MINNEAPOLIS–Red Golf Beat pulls out all of the stops for golf fans. Oh, well, OK, I am just passing through Minny Ha-Ha but a layover at the airport brings chance to read the local papers (now there is a retro concept).

Here are some things RGB can pass to you, the Soon to Be Fortified PGA Fan:

One of the best ways to repair yesterday’s golf hole cut-out is to smooth the greens sod with the blunt handle-end of an ordinary kitchen fork.

John Daly looked like an Mike and Ikes candy box design, sporting lime-green golf shirt and green-and-pink polka-dotted pants–big ones, sort of more Hullabaloo than Henri Bendel if you are old enough or aloof enough to know either or both references. Extra points if you can name the regular night that Hullabaloo appeared on our crumby little color TVs as kids.

Daly chain-smoked Marlboros and drank probably more than a half gallon of Diet Coke from McDonald’s. OK, there are some potential sponsors for the RGB column. Can we be far away from the RGB Happy Meal and RGB Editor Joey Alfino action figure (hey, a man’s got to eat, so schmoozing the boss, good idea)?

Tom Lehman is from Minnesota.

Daly reported back pain. He says it is from losing 80 pounds in recent months. He also says the rapid loss of pounds caused him to balloon-card an 88 at The Buick.

Tiger hugged his swing coach, Hank Haney, at the practice range, practiced one-handed putts on the practice green (look for all sorts of Midwestern golfers to start picking up the same habit, similar to Little Leaguers using a donut on their bats in the on-deck circle).

That was practice day. On Thursday, Tiger scorched Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., for a 67. He leads Padraig Harrington by one–they are playing in the same threesome again Friday with Rich Beem (one-under 71). Tiger perfected 12 of 14 fairways, birdied three of the four par-5s and finished bogey-free. Nice.

“I feel very comfortable with what Hank [Haney] and I were working on the last three days, and it carried over to today,” said Tiger. “Hopefully it will carry over to the rest of the week.”

That explains the hug at the practice range.

OK, honestly, just what could be off about Tiger’s swing? Hello, he won last weekend.

The weather Thursday? Hot, muggy, just the type of Midwest ex-patriots run away from. But the Friday-Saturday-Sunday forecast calls for some high winds and possible thunder-boomers. So scores are likely to rise.

But don’t expect Tiger, Padraig to go squishy. Nor a solid group at two back, including best darkhorse pick Hunter Mahan, Vijay Singh and the underrated David Toms.  Early Friday, in the morning group, Ian Poulter (always a good call in championships as a player on the upswing) and Lucas Glover (remember him?) were pushing to that two-back group.

As for John Daly, he withdrew Thursday. But not before he eagled No. 7 with a long putt and back-to-back double bogey on 17 and 18. He cited back pain; no mention of the weight loss. His pants? Paisley. Never a dull round from that guy.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

That ‘time flies’ thing? True enough. Next week is the final major of the year, the PGA at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn. It doesn’t seem possible, but neither does that fact that Rich Beem beat Tiger at Hazeltine to win the 2002 (that would be both that Beem won and it has already been seven years).

By the way, those kooky PGA types have put Beem and Tiger in the same threesome for the first two rounds at Hazeltine.

It gets kookier for Red Golf Beat. Because next year’s PGA is another Midwestern Shindig, this one played at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisc. (yes, named after the luxe plumbing company). RGB represented at the Kohler links-style course, oh, about seven years ago just about the same time Beem outdueled Tiger.

OK, I sorta represented, losing maybe four balls over 18. I remember thinking, cool course, no prob on the Titleist, but, God, 2010, yeah, right, like that day will ever come for Kohler.

Steve Stricker is likely to savor the Kohler PGA. He’s a Wisconsin boy and even married the daughter of the University of Wisconsin coach (funny thing, though, he attended the University of Illinois and led the Illini to a Big 10 title). He straightened out his game in a makeshift (translation, still damn cold) enclosure at a local Dairy State golf range during one December and January several years back.

Today, Stricker is top 5/10 in the world and playing like it at this weekend’s World Golf Championship or WGC event, the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

Stricker is three strokes off the pace of Padraig Harrington, who rounds out the Beem-Tiger trio at Hazeltine. Until Thursday and Friday, Harrington had not broke par for two straight rounds since April. Harrington is 7-under, one up on Tim Clark, two up on Scott Verplank and five shots ahead of, uh oh, Tiger. Phil Mickleson, back playing after supporting his wife’s breast cancer treatment, is six strokes behind.

Tiger told the media he thinks a score in the high 60s is a good target for anyone looking to move up the leaderboard on Saturday or Sunday. He finished even par and sounded like Everyman (hey, name another golf column citing Middle Ages morality plays) as he explained his results on the greens, where he putted 31 times on Friday.

“I hit the ball pretty good, I just made absolutely nothing,” said Woods, who knocked down his 69th PGA Tour career last Sunday at the final Buick Open. “And it’s not like I was hitting bad putts. I hit some beautiful putts, I just couldn’t seem to hit them hard enough.”

That probably seems more familiar than most of us prefer to think. Yet something says Tiger the Human is going to yield to Tiger the Unbelievable perhaps this weekend and not later than next Thursday in Minnesota.

—Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

Inhale, exhale, repeat. Ahhh, we’re all feeling better, right? Tiger carded a 63 on Friday at the Buick Open and even enjoyed the best first five holes in his illustrious, birdie-studded career. He chipped in for an eagle, added four birds to go six-under after the first cinco.

Nice.

And the PGA Tour seems all good again, as Tiger finishes at 10-under through the first half of the Buick. The British is forgotten (yeah, tell that to Tom Watson). Except, who are all those guys in front of Tiger on the leaderboard? Senden, Letzig, Lunde, Taylor (he makes golf equipment, yes?). He’s tied with Yang, Chalmers, Walker, Thatcher and Stadler (OK, there’s at least one golf name).

Tiger said his putting on Thursday was maybe the worst of his career, resulting in a 71. All better on Friday, as Tiger got in position to reel in Senden (as in John, an Australian actually sporting some PGA cred as he is looking for his second victory in three years).

If you have been paying attention–and Red Golf Beat might look to make you an RGB correspondent, part of a new social media push that, ahem, brand managers really dig these days–then you know that Senden has four top-10 finishes already this season. That includes two fourth places.

Senden is 14-under and told the media he thinks 20 to 22 under is “going to win the event.” Good analysis, because an average score of 21-under has swiped the Buick trophy at this tournament played at Warwick Hills since 2000. That is easy stuff for the pros, if not the rest of us.

Somebody forgot to tell John Daly. He shot his worst-ever PGA score of 88 (?!) on Friday to finish 20-over.

The previous seven times Woods had a second-round 63, he went on to win the tournament.

For your weekend planning: The previous seven times that Tiger has nailed a 63 in his second round, he went on to win the tournament.

Sorry to wreck your Sunday afternoon activities, but you are forewarned. The Tiger Watch is in full effect.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

OK, I’m struggling to get up off the floor. It’s worse than one of those tequila hangovers that dries out your mouth and pretty much your entire insides. I am emotionally dehydrated and I’m guessing I am not alone among golf fans.

Tom Watson, the 59-year-old who outplayed golfers 20 and even 30 years younger all four rounds, lost the British Open on the 72nd hole. On No. 18, he yanked an 8-iron approach over the green to the just off the fringe from where he putted past the hole.

The five-time British Open winner (five! As the late Jack Buck might say, how about that, Tim McCarver!?) couldn’t drop a par putt from about five to six feet.  That’s something Watson has practically trademarked in his career, outdueling Jack Nicklaus more than once in the process.

This time, he pushed it, didn’t really fully hit it, resulting in a putt that far too many of us recognize from our own mash-ups on the golf course. The putt never had a chance.

I am writing about this 72nd hole rupture because I thought it might be therapeutic for me.

It’s not helping.

Just to watch Watson’s facial expression during all four rounds–the 59-year-old was basically top three on the leaderboard from start to finish at Turnberry–was captivating. He looked so hopeful at times, so calmly incredulous other moments (”I am still leading this thing?”) and, in the end, he looked bummed and weary.

Just like the rest of us.

After the four-hole playoff–a drubbing at the hands of Stewart Cink–Watson strolled into the media conference and noticed the long faces. He immediately encouraged the press corps, saying, “This ain’t a funeral.”

Good try, Tom. That’s about the time I hit the floor emotionally. I kept telling myself and even my 12-year-old daughter that, hey, Old Tom is still gonna bag some big money and he’s won the British five times. So it’s not like, say, Greg Norman melting down at Augusta, a place Norman has conquered.

Yet everyone in golf can readily agree Watson winning here would have qualified as golf’s all-time best story ever, sorry, but don’t even say you-know-who’s name or talk about how many majors he’s already won.

Any other year, Stewart Cink is celebrated. Here’s a guy who missed a two-footer for par at the 72nd hole of the 2001 U.S. Open because after missing a birdie putt, he wanted to hurry up and get out of the way for Retief Goosen, who promptly missed his own short par putt and ended up in a playoff with Mark Brooks. Cink admits he was wholly embarrassed by missing the short putt and his game suffered. He’s had won just twice since that Open despite being a virtual lock in the Tour top couple dozen every year and gaining deep respect from players and media alike.

Sunday was Cink’s coming out party, no matter that Jack Nicklaus himself sent word from Florida that this British Open was all Watson, win or lose. Cink might take exception to that some day (Nicklaus did add some compliments about Cink), but not Sunday, not any time soon. Even Cink knew that much, saying all the right things after the playoff.

Something tells me that in a couple of days or maybe weeks Cink is bound to enjoy the victory even more and certainly more openly. I expect I might be up off the floor for good by then.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

How fun is this? Don’t answer that, because Red Golf Beat (RGB for your brand ninjas out there) is about to tell you. More fun than most 59-year-old guys can ever dream about having.

Tom Watson, just this side of 60, leads the British Open halfway home at Turnberry. He’s won here before, of course, outdueling Jack Nicklaus, and he’s grabbed the British four more times over that. He’s even won three senior British Open trophies in the last decade.

Just to prove he is a hep cat, Old Tom (as the press is calling him like some folk hero) reported after Thursday’s 65 on the card that Barbara Nicklaus texted him good luck on the eve of the tourney. Let’s assume he texted back, so, yes, he likely is reading this Red column as part of his prep for Saturday.

Mostly, Old Tom needs to just get some rest and eat a good meal. He knows that bad weather is what he needs to stay in contention this weekend. Friday went to plan as Watson’s co-leader at 5-under, Steve Marino, had this to say after the second round: “Brutal. It was cold, windy with spots of rain. But it was fun out there.”

That sentiment comes with carding a 68 and “not hitting the ball well.” Marino explained that he attended school in Virginia and played numerous qualifying rounds in January on cold, windy days.

“It reminded me of that,” said Marino. “Only it wasn’t as cold. If it had been 10 to 15 degrees colder out there it would have been miserable.”

Blog commentators took Marino to task for not shaving and looking too scruffy for first place. Hey, people, ever heard of playoff beards? Check out half to three-quarters of every NFL quarterback on Sunday mornings?

Maybe he is angling to get the same razor blade contract as Tiger (oops, mentioned him, was thinking not to, since he might miss the cut for just the second time at a major), Federer and that French soccer player guy (Or as the French call him, type français de footballeur).

Or maybe Marino just thinks the beard is extra protection against wind burn, good luck, a good method for hiding shaving cuts or all of the above. You have to like this guy if not his chin: He was second alternate last Wednesday, then first alternate Thursday.

That’s when Marino called his dad, asking him to fly back and forth to Marino’s home to pick up the son’s passport and FedEx it so Marino could play in Europe for his first time ever. Also, Marino shot a 59 once on the Grey Goose mini-tour and anytime you can mix vodka and good golf, can it get better than that?

Yes, if Old Tom stays in contention until Sunday morning (ET, get your doughnuts ready). Yes, if Marino battles him. And if somehow John Daly (five strokes back after 36 holes) clings to the final groupings, along with Mark Calcavecchia (joking about himself last week about how hard it can be to find XXL clothes if the airlines lose your luggage) who is right now just one stroke behind the leaders after shooting a 69 on Friday. Calcavecchia, who won the British 20 years ago, is 49. His wife is his caddy this week.

Old Tom started Friday laying five bogey eggs in the first seven holes. Then he punched out a bunch of birdies on the back nine. You just see golf fans all over America refreshing their laptop screens or checking the remote to make sure it’s not on the History Channel. Tom Watson leading at Turnberry, a legit chance for Sunday contention. Too cool, and that’s no matter if Calcavecchia and Daly, a couple of XXL guys, stay on the leaderboard or not.

RGB says at least one will.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

American ingenuity might just be our greatest natural resource. How else to explain the impressive field at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill.?

You’ve got your Steve Strickers and Lucas Glovers and Davis Love IIIs and Zach Johnsons and David Tomses (or is that simply David Toms?).

Timeout on Silvis, Ill. I’m a Chicago native, served as Sports Editor of the Chicago Tribune, attended an in-state agricultural grant university, fully realize John Deeres and Charlie Finley have something in common (not white shoes). Knew the John Deere Open when it was called the Quad Cities Open. Can name the four cities for you, two each in Illinois and Iowa.

All the same, never heard of Silvis. Chances are most PGA Tour cardholders hadn’t heard of it either. But that’s where the American ingenuity of a chartered 100-seat all-first-class jet comes into this Midwestern golf tournament, which falls on the weekend before the British Open is played.

Before last year, players routinely skipped the John Deere if they qualified for the British because, well, getting out of the Quad Cities airport on a Sunday (actually any day) is no easy get. Translation: You don’t get overseas until Tuesday and Tiger has played two practice rounds while you stifle yawns and ponder why your ears seem permanently clogged or muffled or something that some smart-snarky jet lag researcher can explain.

So the Deere tourney guys wised up. They procured the Dallas Mavericks jet (quick, somebody hyperlink this Red Golf Beat column to Mark Cuban’s blog, maybe RGB can finally get the seed money–we call it VC money, baby–that it richly deserves to become a digital brand powerhouse), using the jet to offer rides to pros who play in Silvis (presumably using a GPS to get there) and still want to land in Scotland by 10 a.m. Monday.

A player makes a $1,250 donation to the tournament’s charity fund–still much cheaper than a first-class ticket from the Quads to Scotland non-stop and, by the way, there are basically no non-stops to Scotland period unless you fly from the East Coast.

As ESPN.com’s Bob Harig reported on this whole jet thing, though RGB is exclusively calling it ingenuous, giving it our special touch and, you know, the patent-pending RBG Angle on the Story, Harig reported that maybe the best perk is you don’t have to worry about losing your luggage, which for pros includes the pesky little matter of golf clubs.

So now the Deere field is strong with players high on the money list and include recent winners who thought Silvis, Ill., might be their last chance to qualify for the British. The tourney’s cost is about $300,000, and the RBC Canadian Open pays roughly the same amount to take players from the British back to North America for its tournament. And word is, the plane food is fab.

Oh, right, the tournament leaderboard itself. Lee Janzen is co-leader with a 64 after the first round. Kenny Perry (another good name lured by the jet), Zach Johnson and Lucas Glover notched some solid contending rounds Thursday. The second round was rained out on Friday and two rounds are scheduled for Saturday.

Janzen’s last tournament victory? The U.S. Open in the final dregs of the 20th century. He isn’t likely to win here. RGB says Daniel Chopra is the pick this week. He’s three strokes off the lead, and playing some of the best golf on the Tour right now.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

Hot dogs, apple pie and . . . Tiger Woods winning his own golf tournament. Can it get much more American that that on the 4th of July weekend? Well, maybe. Tiger’s tournament is called the AT&T National and played at Congressional outside D.C., so that’s pretty USA of him. Plus, after three rounds Tiger was tied with defending champ Anthony Kim, considered the Next Great American Golfer. Very starred and striped.

Kim was defending champ going into Sunday and did not seem fluffled (not a word but Red Golf Beat is not a look-it-up sports column either, precisely why you brand marketing dudes out there should be looking at RGB as the Next Great American Promotional Vehicle) about losing four strokes to Tiger on the front nine and pretty much becoming a spectator to Woods holding off the hard-charging and very American Hunter Mahan.

“I had a lot of fun,” Kim said. “I know I’ll be knocking on the door again. It’s only a matter of time. I learned if you have a birdie putt, you better make it.”

Kim shot a 62 during Thursday’s opening round, knocking down plenty of birdie putts. Mahan matched the 62 on Sunday, charging back from a tie for 16th to spend his first hour or so watching Tiger’s final holes in the tournament’s player family area alongside Tiger’s wife Elin and two-year-old son.

Oh, come on, Hollywood would say that’s just a little too American, thank you.

After his second round, Kim came off Congressional (in Bethesda, Md.) Friday afternoon saying he had lost his swing as his score ballooned to 70. He headed straight to the practice range–it is a never-faded Red Golf Beat wonderment that pro golfers hit a lot a lot a lot did I say a lot of golf balls both before and after tournament rounds. Reporters who followed him there (hey, golf blogs need material) heard Kim make a discovery maybe a bucket or three into his range session. “I didn’t hit one like that all day,” Kim said after one lift-off of a drive. He, of course, hit another a lot a lot more balls to make his re-discovered swing wasn’t about to go all Sarah Palin on him.

Now, Palin, there’s an entirely different American story. Yikes.

Tiger sank a 20-footer for birdie Sunday on No. 16, then parred out for a 67. He won his own tournament on just his second try, following in the same footsteps of Jack Nicklaus, a winner at his Memorial tournament in the second year. Tiger, of course, won earlier this year at Jack’s tournament and, earlier in 2009, won at Bay Hill and shook Arnold Palmer’s hand there.

Freaky. But maybe not as kooky as Tiger interviewing himself on the 18th green. The victory is Tiger’s 68th on the PGA Tour and puts him atop the money list and FedEx world rankings for the first time this season. You can’t get much more National on us than that.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

For a few weeks, Red Golf Beat considered the difference between playing really, really good golf and playing great golf. On the PGA Tour that translates to finishing in, say, the top 10 to 20 or winning the golf tournament. Kenny Perry was Exhibit A as a guy placing high on any number of PGA Sundays, but falling achingly short of Guy Smiling the Most at the End.

Closing out a pro golf tournament is a gapingly formidable task, all of which makes even more impressive the win streaks of You-Know-Who-Whose-Niece-Missed-the-Cut-at-Her-First-LPGA-Event-This-Weekend-But-Hey-She’s-Only-18.

While Tiger himself is taking time off after the Open, we’re back on the good/great line this weekend at the Travelers Championship up in Connecticut. Perry fired a course record 61 on Thursday, then followed with a 68 on Friday and played well enough again Saturday to stay one stroke behind Paul Goydos (sorry I still think “Goydos” is an insurance brand, that’s right, isn’t it?)

More rain for men’s Tour, by the way. After the Open’s re-creation of Venice, play stopped because of rain both Friday and Saturday at Travelers (don’t they have an umbrella as part of the corporate logo, and, speaking of logos, got some snappy ideas about the new graphics possible for corporate sponsors here at Red Golf Beat, or RGB if you are scoring at home). Says here that the Tour players have refined their rain gear regimen over the last two weekends.

Where in the world is Willard Scott when you need him?

Perry was up by three strokes on the back nine Saturday after birdies on both the 11th and 12th. But he bogeyed No. 14 before parring out. Goydos did his best Arnie Palmer and charged in the clubhouse with straight birdies on 13, 14, 15 and 16. Suddenly, Perry was headed for a more fitful night’s sleep, worrying if he can actually ever win a golf tournament again.

Goydos figures to be a roadblock to first place. Same goes for David Toms, high on the leaderboard and, like Perry, a many-times-over millionaire built on top 10 finishes. Another golfer to watch in the final round: Hunter Mahan. He won here in 2007 and finished runner-up in both 2006 and 2008, plus says the golf course “suits my eye.”

Perry missed a five-footer for birdie in the rain-delayed dusk at 18. You can just imagine the tossing and turning that final stroke alone created.  He also had something to say about his eyesight.
“When it gets dark I don’t see very good, I never had and I complain every time,” Perry said to reporters. “I can’t see the lines when it gets dark and that’s just the way it was.”

Gotcha, Kenny. Feel the same way about those disco nights at the bowling alley. Everybody thinks it’s cool except the geeky bowlers (I am talking about myself, people, and, may I add, a few more NBA stars than you might think) who actually use the floorboard slats and various dots to line up spares. Here’s hoping the lights don’t go out again on Kenny Perry this Sunday.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

A fiction teacher will tell you that fact is funnier than fiction. The old you-just-can’t-make-this-stuff-up hit to the funny bone. True enough, but fact for Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open is more fractured than fiction.

Lefty finished second for the fifth (!!!!!) time at America’s Most Esteemed Golf Tournament Not Named the Masters. He’s now finished as runner-up four times in the state of New York. That is what let’s call a New York state of mind bending.

Mickelson came all the way back from six strokes behind to start the round. He tied winner Lucas Glover (who? what? huh?) by nailing a 35-foot putt on No. 12, then eagled the 13th. But then Lefty went all southpaw on us, missing two par putts on the final four holes.

He set a record for most runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open, breaking a five-way with, drum roll for full effect of this list, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead and–can you believe it?–Bobby Jones. Mickelson allowed that he was of course disappointed but “now that it’s over, I’ve got more important things going on.”

That would be going on a tropical vacation with his family before wife Amy undergoes breast cancer surgery July 1. From there, Mickelson says he doesn’t know when he returns to playing and, frankly, who is going to bust this dude about the way he has carried himself this season? Not Red Golf Beat, which has officially stopped making any wisecrack about the guy for a long time. My supposedly hardened New York pals and thousands more like them clearly agree with that ban.

Before getting to Glover, well, OK, couple things about him. He won in 2005 at the Funai Classic (yes, in the United States, if you want to lay claim to Walt Disney World being in our country) and, until this waterlogged weekend, never made the cut at a U.S. Open. So more Glover in a minute. RGB was openly rooting for David Duval on Monday (hey, we will shamelessly tout your golfer if you slap down the debit card for a prime sponsorship opp–email me, bobcondor@aol.com).

This guy has been off the radar and actually barely in-bounds at the driving range for eight years. He ranks No. 882 in the world right now, down, oh, just a scootch from No. 1 on the planet 10 years ago (remember fact is more fractured than fiction).

Duval birdied three on the back nine Monday to tie for the lead and RGB was looking for a mimeograph machine (remember the smell of those purple inky smudgy handouts from Toxic Yesteryears?) to gleefully pass them out on a street corner, any street corner, to New Yorkers who needed to know that if Phil had to lose, why not Duval as his conqueror?

He missed par and a chance to bring Glover to a playoff by lipping out at least half the cup at No. 17. Duval finished in a three-way tie for second with Mickelson and Ricky Barnes, who led the tournament for 54 holes, went bonk at Holes 53 and 54, then steadied nicely to win a lot of respect and half a mil to boot.

Now more Glover: He had to play in qualifying to make the tournament field at Bethpage Black, repeating a Qualifier-to-Winner feat pulled off by Michael Campbell in 2005. He started off on his first hole Thursday with a double bogey.

He had just one birdie all day Monday, but made it count down the stretch at No. 16. He’s now a $10 million winner in four-plus seasons on the Tour, finished tied for second at Quail Hollow earlier this year and tied for third at the Buick Invitational. He is now ninth in the world rankings. He chews tobacco (he’s from North Carolina) and listens to Frank Sinatra.

You can’t make this stuff up.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat

Sometimes Monday golf is worth the aggravation.

Today is one of those sometimes, whether it is seeing if Ricky Barnes (Ricky Barnes?) can hold onto to his now late-round lead (to be technical, he is tied with Lucas Glover, yeah, like you know him), or if Phil Mickelson can charge from five strokes back a la Arnold Palmer while avoiding an 18-hole playoff that would begin at 4 p.m. ET because the Loving Hubby has scheduled a tropical family vacay with a late Monday afternoon departure before his wife Amy undergoes breast cancer surgery July 1.

Two great storylines, no doubt, especially if you know that Barnes made six cuts in 12 previous tournaments this year and played Nationwide last year.

Mickelson, who never lacks for casual fan interest in his most dormant stretches, is a page-click/heart-tug mega-generator right now given his clear and strong commitment to his wife’s illness and the near inexplicable affection New Yorkers exude for the Lefty from Southern California.

You can strike up that debate with pretty much anyone, whether they know a dogleg from a frog leg, and they will offer up some feedback on just why Mickelson is noisily adored at Bethpage Black (the cheers are a couple dozen decibels louder than 2002, if you remember those). The conclusion is Phil is the ultimate chubby underdog to the svelte champion You-Know-Who (who was 15 shots back last checked).

There’s even more to the Mickelson story and it might explain that New Yorker appeal. He has finished runner-up four times at the Open, three of them in the state of New York. A win Monday, quite possible because Glover admitted Monday would be “pressure-packed” and Barnes finished Sunday in the nasty rough on No. 2 after hooking his tee shot (which followed a bogey on No. 1 to fall into a tie with Glover).

Some of the best news Red Golf Beat can report–and this is live, guys, right from Grand Central Parkway morning rush hour in NYC–it is not raining. Gray skies, yes, raindrops no. The remainder of the final round will be played by the leaders in plenty of time to allow an 18-hole playoff if necessary. The USGA took the unusual step of starting the top of leaderboard ahead of some also-rans to guarantee a Monday finish if the weather cooperates.

But the best reason of all for putting up with Monday golf is the possibility that David Duval takes a run at this thing. Duval hasn’t won a tournament in eight years (and hasn’t finished in the top 10 anywhere either). He has missed 75 percent of the more than 100 cuts he has faced while also taking off months at a time to re-tool his swing and psyche and health. What’s impressive is, after shooting an opening-round 67, Duval has stumbled in the second and third rounds before finishing strong enough to hit even-par 70s. On Sunday, he birdied both 16 and 18 because of short irons that put him within 10 feet of the pin, then sunk stressful no man’s land putts. He has 16 holes to play Monday, and now his chips on 16 and 18 are important again.

–Bob Condor, Red Golf Beat