The 2009 Players Championship is in the books - we now revisit Bethpage Black for the second time in the long, storied, history of the United States Open Championship.

Published June 24th, 2002
They embraced like soldiers returned from a grueling battle, brought together by the futility of their cause. Darkness had descended on New York's Bethpage State Park on Sunday, and the loudest, most brazen crowd in U.S. Open history had dispersed when Sergio Garcia spotted Jim MacKay, the caddie for fellow failed warrior Phil Mickelson, on a walkway outside the clubhouse. Garcia, fresh off watching playing partner Tiger Woods secure the second leg of the Grand Slam, told MacKay, "I'm sorry I couldn't put more pressure on him." As he turned to leave the grounds, the impetuous Spaniard stopped and gave the caddie a heartfelt hug. "You know what?" Garcia said. "It's just a matter of time."

Perhaps, but the clock keeps ticking, and guess which relentless 26-year-old keeps kicking butt? Woods, in winning this blessedly unruly U.S. Open by three strokes over Mickelson, took home his eighth career major and continued to siphon the suspense out of his sport. As with the Masters in April, Woods won going away despite a merely workmanlike final round, and there's scant hope that things will be any different at next month's British Open at Muirfield in Scotland. The man has won seven of the last 11 majors and with hardly a hint of drama: He was the only player to finish under par at Bethpage, and he led wire to wire. It sounds crazy, but wake us up in August when his Grand Slam is almost complete.

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