Iain Carter's US Open Diary
There's no questioning now which half of the draw has been favoured by the extraordinary this week.
The greens staff performed a remarkable job to prepare the course for Friday's uninterrupted action and the greens were not as soft and prone to bumpiness as had been expected.
So the guys in the late/early portion of the draw could make hay in close on perfect conditions while Tiger Woods and co could only watch on with a mixture of frustration and deep envy.
They were also preparing themselves for more rain on Saturday which will coincide with their return to action. Perhaps the only consolation for those on the wrong side of the draw is the fact that proved it possible to win from such a position at last year's Open.
There appears to have been considerable confusion over tee times ahead of the third day's action and if you follow it's possible to get something of an insight.
"Well folks it's now 9.53 Friday night, I've just had the third tee off time," he told his 70,000 strong army of followers, before noting different times being shown by broadcaster .
"There could be serious confusion in the morning. I hope not, that would be tragic." 
The English golfer, who opened with an impressive rain-interrupted first-round 70, spent his afternoon off at the cinema watching and thoroughly enjoying .
He was particularly impressed with the punching prowess of in the film.
Nice to see on the leaderboard again. They've been showing highlights of the at Pinehurst won by this week.
It's amazing to think Duval was the world number one and the first round and halfway leader at that championship. He is now the world number 882, and still just 37 years old.
The USGA's ticket policy in the event of bad weather seems riddled with inconsistency. They hurriedly said that fans with Thursday tickets would be able to use them again if Monday play proves necessary.
Then the New York State Attorney General became involved to negotiate a 50% refund for those spectators if there is no Monday golf.
Those fans saw three-and-a-quarter hour's golf on Thursday. But over the weekend, if fans see just 90 minutes or more action on either day, their tickets will be considered used and liable to no recompense.
Now it seems those Thursday fans will have golf to see on Monday because a Sunday finish looks out of the question. Surely the big problem is that for most those tickets are now nothing more than a mushy pulp.
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Comment number 1.
At 20th Jun 2009, bigdave1970 wrote:Duval has suffered in the past from some kind of depression related ailment. He was never my favourite player, nor probably will be, but it is excellent to see someone overcome personal problems and regain some form in the hardest of games. Just a side note ´óÏó´«Ã½I Nick Taylor at 2 under (amateur) is in fact a Canadian, I should know, his fellow team mates-"team Canada" stayed at my small hotel for the British Amateur this week, Nick should have been here but qualified for the US last week. By the way the tournament was won by a 16 year old Italian who "led" from start to finish- Congratulations, and shame on you ´óÏó´«Ã½ for overlooking this prodigious tournament.
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Comment number 2.
At 20th Jun 2009, used2beprofi wrote:what happened to duval was a real tragedy. but what he went through to lose his game and be in that place is something so awful i hope the truth will never be mentioned...let's just hope he plays well once in a while and even maybe wins again someday. that will be enough as his place in history is secure...
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Comment number 3.
At 21st Jun 2009, kwiniaskagolfer wrote:Iain,
Nice piece about David Duval - he's very interesting to listen to about his game and how close he feels he is. Proof of the pudding and all that though.
But your article skirts around the fact that the USGA are nothing more than a bunch of well-meaning amateurs running a National Championship contested by so many mini (or mega in Tiger's case) corporate entities.
Poulter is spot on about the tee-time nonsense and the amount of time wasted on Friday and Saturday as USGA tried to dovetail play with NBC's compulsion to show Woods live has ultimately cost about three hours of play.
High time for someone to state the obvious - if the PGA Tour was running this event, the early starters in round 3 would have easily finished their rounds and a Sunday finish would remain likely. The ticket fiasco just another symbol of a dysfunctional organisation now controlled by the big money and sponsors they've tried so hard to solicit.
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Comment number 4.
At 21st Jun 2009, John From London Town MBE wrote:It's not putting the USGA in a good light, I agree, however, lets hope we have some wonderful Golf to enjoy.
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Comment number 5.
At 22nd Jun 2009, L A Odicean wrote:I noticed that Tiger Woods is standing a bit too close to the ball when putting which is causing him to miss his putts. Could you pass this on to him, if you get the chance, Iain?
But I am not a golfer, (although I like to do pitch-and-putt when I am on holiday), so I doubt if Tiger will pay any attention to my comments. I hate to ultracrepidate like this, but sometimes I just can't stop myself.
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