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SAN DIEGO—What
might have been the greatest of all US Opens, and one of
the biggest upsets in the history of American sports if
Rocco Mediate had somehow won, finally ended after 91
holes as merely the best triumph of Tiger Woods’
imperial career. Seldom has the sublime degenerated into
the merely magnificent—with a dash of the miraculous—and
yet left no one dissatisfied, everyone proud and all
amazed.
The
legend of Francis Ouimet, the 20-year-old amateur who
beat Ted Ray and Harry Vardon in 1913, is safe, though
not by a great deal. The story of Ben Hogan, playing 36
holes on the final day in 1950 with throbbing legs after
surviving a life-threatening car crash, can retain its
place. Arnold Palmer, trailing by seven shots entering
Sunday in 1960, can still take his bows for driving the
first green at Cherry Hills and going on to win with a
65. Ken Venturi, fighting heat prostration at
Congressional in 1964, then hitting the stick with a
1-iron shot on his 34th hole of a near-100-degree day,
does not have to move down the list in golf’s lore.
But all
must shuffle sideways, make room for Tiger and Rocco,
and admit their work here does not take a back seat to
anyone. This was melodrama, symbolism and a gentlemanly
sport raised to its apotheosis. And, for Woods, who
confessed after this round that he may have reinjured
his surgically repaired knee, that he played against his
doctor’s advice, yet has never been prouder of himself,
this tournament on the Pacific bluffs completed a
life-cycle circle on Father’s Day weekend.
Woods
led Mediate by three shots after 10 holes in this
playoff, then had to make birdie at the 18th to force a
playoff-to-a-playoff, which he won when Mediate bogeyed
the first sudden-death hole.
After
the Junior World event in 1986, Woods said: “My dad
treated me. He said, ‘Okay, you’re 10. Now you’re a big
boy. You can play a real golf course. Where do you want
to play?’” Of course, he picked this most stunning
Pacific-side track, just an hour from home.
“I said
Torrey Pines South. Everything was driver, three-wood,
three-wood, three-wood. About like I was this week,
actually,” Woods said. He laughed. After all, this week,
“I had four doubles, three eagles, a few three-putts, a
couple of snipes off the tees, a couple of slices, some
bombs, anything and everything happened this week,
really.
“It was
a long week, a lot of doubt, a lot of [injury]
questions. And 91 holes,” he said. “But I wasn’t going
to bag it. I don’t know how to do that....As far as
future ramifications, I’m not really good at listening
to doctor’s orders too well. Hey, I won this week, so it
is what it is.”
‘Injury
could get worse’
Did
doctors warn him that he could injure his left knee,
already operated on three times, further if he played?
“Yes,” he nodded. And did he? “Maybe,” he said.
That’s
the sole reason this tournament now looms so large for
Woods—slightly above his first major title at the
Masters at the age of 21 and his insane 15-shot win at
Pebble Beach in the 2000 US Open. Those feats were done
by a young and completely healthy golfer, something
Woods may, or may not, ever be again. This week, he got
his third US Open title with—in the ersatz “battle” of
sports—a battlefield cluster and a purple heart. It’s
miles from the real thing, but, for the son of a Special
Forces soldier, a validation Woods has sought throughout
his career, even if he may not have known it until now.
“All
athletes deal with injuries. Sports isn’t usually kind
to your body,” said Woods, who, frankly, until now, has
had a smooth run. Compared with Mediate, who has
suffered for a dozen years with back injuries that
threatened his career, he’s almost had a free ride.
“There’s never any excuses. You just go play whether
you’re 100 percent or not. So, let’s go.”
And go
Woods and the 45-year-old journeyman, ranked 158th in
the world, truly did. Go and go and go.
“I’m a
little tired. I’m a little old,” said Mediate, who
seemed utterly washed up, gabbing in the Golf Channel
booth Monday night, yet came within an eyelash of
becoming the oldest Open winner ever. “He’s got me by
[13] years and a thousand yards off the tee. But I kept
hanging in there. And I almost got him.”
When
Woods came to the 90th hole, trailing by one shot, he
was probably one muscle twitch or knee twinge away from
defeat. Without birdie on the water-fronted par-five, he
was toast. But, remember, Tiger owns the 18th, just as
he owns Torrey Pines, where he has won seven times on
Tour. A plaque at the 18th in honor of Woods is now a
forgone conclusion.
On
Saturday he finished a two-eagle-plus-birdie-chip-in 30
on the back nine by holing a 35-foot putt on the last
hole to take the lead. On Sunday he made a bumpy
downhill disaster of a 12-foot putt for birdie to tie
Mediate and force their friendly stroll on Monday. And,
of course, because—in Mediate’s words—”he is who he
is...the guy is impossible,” Woods birdied the 18th
again with two bombs and two putts from 50 feet.
No match
against Tiger
“If
anybody in the world goes up against Tiger when he’s at
his best, they’re going to lose. I don’t care who it
is,” said Mediate, who almost became the first man in
Tiger’s 14 majors to beat Woods after he held the
third-round lead. “Was he at his best this week? He was
pretty good. Obviously, he’s hurt. But there’s where
he’s his best, always.”
As they
walked downhill from the ninth tee after Woods had shown
one of his few knee-grimaces of the day—the Woods camp
found some better pain killer in midround Sunday—Mediate
began one of his comic monologues, grinning and
gesturing in his buddy’s face. Mediate walked fast,
looking back, luring Tiger to hobble faster and take the
good-buddy bait.
It
almost worked. Tiger hashed up the hole and faced a
10-foot putt to avoid a bogey while Mediate had a
20-footer for birdie. Rocco three-putted; Tiger drained
his. After that, the rest of the day was a highlight
reel. Mediate bogeyed again to fall three back. Tiger
opened the door with back-to-back bogeys at the 11th and
12th. Both birdied the 13th, then Mediate ran his streak
to three straight birds at the 14th and 15th to take
back a one-shot lead and stun the crowd of about 24,000
and pin Tiger to the ropes.
After
Mediate’s birdie steamed into the back of the cup at the
15th, Rocco was so shocked at his good luck that, as
Woods reported, “He said a few things I can’t repeat.”
Woods thought, “Well, here’s the tournament. If I miss
this [four-foot] putt, it’s over.”
But he
made it, and the similar knee-knocker at the 18th. And
so, the golf world can keep spinning on its axis, not
adjust to some new lunatic orbit where an old guy with a
homemade swing, who had to beat a bunch of kids in
qualifying just to get into this Open, suddenly decides
that beating Tiger head-to-head is big fun, and does it.
The
other Open legends are not dwarfed. They just have
company now, big-time time competition from a day when
people will ask for years, “Where were you when Rocco
had Tiger out on his feet, taking a standing eight
count, but couldn’t knock him out?”
Even
Woods, the only man who truly knows how much his knee
hurts, doesn’t want to claim too much credit for
himself. “I was not in as bad shape as Ben [Hogan],” he
said. “Geez, he was in the hospital and didn’t know if
he’d ever walk again. I knew I could walk.”
But even
Tiger Woods, after all he’s done, never guessed how
tall.
Highest
ratings since ’02
Meanwhile in New York, the tight finish to the fourth round of the US Open drew the
third-highest preliminary television rating in the
tournament’s history.
With a
later start pushing the finish to prime time on the East
Coast, Sunday’s coverage earned the best overnight
rating in six years, but couldn’t match some past events
with Woods in the hunt.
The
round, which ended with Woods and Mediate headed for a
playoff, attracted an 8.5 rating and 18 share on NBC,
the network said Monday. That’s up 21 percent from last
year’s 7.0, when Woods tied for second. But it fell
short of the record 9.3 in 2002 and the 8.8 in 2000,
both Woods victories.
Sunday’s
rating peaked at a 13.5 from 8:30 to 9 p.m. ET, as Woods
birdied the 18th hole to force the playoff.
The
rating is the percentage watching a program among homes
with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned
into the broadcast among those households with TVs on at
the time. Overnight ratings measure the country’s
largest markets. (With AP) |
