Tiger Survives To Win One Of The Greatest U.S. Opens Ever
Monday, June 16, 2008
Ninety one holes....91! I questioned the 18-hole Playoff before the start today to myself, and more often than not this format probably end in a blowout, but today and the whole five-day period completed arguably the best rounds of Golf I've ever seen. The ride of Tiger Woods' Round yesterday and the drama of the Playoff today was simply amazing and Golf has never captivated me in this way before.
I thought at the beginning of the day that Mediate had a chance, but when he went down three at the turn I (and everyone else) counted him out. In the section of the course that Tiger owns, Mediate went birdie, birdie, birdie, and tied it up. He then sank an astonishing putt on 16 and took the lead. Tiger saved his best for last and on the Par-5 18th he made the green in two and put the pressure on Mediate. Tiger got his birdie with a two putt and then Mediate was left with the longest four footer of his life. He stepped up to the challenge and forced the sudden death portion of our program and I think all of us were left shaking our heads.
The 19th hole obviously went to Tiger and you can see that below, but the best part about this Tournament was Mediate. It's easy to root for or against Tiger at times, but I don't know how anyone could root against Rocco. The guy just loves Golf and after the putts on the 19th in the video below, you can see why he became America's Sweetheart over the weekend....
The best part of this whole duel wasn't the 19 holes (even though each one was special in its own right), but that it was one of those rare occasions where it didn't even matter who won. Mediate didn't come out on top, but no one is going to soon forget his run at Tiger Woods. Just a great, great Tournament and both deserve praise for a great run.
The sportsmanship, play, and tension made this a Father's Day weekend for the ages. I think we were all lucky for witnessing it (and if you didn't today, then I hope this site helped a bit) and thanks for playing along with me during the live-blogs. Tiger Woods continues to amaze me and there's nothing left to do but marvel at his greatness. Unbelievable (there's that word again).
5 Comments:
I've rooted for Tiger since he first came up, because his dramatic sense and, yeah, his arrogance, made winning, particularly majors, important again after about a decade of a bunch of passionless country club cuties grinding for the money list. Rocco, though, was a revelation. What a great guy and great sportsman. How can anyone not wish him more success?
Anon he used driver on 18 and the sudden death hole (7). Watch the replays again. Both creamed down the fairway.
That was an incredible match. Anonymous nailed it: "riveting" is the perfect word to describe it. And AA, nice photo choice: http://puttingupbricks.blogspot.com/2008/06/one-of-all-time-greats.html
That was, unmistakably 'Tiger'.
Riveting competition under intense pressure. It was some kind of show both Tiger and Rocco put on Monday, it was anything but anticlimactic.
Had it been match play in the playoff, Tiger's birdie on 18 would have been the decider (1 up).
You have to feel for Rocco -- he did practically everything possible but when Tiger had to have it, he showed for the umpteenth time why he's the best.
The only question I have re: Tiger's game is: why can't he just leave his driver in the car? If it's not hit flush in the screws, he's way offline off the tee a lot of the time. When he plays 3-wood (as he did on 18 today), his swing control and tempo is much better, and can still reach greens in two on the par-5s because of his standout long iron play. Had he played a little smarter off the tee on 1 during the week, a playoff might not have been necessary.