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Lucas Glover fretted. He occasionally fumed. At the end of a 3-over-par start after seven holes Saturday at Augusta National, the normally laconic U.S. Open champion even tossed a few things -- his ball, his putter cover -- in the direction of longtime caddie Don Cooper. Glover tossed them with authority, unlike some of his early shots.

"Yeah, he was upset ... at himself," said Cooper, whose time on Glover's bag dates back to their Nationwide Tour days. "He realizes you can't play golf at this level (when you're) upset. You've got to take the bad shots and learn from the mistakes."

Glover did that Saturday at the Masters. At 6-over par for the Tournament, he reeled off birdies at the eighth and ninth holes, two more at Nos. 12 and 13, then ripped a 6-iron second shot to the par-5 15 to three feet. The resulting eagle got him to even par.

But he stumbled with bogeys at the 16th and 18th, and now heads into today's fourth round out of contention, 14 shots behind leader Lee Westwood.

"Middle was good. Started bad, ended bad," Glover said in his economical style. "One-under (71) isn't too bad, I guess."

Bethpage Black never seemed so far away.

To say the Greenville, SC native is suffering from a post-major hangover might be a stretch, but clearly Glover isn't playing to the level of 2009 when he won the U.S. Open, finished fifth at the PGA Championship, had six top-10 finishes and a dozen top-25s overall while banking a career-best $3.7 million. He even closed out the year by winning the PGA Grand Slam in Bermuda. That event is open to the winners of golf’s four major championships.

That hot streak hasn't carried into 2010 thus far. Twice in position to add to his win total, he shot final rounds of 76 at the SBS Championship (finishing T14) and 72 at the Farmers Insurance Open (T9). Otherwise his best finish is T25 at the Transitions Championship. He's also missed two cuts in eight events, after missing only five in all of 2009.

"Very average," Glover said of his year. "(I) haven't played very well, haven't put a tournament together yet. I was in position at San Diego and botched it on the back nine. Other than that, I haven't really been there."

He's not alone.

None of the four-man Major Championship Class of 2009 has made a case for major’s momentum. Certainly not this week at the Masters; heading into Sunday's fourth round, not one is within sniffing distance of the lead.

PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang, the first Asian to win a major championship, is tied for ninth at 5-under par after a stuck-in-neutral 72 third round. Defending Masters champion Angel Cabrera, who made the 36-hole cut on the number, rallied with a 3-under par 69 but is currently at even par and tied for 22nd. Glover is tied for 29th, however still better than British Open champion Stewart Cink, who missed the cut.

"I've been struggling with my game a little bit this year," Cink said early in the week. "(I'm) not really happy with the way I've been playing; just throwing away shots and not getting a lot out of my rounds."

Cink tied for fifth at the WGC-Accenture Match Play and was ninth at SBS, but in full field tournaments, his best finish is 32nd (Northern Trust Open). Cabrera tied for 10th at SBS, but has only a T25 at the Sony Open and nothing better than 33rd since departing Hawaii. Yang's third-place finish in Phoenix - he had three top-20s before that -- was followed by a missed cut and two finishes in the 30s.

Post-major depression? You decide.

"I can't speak for anyone else," Glover said, "(but) for me, it's just I did the same things in the off-season (as before 2009).

“Last year, I didn't get off to a good start, (then) worked hard and it all clicked. But I don't know. (I'm) just trying to do the right things, so when it clicks, (I've) just got to be ready."

If anything, Cooper said, "I think (Glover's) only fault is he wants it too much. He wants to win every tournament he tees it up in. You've got to pace yourself."

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