Relaxed and feeling positive, Barnes gets back to work

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Ricky Barnes will shrug off the U.S. Open loss and get back to work this week at the Travelers Championship.

Jun. 24, 2009
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer

CROMWELL, Conn. -- How do you get over losing the 54-hole lead in the U.S. Open? You disappear into the city that never sleeps, not the sleepy surroundings of Cromwell.

Ricky Barnes got away from it all in the city that has it all, spending last night in New York City having dinner with a dozen or so friends and business associates from Oakley. It wasn't quite the whirlwind day Lucas Glover had, but a night on the town was in order.

"We went out and had a little fun last night," Barnes said. "I didn't want to rush out here and get drained physically.

"A couple of people were calling asking me when I was showing up. I slept 90 percent of the way here. It was rest well needed."

Not that Barnes ever thought about ditching out of the Travelers Championship, no matter how tough last week was physically and mentally. There would be no raining on his parade, even if it did rain at TPC River Highlands.

"I never thought, no, because I wanted to play tournaments," Barnes added. "I think if I had won, I still would've come.

"I just want to get out and play. If you're playing well, why not keep playing?"

Second place isn't always so bad. Barnes is in the field this week, and he's already in next week's AT&T National in Washington D.C. He's in the British Open now, too.

But where does Barnes go beyond that?

Golfers are all about one shot at a time, one tournament at a time. When you win the 2002 U.S. Amateur , nearly win the U.S. Open seven years later and endure a roller-coaster ride of a career in between, though, people ask questions. Lots of them.

What was that experience from the final-round pressure and what did you take out of it?

Can you describe the mood as the week went on?

Does the overall experience give you more confidence for the rest of the season?

As far as Barnes is concerned, it's all positive and all smiles. He didn't go LeBron James and blow off a post-round handshake or slink out some side door to avoid the questions.

"Good play breeds success," Barnes said. "Someone once told me that a lot of the time, you make 70 percent of your money in five or six weeks of the year.

"I'm going to take away a lot of good things and grow from the last day, knowing that, hey, if you get in a little bit of a bind, you're a good enough player to come back from that."

Time will tell. Jason Gore once contended at the U.S. Open, until he shot a final-round 84 in 2005 at Pinehurst. Since that year, however, Gore has missed 41 of 94 cuts.

"I did it on one of the toughest golf courses and to come back and shoot, I think I was 1 under my last seven holes or something like that," Barnes said. "I had eagle putts, birdie putts ... I'll take a lot of good swings from that."

That's the California cool in Barnes. Losses like this one roll off his back like raindrops off those umbrellas at Bethpage last week.

"You know, 80 was in the picture really easily," said Barnes of his final round. That never materialized, of course. What did were a lot of positives. What he does with them we'll find out in the weeks and months ahead.