropping shots.

Mickelson was a rare exception.

The U.S. Open is the tournament that has plagued Mickelson like no other. After making double-bogey on the final hole to lose at Winged Foot in 2006, he famously exclaimed, “I just can’t believe that I did that. I am such an idiot.”

He nearly won the tournament in 1999, falling by a shot to Payne Stewart. His wife dominated his every thought that week, too; Amy Mickelson was about to give birth to the couple’s first child.

“I’m one good round away,” Mickelson said Sunday night, handicapping his chances.

Woods jumped 26 spots up the leaderboard in the third round, starting tied for 15th, and kept the climb going in the final round. The world’s No. 1 made a putt in the dark for birdie at the 7th hole just as play was stopped Sunday night, hoping that would be the spark.

Woods sought a perfect storm Monday, the combination of him making a bunch of birdies and the leaders making a bunch of mistakes. Improbable as it seemed 24 hours earlier, it nearly came together, but he wound up driving away from Bethpage at noon Monday, knowing major win No. 15 would have to wait.

“I gave myself so many chances,” Woods said, “and made nothing.”