Your U.S. Open leader through two rounds is ranked 519th in the world and has been in golfing no-man’s land for the last six years, floundering mostly in vain to become a regular member of the PGA Tour.
Yet this is exactly where Ricky Barnes felt he should have been all along — leading the U.S. Open and competing with the world’s best players.
And that’s exactly what he was doing through the second round, which finished late yesterday, standing at 8-under par with a one-shot lead over Lucas Glover and a two-shot lead over Mike Weir at Bethpage Black, which has had its sharp teeth dulled by the wet weather conditions.
Barnes’ two-round total of 132 is a 36-hole U.S. Open record, breaking the record held by Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk in 2003 at Olympia Fields.
“It’s pretty cool,” Barnes said. “Obviously at the beginning of the week you didn’t think that score was out there.”
Tiger Woods, who could manage only a 1-under-par 69 in his second round, appears to be out of contention at 3-over through two rounds, a daunting 11 shots off the lead.
Barring a Woods miracle in the final two rounds, he’ll be going for his 15th major at the British Open next month at Turnberry.
Phil Mickelson, however, was within striking distance at 1-under, seven shots back.
As for Barnes, he figured he’d be competing against — and beating — the likes of Woods and Mickelson several years ago.
When Barnes burst onto the scene as a cocksure 2002 U.S. Amateur champion, he figured his PGA Tour card would come to him as easily as picking up his mail at the post office.
But that’s not exactly the path Barnes’ career has taken. Instead, he has toiled without his PGA Tour card, playing on the Nationwide Tour and grinding to make a living.
“He was overanxious,” Barnes’ older brother and caddie, Andy, said. “He thought he was good enough to get out there [on the PGA Tour] right away. There are a lot of good golfers in this world; you’ve just never heard of them. Ricky thought, ‘Well, I can come out and compete against anybody.’ He just didn’t know everybody.”
After six years on the Nationwide Tour, Barnes finally earned his PGA card this year through Q School and got into the Open this week by making it through sectional qualifying.
“The Nationwide has gotten me ready to play out here, and it’s humbled me the past four or five years,” Barnes said. “After college, I thought I’d be out here right away. I was able to get a lot of exemptions but not much success.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t [ticked] off the first two or three years. I’ve grown up now. I have to be more patient, and I think it’s showing here.”
Based on Barnes’ results this year, you’d be hard-pressed to convince anyone you saw this coming. He had missed six of 12 cuts with his top finish a tie for 47th last week at the St. Jude Classic.
How unlikely is it that Barnes, the son of former Patriots punter Bruce Barnes, was atop the U.S. Open leaderboard through 36 holes? In his PGA Tour career, which includes 36 starts, Barnes has made only 13 cuts made and never had a top-10 finish.
“Could I have predicted I would shoot 132? No,” Barnes said. “Did I know I had it in me? Yeah. I’m starting to play well. I’ve been working hard on my game on and off the golf course.”
Barnes, who got into the 2003 Masters field as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and was paired with Woods, beat Woods by seven shots in their opening round together at Augusta and had a six-shot advantage over him through 36 holes.
Six years later, Barnes is playing the most important 36 holes of his life, trying to validate his standout first two rounds.
“He was beating Tiger after the first two rounds, but two rounds of golf doesn’t make a tournament . . . or a career,” Andy Barnes said. “Same thing here right now.”