Mike Davis has now been in his role of primary setup man for the USGA for four US Opens.  Beginning in 2006 at Winged Foot, Davis almost universally has restored the reputation of the US Open as a major championship.  Following the rock bottom point of Shinnecock Hills in 2004, Davis was brought in for Winged Foot to reshape the tournament experience for the field in the national championship.

To this point, Davis has been widely acclaimed for his approach.  He listens to players and caddies, responds to their experiences, and further enhances the setup based upon what actually happens between the ropes.  Davis has been very visible to the media - conducting interviews regularly with the hope of communicating his setup philosophy and explaining how he has intended to identify the best player in the world at the US Open.

That said, has Mike Davis been setting up courses that have identified the best player?  In the four US Opens in the MIke Davis era, three of the four champions have been first time major winners.  Geoff Ogilvy, Angel Cabrera, and now Lucas Glover have had their maiden major wins in a Davis Open.  Even in the 2008 US Open, a relative unknown named Rocco Mediate came awfully close to making the Davis era one filled with first time major winners.

Certainly, Ogilvy and Cabrera have gone on to back up their victories.  Ogilvy has not done so in another major championship, but has won multiple World Golf Championships events and proven that he has the acumen to be a world class player.  Cabrera took a couple of years to resurface atop a major leaderboard, but he took advantage of some breaks in the Masters this past April and added a second major to his trophy case.  The question now immediately becomes: can Lucas Glover do the same?

Hindsight is almost always 20/20, but at the time of their victories, these first timers were questioned and scrutinized despite winning the tournament.  Ogilvy had a lucky chip in at Winged Foot, critics said.  El Pato benefited from Jim Furyk's greedy eyes at 17 at Oakmont.  Now, Lucas Glover was the beneficiary of a great draw that held Tiger Woods at bay.

Does any of this fall on Mike Davis?

It would seem that is not the case.  After all, Mike Davis does not play the tournament - he merely lays the gauntlet that players must survive to win.  The gauntlets that he have laid have been described as fair, exciting, and even kind of fun.  Davis has given players options off of the tee.  He has tempted them to be aggressive and rewarded them if they met his challenges.  The course itself has seemingly not determined a single one of Davis' Opens - even this one.  Rather, it has been how players have responded to the course and chosen to approach playing the championship.

In four Davis Opens, seven players have finished under par.  Were it not for the weather that softened Bethpage Black this week, there may well still only have been two.  The end results though, regardless of winning score, have been exciting and compeling.  There have been up to a handful of legitimate contenders coming down the stretch of the final round in each of Davis' Opens.

Perhaps, then, the measure of success for Mike Davis - and the USGA - is not necessarily to identify the best player.  Tiger Woods has done that time and time again on his own.  Rather, the measure of success should be a national championship that is fair, exciting, and even kind of fun.  If that is the measure, then Davis' first four years have been a tremendous achievement.