But I also know another feeling. I distinctly recall walking into school or some social setting the Monday after a great tournament and saying, "Hey, did you watch the Masters the other day? What a finish right?" only to be met with blank stares and head scratching. Even worse, I am often told by my peers that watching golf is easily the most boring thing they have ever done and it is a waste of time to do such a thing.
Today, the day that the US Open ends, I have been avenged. Today, I have been vindicated. Today, I laugh in the face of those who have mocked golf their entire lives, those who say that golfers who are not athletes, and those who have made my golf-loving childhood a living hell. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Today, Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate put on the greatest show that has ever been seen in a golf tournament, and possibly one of the greatest shows ever in recent sports history. A smart movie producer would be trying to lock up the rights to this event, because it is an event scripted for the big screen.
Let's start with the backdrop for the event. We start off with the issue of Tiger Woods' health, which was in pretty poor condition. He had undergone a knee surgery directly after the Master, the last major tournament. He had not played full round of golf before Thursday, the first round of the US Open. He was extremely rusty and pained to start this tournament. Then there's Rocco Mediate. The man was ranked 158th in the world before the tournament. The man is 45 years old. The man had to fight even to make it into a tournament, relying on a long, difficult birdie-putt in a QUALIFYING round in order just to squeak into the US Open. So you have the backdrop for an interesting tournament.
Then there's the tournament itself. The first two rounds were rather unmemorable, with Woods and Mediate in and around the lead, the big story being the slow and painful demise of favorite Phil Mickelson. But as play shifted to the weekend, and as Tiger flipped the kill switch, things started to get interesting.
Saturday was a day to remember at the US Open. With Rocco making a charge into the lead and Tiger dropping a couple of strokes back, things seemed to get hard for Mr. Woods. He was bogeying holes left and right, and his knee looked like it was about buckle. Then, on the back 9 at Torrey Pines, Tiger turned it on. He drained a 70-foot putt for eagle, a chip-in for birdie, and sloping, 35-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole to take a lead going into the final round. Mediate was two-strokes behind.
Sunday was, once again, legendary, as the final round began with a shaky start for Tiger and a confident one for Rocco. As Tiger seemingly became weaker and weaker, his knee injury really bothering him, Rocco Mediate kept on charging up the leaderboard and into the lead. This set the stage for a dramatic final hole, with Tiger one stroke back of Mediate and in need of a birdie to tie. As Mediate looked on from the clubhouse, Tiger put his drive on the 18th hole in the bunker and his second shot into the rough. Needing a 4 on the par 5 to force a playoff, Tiger hit his 3rd shot onto the green with about a 12-foot putt for birdie still left. Most people wouldn't be able to line up such a putt without shaking uncontrollably (I was certainly shaking with anxiety even while sitting at home). But this is Tiger Woods we're talking about. He drained the putt, eliciting a double-fist-pump and another 18 holes for Tiger and Rocco. It took another 19 holes for the contest to come to an end, and Rocco Mediate certainly put up a fight. Although, at the end, the inevitable remained inevitable. Tiger, on virtue of another gutsy playoff round, ended up winning the tournament. And while Rocco Mediate had Tiger up on the ropes at several times during the day, Tiger remained undefeated when holding the lead into the final round at a major championship.
24,000 fans. 156 participants. 91 holes. 71 strokes for par. 5 days of competition. 2 golfers. 1 champion. 1,000,000 memories. What Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate have done over the past 5 days will be remembered as one of the greatest 1-on-1, mano-a-mano duels of all time. What will I remember it for? Being the first time in history that golf took a priority to the NBA Finals, Euro 2008, and even a 9-to-5 workday. These two golfers have breathed life into golf with every stroke of the club, and have proven to all the naysayers that golf is indeed a sport. So congratulations to Tiger and Rocco, for putting on a show, making fans happy, and avenging hardcore golf fans around the world.
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