U.S. Open 2013: Justin Rose wins, Phil Mickelson settles for 2nd again at Merion Golf Club

The USGA played defense down the stretch of the U.S. Open, first responding to wide-spread criticism of the pace of play at Merion, and Sunday night, addressing complaints by Phil Mickelson that the 274-yard, par-3 third hole was unfair.

Mickelson, who made par on the lengthy layout in each of the first two rounds, a bogey on Saturday, and a double on his way to another heart-wrenching runner-up finish on Sunday, barked at a USGA official as he left the fourth tee.

Justin Rose has a shiny new trophy and he didn’t waste any time breaking it in.

Although Justin Rose was able to come away with the win, the Merion Golf Club got the better of most players in all four rounds. The course played at least four strokes over par in each round, making some of the best golfers in the world look like weekend warriors.

No player shot better than a 67 in any round, with just six players shooting in the red on Sunday. The result was quite different than many expected, as record low scores were predicted due to heavy rain leading up to the tournament. Lee Westwood, who finished the tournament at 9-over, said the course would have been “impossible” if not for the rain.

Justin Rose was the last man standing at a wet and wild Merion Golf Club on Sunday, winning the U.S. Open by two shots over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day. Rose, the first English winner of the U.S. championship since Tony Jacklin in 1970, made five birdies and five bogeys but the par on 18 was enough to earn the victory.

The 32-year-old Rose overcame the overnight lead by Phil Mickelson, who was hoping to cadge his first-ever U.S. Open after five runner-up finishes. Alas, it was not to be for the fan favorite four-time major winner, who turned 43 on Father’s Day.

The back-and-forth final round continues at the U.S. Open, and now Justin Rose is alone at the top of the leaderboard. Phil Mickelson is one stroke back after he bogeyed No. 15.

Mickelson appeared to have a good birdie opportunity at the 15th after an excellent tee shot, but a poorly hit approach left him with an impossible birdie putt. He chose to use a wedge to chip the ball over a ridge, but caught the ball thin, leaving a long par putt. His putt missed, dropping him to 3-over on the round.

Phil Mickelson couldn’t catch a break on Sunday’s final round at Merion, burning edge after edge and dropping out of the lead...until No. 10. Mickelson, long known as one of the best wedge players in the world, came out of the rough from 76 yards and this one didn’t miss any edges:

Not the most athletic of reactions to the amazing turn of events. The eagle at No. 10 puts him back at even-par and into sole possession of the lead.

Justin Rose, one of the few players under par on Sunday, has now taken over the lead at the U.S. Open with an overall score of even par. Rose is 1-under on the round and leading the field by one stroke.

Rose dropped a shot early at No. 3, but birdied three of his next four holes to move to 1-under for the round. He’s managed to avoid miscues since and remains even through 10 holes. Rose has putted well on Sunday, rolling in a few crucial putts to make his run. He also appears confident, something not many of his counterparts can say.

Merion stays winning.

The top of the leaderboard shuffle continues into Sunday evening, with one player after another imploding on a hole-by-hole basis. Jason Day, who began the final round four shots back of Phil MIckelson, momentarily jumped up into a share of the lead with Justin Rose at even-par.

The final round of the U.S. Open is off to a slow start as many of the leaders have given strokes back in the early going. Phil Mickelson dropped out of the lead with his second double bogey of the round and Hunter Mahan is currently alone in first.

Mickelson initially dropped out of the lead with a double bogey on the long Par-3 third hole. After his tee shot found the deep rough, he was unable to get his chip close and went on to three-putt for his first double bogey of the tournament. That dropped Mickelson to 1-over, but he got a stroke back at No. 4 thanks to an excellent second shot. Mickelson drove the green in two and made a run at an eagle before tapping in for a birdie. However, he ran into trouble again on No. 5, carding his second double bogey of the round, dropping him to 2-over.

Golf’s governing body has come under fire for the glacial pace of U.S. Open contestants in wake of the USGA’s “While We’re Young” campaign launched earlier this week. On Sunday, following the airing of a video promoting the cause during the early stages of the championship’s finale, association president Glen Nager took to the airwaves to defend the nearly three hours it took Saturday’s last group to finish its first nine holes.

“It’s not where we want it to be,” Nager said on NBC. “But this championship has a purpose, which is to identify the best player in the game playing under the most difficult circumstances.”

The last hour of the U.S. Open’s final round has been nothing short of a disaster. There’s been a broken club, volunteers getting plunked in the head, and a shank that went farther right than forward.

Luke Donald, who was responsible for knocking the young female volunteer in the noggin, also went on an adventure in Merion’s famed Cobb’s Creek. At the par-5 fourth, Donald’s ball came up shot of the green but the thick rough fortuitously kept his ball from rolling down into the water. Donald, on the other hand, jumped right in:

The final round of the 2013 U.S. Open is in full swing and after a brief tie atop the leaderboard, Phil Mickelson is back to being alone in the lead.

On the first hole Sunday, Charl Schwartzel tied Mickelson at 1-under, but a subsequent bogey dropped him back to even par.

Steve Stricker opened the final round one shot off the lead, but the usually steady player is having major issues early Sunday. Stricker is now four shots off the lead after carding a 3-over 8 on the Par 5 second hole.

The issues began off the tee for Stricker as he hit his first shot way right and out of bounds. Stricker’s second tee shot found the fairway, but he badly shanked his fourth shot to the right and out of bounds. It was a shocking sequence for Stricker, who has been solid all week.

Rory McIroy isn’t having the best year, season, or week. Ever since his new endorsement deal with Nike was announced in a laser light show in Abu Dhabi back in January, last year’s world No. 1 has struggled to make much of a “dent” in any tournament or contend.

His season struggles have continued at Merion, where he’s been out-of-form off the tee, with his irons, and around the green and is currently at 13-over. The week was probably best summed up with another poor shot that he completely lost out to the right on No. 11, finding famed Cobbs Creek yet again. McIlroy, who doesn’t get too agitated on the course, took out the poor shot on his new(ish) Nike sticks:

The leaders are beginning to tee off in the final round of the 2013 U.S. Open. Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and others are already on the course while Phil Mickelson will begin his final round is less than a half hour. When they do hit the course, the leaders will find Merion is not playing much easier than it did during the first three rounds.

A few players have been able to post low scores, but Merion is still playing more than four strokes over par in the early going. Hideki Matsuyama has the best round of the day going as he’s 3-under through 14 holes. Martin Laird posted the best score of the day thus far, carding a 2-under 68. With course conditions still proving to be difficult, a score of even par or slightly better may be good enough for one of the leaders to win the U.S. Open.

In a span of 24 hours, Shawn Stefani shot rounds of 85 and 69 at Merion. A 16-shot swing from day-to-day is just the most recent example of U.S. Open treachery.

On Saturday, Stefani played his first 10 holes in 13-over, and went out in 47!! on an asbolutely horrid front nine at Merion’s East Course. The day-to-day contrast is pretty remarkable, yanno, for someone who plays golf for a living. Look at all the colors and crooked numbers (via PGATour.com):

Just a couple of golf fans, sporting Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald masks ... and some sweet costumes.

Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia might have played their way into the same group at Merion if the U.S. Open were extended one more day.

Woods, who’s so far out of contention at Merion, NBC cameras can’t even find him (haha just kidding), is just a couple strokes better than his long-time nemesis after carding a triple-bogey on the par-5 second hole.

Phil Mickelson isn’t in the top 15 for birdies made or fairways hit. He isn’t leading the tournament in greens in regulation or putting. At one point, he went 29 holes between birdies. Yet somehow, Mickleson will begin the final round of the U.S. Open with a one-stroke lead.

How has he done it? For one, Mickelson managed to tame Merion’s brutal closing stretch, something few other players have been able to do. The final five holes of Merion’s second nine have played as one of the most difficult five-hole stretches in U.S. Open history. They account for five of the nine toughest holes on the course this week, combining to play 2.26 strokes over par.

Tiger Woods blamed a balky putter for leading him to his highest-ever third-round score as a professional in a U.S. Open and knocking him out of the hunt for his 15th major championship. He shot a 77 in 1996 as an amateur and missed the cut.

“It is certainly frustrating, because I certainly was feeling like I was playing well this week and I just didn’t make the putts I needed to make,” Woods told reporters after shooting a 6-over 76. “I missed a boatload of putts within 10 feet.”

Phil Mickelson remains the heavy favorite to win the 2013 U.S. Open after taking a one-stroke lead over his next closest competitors heading into Sunday. Going into Saturday, Mickelson’s odds to win were 9/2, and have since improved to 9/4 according to Bovada.

Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel and Steve Stricker are all one shot back of Mickelson at even par. Bovada gave Schwartzel the best odds to win at 9/2, however. Stricker is next at 13/2, while Mahan checks in at 7/1 after starting Saturday as a 22/1 long shot.

After three eventful -- and bogey filled -- days at the Merion Golf Club, a U.S. Open champion will be crowned on Sunday. Phil Mickelson opens the final round with the lead, and viewers not able to watch in person or on television will still be able to follow Mickelson and others via online streams.

With NBC broadcasting the final round, there will be more than seven hours of live streaming available from the NBC-Golf Channel Golf Live Extra website. The stream is scheduled to begin at noon (ET) and continue until a champion is crowned. In addition to the online simulcast of NBC’s coverage, USOpen.com will also provide a stream of a marquee group. That stream will be available both online at USOpen.com and via the official U.S. Open mobile application. The application is free to download and is available for Apple and Android devices through iTunes and the Google Play Store.

Phil Mickelson will continue to anchor the field on the final day at the 2013 U.S. Open. The rarest of birdies at No. 17 pushed him into sole possession of the lead at the end of three rounds, and Phil will go to sleep Saturday night with at least a share of the clubhouse lead for the third consecutive day at Merion. He’ll start the final pairing once again Sunday, holding a one-shot lead as the only player in the field under par.

For the first time this week, the USGA will send the field off in twosomes, with all pairings teeing off at No. 1 and playing Merion as it was intended. They opted to send the field off in split tees and in threesomes one more time on Saturday to ensure that they would finish the round and be set for Sunday primetime twosomes. The pace of play was crawling in the third round, with the final group of Mickelson, Luke Donald and Billy Horschel finishing after 8 p.m. ET with the sunlight fading.