Caked in Brown Mud at the Black

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. –

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lies in sweetest bud.
All men make faults...
-- William Shakespeare

For about 45 minutes this morning here at Bethpage State Park, the sun made a cameo appearance in the Long Island sky, and the Black Course was basked in its warmth and glory.

But then, the clouds rolled back over the Island, and the rain began to fall again, ultimately scuttling play on this Saturday only slightly over an hour into the third round of the United States Open.

For all the storylines going into this tournament – Tiger Woods trying to repeat both in this tournament and at this venue, Phil Mickelson’s last tournament before his wife begins cancer treatment, the raucous and often well-lubricated New York fans – through the first three days here, the weather has stolen the show. It has now rained over Bethpage for 18 of the last 21 days, and this weekend’s bad weather seems likely to cause this Open to be the third Open decided on a Monday as a result of poor conditions. Puddles formed on greens and in fairways, and the galleries, caked in mud, looked like something out of Woodstock.

While the rain has been the main topic of conversation here this weekend, the golf has not been overshadowed completely. Woods, naturally, still commands a great deal of attention from the gallery, which built steadily after he began his second round today on the back nine shortly after 10 a.m. Mickelson saw smaller crowds, resuming his second round at 7:30 this morning and wrapping up by about 9:30 – after a dramatic birdie on the 17th hole. He didn’t take the course for his third round until some nine hours after fetching his ball from the hole on 18.

That’s because the inclement weather here on Thursday prevented a half the field from even starting their first round. The players who did wrapped things up earlier Friday, but those who had not yet started later Friday, when dry skies and soft conditions led to bountiful scoring opportunities.

Those golfers who began their rounds on Thursday averaged first-round scores that were 1.9 strokes higher than those who didn’t. Underscoring that point – while half the field began their rounds on Thursday, of the top 11 players on the leaderboard following the conclusion of the second round today, only one (Lee Westwood) saw the course on Thursday.

Woods (+3 after two rounds) was one of the unlucky ones who played Thursday. Mickelson (-1) was fortunate not to play on the rain-shortened first day. But both are looking up at Ricky Barnes (-8), Lucas Glover (-7) and Mike Weir (-6). Of that group, only Weir has the kind of experience that would portend success here. Barnes, a past U.S. Amateur champion, has never even finished in the top-ten in a P.G.A. Tour event; Glover is the 71st-ranked player in the world.

Last year’s epic Open at Torrey Pines featured a relative unknown, too, as Rocco Mediate went toe-to-toe with Tiger on a Monday playoff. While the U.S.G.A. should be commended for the way they have handled the adverse conditions, but one can’t help but wonder if the most-remembered thing from this Open will be the rain, and not what the players do inside the ropes.