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Mr Woods, Mr Woods IS Absolutely Out Of His Mind |
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Written by Bryan Spitzer
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
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 Saturday evening in the press room, just after draining a 40 foot eagle putt to secure the 54 hole lead Rocco Mediate grabbed a mic and with the patented Rocco grin ear to ear asked Tiger Woods that very question "are you out of your mind". The drama to ensue over the next two days will not be forgotten anytime soon. Was it the greatest game ever played, maybe.
Certianly no one can argue that the performance Tiger Woods and Rocco
Mediate gave this week is of the greatest displays of drama sports has
ever known. The 2008 U.S. Open will be engraved in the memory banks
for generations the same way we all talk of Jones run in '30, Hogan's
one iron at the Cricket Club in Merion or even Jack's triumphant
comeback in '86 at the Masters at age 46. This 91 hole masterpiece
will be enscribed in the history books as the moment we all saw the
greatest to ever play this game, battle a formidable foe in the
journeyman, Rocco Mediate and survive one of the tougest tests in the
games 400+ year history.
As play commenced on Monday morning the "June Gloom" had lifted, Tiger and Rocco drew numbers out of the trophy and they were off. Woods, who had played the 1st hole in +5 thru four rounds (3 double bogeys, 1 birdie) stepped up to the tee in second position and pounded a towering, monstrous, powerfade that cleared the last bunker on the right, kicked left and came to rest in the fairway a mere wedge away on the 448 yard 1st hole. Rocco also found the fairway albeit 30 yards back where he fell victim to the front right greenside trap and bogeyed the hole.
The two went back and forth, thru the front front nine, Tiger gaining a slight advantage thru seven and found himself 3 up with 8 to play. As the competition headed to the 12th hole after Tiger gave one back at 11 with a bogey, Rocco went on one of the most impressive runs of the week. He birdied 13-15 and headed into the 16th hole with a 1 stroke advantage poised to pull off golf's greatest upset. They headed to 18 with Mediate still up one as Woods missed two birdie putts (16,17) by a total of 8 inches, Rocco as he had done the day before went left off the tee and was forced to lay up on the reachable 523 yard par 5, Tiger needing one last bomb came through and placed his ball 217 from the hole in tht middle of the fairway and only 198 to the front. After securing birdie the rest was history as Rocco dismantled on the first sudden death hole driving in the trap, left and hitting his second into the grandstand. Yet through 90 holes Rocco Mediate fought, beat up on and traded shot for shot with the best player in the world on his 500th week of owning said title.
The Setup
This fantastic week will also be remembered as the week the USGA turned the corner and really did allow the best players in the world to compete for the championship. They set the course up as fair as Ive ever seen as opposed to years past where the US Open setup had become a bit gimmicky, with rough so penal that advancing the ball 50 yards was a very good shot. Additionally the USGA had become fascinated with the number 70, eliminating the opportunity for the dramatic finishes and lead changes we witnessed this past week. If the 18th had been played as a long par 4 as has happened so often in recent memory, then Tiger Woods would not have been standing on the 18th green come trophy time and Rocco Mediate would not have been around to challenge the worlds best player in a way he had not been pushed in several years.
The Cost of Victory
No one at this point knows at what cost this victory came. Hank Haney as he said in an interview yesterday was surprised himself by Tigers' will to see this through and could not be more proud of his pupil. Haney also revealed that most didn't know the first time Woods walked nine holes since the knee surgery was earlier the week before the US Open at a course north of San Diego, Haney encouraged him to... just to be sure he could. tiger says he's going to shut it down for awhile which probably means he'll miss the Buick and will not play in but will certainly be on hand for his Tournament the AT&T National at Congressional over the July 4th weekend. The real question mark at this time is the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in Mid July and then his defense of the PGA at Oakland Hills, As we witnessed him gingerly walk around Torrey Pines using his clubs as a walking cane, I would be surprised to much of him the rest of the year other than the majors and possibly Ryder Cup.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 18 June 2008 )
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