Glover hopes Bethpage is his charm

– Lucas Glover (right) held off late charges by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to win a US Open title 10 years ago at rain-softened Bethpage Black.

Now Glover is back, heavy rains have returned, Woods is on form again and another major title is on offer at Bethpage Black in this week’s PGA Championship.

“That might be the only thing that anybody will ever use he and I’s name in the same breath, but any time you’re lumped in with him, it’s a pretty big honour,” Glover said on Monday.

“It would be naive to sit up here and say I didn’t think he and Phil and those guys were going to make a run,” Glover, now ranked 83rd in the world, said.

“I knew it was coming. The biggest thing was I executed under the gun, knowing they were coming, and I held them off. It might not have been the prettiest, but it was when it had to be.”

While Woods battled knee and back injuries for most of the past decade, ending an 11-year major win drought last month at Augusta National, Glover struggled to keep his spot on the US PGA Tour, his lone win since Bethpage coming in 2011 at Quail Hollow.

“I don’t think there’s been anybody to play this game that hasn’t been fried at one point or another,” he said, citing family issues and a knee injury as reasons why his game has suffered.

“The way I’m looking at the last few years is, I’ve come out the other side. I haven’t won, I haven’t accomplished any of my goals, but I’ve come through it,” he said. “The things you learn in the hard times make the good times better.”

Seeing Woods make his comeback had Glover crying, knowing how hard a fightback can be.

“I know what it meant to him just from reading it. I want my kids to see the Tiger that’s a winner and that was pretty special. Pretty good for him, pretty good for his family, and amazing for golf.”

Glover’s fourth-place showing in March at the Honda Classic was “a big moment,” he said.

He sees soft greens as an edge for shotmakers once they find the fairway.

“It will be a lot of advantage if you’re striking your irons well.

“The ball just kind of goes where you hit it. You get extra rewarded for a good shot, and a bad shot is kind of still bad. So still fair.” –