I know Barnes is playing on the Nationwide Tour...if he wins the US Open, does he get promoted to the PGA Tour? Does the money he would win count in the Nationwide standings? Thanks.

Yes - he gets to decide within the first 60 days after winning to join, then he gets a 10-year exemption from qualifying for the US Open, and he also gets a 5-year exemption for all the Majors.

Is he playing Wilsons? I am not trying to hijack the thread because the question was answered. Anyone know what Wilson's he is a playing?

What? He is playing on the PGA Tour this year. He'll qualified by finishing 25th on the Nationwide last year.

His hat says WilsonStaff, his shirt sleeve says Tour i, his 3w is a Cally Steelhead, and his caddy (brother) is wearing Nike gear.

Sounds correct. It would be great to see him win our US championship. He has sort of dropped out of sight the past couple of years. Great to see him find his game and it could have come a better place or time.

According to the Wilson website:

"Barnes plays the Wilson Staff prototype Fg62 irons, Wilson Staff Tw9 Wedges (56° and 60°). He also wears Wilson Staff headwear and carries a Wilson Staff Tour Bag."

http://www.wilson.com/wilson/staff/staff_p...534374302751918

Looks like hes also playing the FT-9

and if he wins, they will need to rename to FG63

Read this post again. As rbarter wrote, he IS ALREADY on the PGA Tour (bold added for emphasis).

Yep, I'd guess that he is only playing the Nationwide events when his lower status on the PGA tour keeps him out of that weeks event (i.e. invitationals and limited-field events). If you don't do well on the west coast swing early in the season, your position on the priority list can slip even more and make it tough to get into even regular tournaments.

If he wins here he can play in any tournament he wishes for a long time.

Pretty sure he's playing that W/S Smooth driver, or whatever it is. At least, that's the headcover he's using on his driver...

Ft-9 he is just using that headcover..

He is on the callaway staff as a ball and glove sponsor

He has not played on the Nationwide tour this year

Also noticed that Harrington was playing an FT-9, same with Mediate.

they just interviewed Barnes..I can't believe the guy just came off a sily bogey on 18 and the announcer wants to chat about the missed putts..I mean..the guy's getting ready to play in the final round of the Open and this stupid announcer wants to dent his confidence...you gotta hate journalists..some day they will learn..they are not the story.

Whoops! Thanks for the clarification. I should have looked at his schedule instead of reading this thread for "info"! I knew he had his PGA Tour card, but playing a few Nationwide events is a commonplace thing for guys in his status position to do.

He's got his card for this year, does he not? Either way, he gets a 10 year exemption. Not bad for someone who has zero top 10 finishes on Tour. I guess when the USGA has defended the set up of the U.S. Open in the past by stating "We're not trying to embarrass the best players in the world, we're trying to identify them", they had a guy like Barnes in mind?

If Barnes wins, he'll have been the best player that week....and since golf is contested on a week to week basis, that should suffice.

Fair enough. I guess he would be the 2009 version of Orville Moody.

He really deserves a two-stroke penalty for that hat.

And it's just a coincidence that ever single person under par right now didn't have to tee off in the downpour on Thursday?

Because it's not fair that some players had to play in the rain on Thursday, Obama is appointing a Golf Weather Czar to fix this problem. This will be paid for by installing coin operated ball washers on every muni across the country. Players will be required to wash their balls at least 5 times per round.

Barnes folding... been in the junk most of his later round yesterday evening and today..

whats up with that huge lateral hip movement.. lot of pull hooking going on

He's under pressure. Evidently, he's never been under this kind of pressure before. He needs to reel that flaw in if he's going to turn it around. He also need to play smart. He just needs to get the ball back into play instead of trying to be the hero.

He's been looking like a hack 30 handicapper all day today. No way he wins if he can't hit a fairway. One of these times it's going to cost him a double or triple instead of these bogeys he seems to be escaping with so far.

The guy is on a Chris Moneymaker run of luck right now. Every crooked shot he hits ends up in a playable lie, when guys like Duval, Mickelson, etc get punished mercilessly for every crooked shot.

don't worry guys, no way he wins this thing...as said above, one of these crazy swings will bite him soon...

I don't want to come off as bitter, but I just don't think he deserves it with the way that he's been playing. Obviously, you need some luck to win any major, but some of the breaks he's gotten for the shots he's hit in the last 18 holes or so are bordering on insulting to the rest of the field.

With that being said, it looks like this tournament is Glover's to lose. He's handling his nerves well and with his driving (which even more important this week than most due to the thickness of the rough). he's put himself in a lot of good spots.

Maybe it's finally sinking in that a guy with no PGA Tour top 10s is less than a round away from winning the US Open.

A columnist said earlier that Barnes was like a tightrope walker that hadn't looked down yet.

........maybe he's starting to look down.

Barnes seems like a nice enough guy. I really like how his brother is his caddy.

That's his swing... ugly as hell at the bottom.



Btw, he's playing at least one X Forged wedge, it was clearly visible early in the coverage today.

Don't think we have to worry about Barnes winning anymore.

I would be surprised if he finished under par at this point.

anyone know which model of odyssey putter he used..i liked the look of it..even though he did not necessarily play that well with it.?

ps was hoping he would win...he had a more positive outlook overall throughout the tourney...lucas lost shots due to getting hot headed and angry all the time..same thing i saw when he lost a little while ago to sean ohair...funny how the announcers after he won...kept describing him as a calm and level headed easy going player....did they not see the complete wired look he was always giving...talk about tension..........

I apologize but I take exception to that comment. Orville Moody was one of the best ball striker EVER. Yes, he had problems putting that got worse when he joined the PGA Tour. If he putts the way Tiger does today, he wins 10-15 majors.

Plus, he is on a very, very short list of people who have won the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open.

What's with all the spite toward Ricky? Didn't deserve to win, etc? Some of you guys crack me up.
BTW, he's playing the same Wilson irons that Padraig Harrington plays. He's said they're the best irons he's played up to this point.