On the Green

The USGA has started sending notifications to some lucky people, telling them that they have won the lottery and will be receiving tickets for the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black next June. Were you one of those?

Credit goes to Mark Mielke for keeping his game in shape. Put it this way: One of his competitors in the final round of the Met Open today, 15-year-old Cameron Wilson of Connecticut, wasn't even born the last time Mielke won the Met Open.

That was 1992, when Mielke scored a one-shot win. Very impressive that he still has the game to win one of the most prestigious local events around. This was the 93rd Met Open that finished today at the Country Club of Fairfield. Mielke, the head pro at Mill River in Oyster Bay, shot 1-under par 69 and finished at 5 under, with a three-shot win.

Golf artist Elaine Thompson of Bohemia will be at the Bethpage pro shop, signing copies of her USGA-commissioned “2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage” poster, on Saturday, Aug. 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Thompson, educated at SUNY-Farmingdale (practically only a pitching wedge from the course) has also done official posters for the Opens at Shinnecock and Winged Foot.

The 2009 U.S. Open is scheduled to be played from June 18-21.

And you thought it was amusing when Phil Mickelson used two drivers at the Masters, for different lengths and different spins.

Well, PA Sports (England's answer to Associated Press) reports today that Sergio Garcia might bring along two caddies to the Ryder Cup in Kentucky next month. Garcia has been alternating caddies, one from England, one from South Africa, with the understanding that they split the caddie's share of the winnings every week, no matter who is on the bag.

Instead of having to make a Solomon-like decision, he might just bring both to the international matches against the U.S., which always seem to bring out the best in Garcia's game.

You just wonder how he would work it out. One caddie does the morning loop, the other the afternoon? One carries the bag, the other rakes bunkers and reads putts? Or they could just take turns, especially fitting for the Ryder Cup alternate shot matches.

Forbes.com the other day listed the world's top-earning athletes, counting salaries, prize money and endorsements. Of course, Tiger Woods was first. David Beckham was second. No surprise there either.

But who was tied for third? None other than Phil Mickelson, who reportedly took in $45 million last year, about $35 million in sponsorship deals (he tied with Michael Jordan, who still is considered relevant to the athlete category by Forbes even though he is retired). That says something about the strength of his personality and appeal.

The strength of his game is another question. The door was wide open this year after Tiger Woods went out with knee surgery. Yet Mickelson couldn't even make it to the threshold in the British Open and got only to the fringes of contention at the PGA Championship Sunday.

Does he overthink or overprepare? Is he still bothered by the collapse at Winged Foot,when he was on the verge of being the hottest golfer on the planet? Or is it just a matter of not being able to hit straight enough off the tee.

It's not clear. What we do know is that he has a lot of work to do before he wins the Career Grand Slam, the mark of a really elite golfer. And he has more than a little work to do before he really earns his status at the top of the world athlete money scale.

For starters, let it be said that if you ever had met Padraig Harrington, you'd have been rooting for him to win the past two majors, which he did win. Rare is there a pro golfer or any pro athlete as down-to-earth friendly as Ireland's great golf export, who won the PGA Championship Sunday.

In some minds, his victories at the British Open and the PGA this summer rate a double asterisk because they occurred while Tiger Woods was out. Fine. But you have to say he is the best of the rest. Although the world golf rankings don't agree, you'd have to consider Harrington second best in the world to Woods.

Harrington was clutch in both majors. He made big shots and huge putts down the stretch, which is what major champions do.

Suddenly,it is worth asking how history will regard Harrington. He has three major titles, the same as Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson (see above) and both of those guys are likely World Golf Hall of Famers. Granted, Harrington hasn't had the career that those two have had, but don't we really judge golfers by their majors? There is no sign he is done winning them He did win one (last year's British Open) when Woods was in the field.

Both Andrew Giuliani and Joe Saladino won their quarterfinal matches at the Met Amateur today and advanced to the semifinals Saturday. Play begins at 12:30 at Friar's Head in Baiting Hollow.

Giuliani, who lists Van Cortlandt Park as his home course, will face Tommy McDonagh of Shorehaven (Connecticut). The two met in a semifinal last year and McDonagh won, 2 & 1.

Saladino, of the Huntington Country Club, is the current leader in the MGA Player of the Year competition. He will play another Shorehaven member, 15-year-old Cameron Wilson.

The 36-hole final will be held Sunday at the picturesque course co-designed by Ben Crenshaw.

Andrew Giuliani won his first round match in the 106th Met Amateur Championship this morning, defeating David Mann of Fresh Meadow 1-up. Through nine holes in his quarterfinal match against Marc Issler of Pine Barrens CC, the son of the former mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani was 3 up.

Giuliani aspires to a career as a pro golfer. He made news lately when he sued Duke University to regain practice privileges at the college's golf course after he was kicked off the team for various discipline issues.

Joe Saladino of Huntington Country Club beat Al Falussy of Colonial Springs, 6 and 5, this morning and led Bradley Rock Jr. of Wheatley Hills 3 up through nine in an all-Long Island afternoon quarterfinal.

Should they both win, Giuliani and Saladino would not play each other in the semifinal round Saturday because they are in different brackets.

The Met Amateur at Friar's Head in Baiting Hollow is open to the public. Semifinals will start at noon on Saturday and the 36-hole final will cover most of the day Sunday.

It is hard to capture in words the beauty of the course, co-designed by Ben Crenshaw. The front nine, mostly treeless with fairways bordered by fescue, is a little like British courses, except it is much more dramatically hilly. The back nine is strikingly outlined by tall trees and includes dunes--and spectacular views of Long Island Sound.

Chances are, you won't get a chance to see it again because it is one of the most exclusive clubs on Long Island. There is no way you're going to see anything like it anywhere else. It's at 3000 Sound Avenue, east of Edwards Avenue

Orville Moody was one of the most unlikely U.S. Open champions, edging Arnold Palmer in 1969 after having made it through local and sectional qualifying. No one has made it through that same route since.

Moody, known as "Sarge" for his U. S. Army background, never did win another PGA Tour event, but he was a standout and a stalwart on the fledgling PGA Senior Tour in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was one of the early strong supporters of the Northville Long Island Classic, which later became the Commerce Bank Championship.

The former champion died today at 74, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said, "We are all going to miss Sarge, who was a patriot first and a professional golfer second."

The Senior Tour, now known as the Champions Tour, not only embellished the reputation of the 1969 Open champion, it gave Moody a new, burgeoining career. He was among the pioneers of the long putter, winning the U.S. Senior Open and other 50-and-over events.

He was among the first to hire a daughter as his caddie. Michelle, then 19, was on the bag when Moody finished in a four-way tie for first in the 1989 Northville at the Meadow Brook Club. He lost in a playoff to Butch Baird.

That was the year in which two greens were waterlogged, so each round consisted of 16 holes. But perhaps the tournament never woud have survived if they had just called it off that season. Moody said, after the first round that year (in which he shot a 59 on the par 64 course):
"I think we needed to play today. These [Northville] people are hurting because they couldn't get their pro-am in [Thursday]. They're hurt to begin with because they're going up against the Open and coming the week after Westchester. I'm glad we played."

So you're one of those people fortunate enough to have made an ace this year, or maybe some other year.

We know what a big moment that was. What golfers were playing with you? How long had you been playing before you did it? What was the reaction like? Did you have to buy a round at the 19th hole? Where's the ball?

Anything that you want to share is fine. You have the floor, in comments: