Just yesterday, Tiger Woods won the US Open, the 14th major tournament victory of his 12-year career. Big deal, you say, that guy wins all the time. Everyone knows he’s great, and everyone knows that all the other golfers (all fat schlubs compared to golf’s one true athlete) pale in comparison. That’s all true, but this last weekend actually was a big deal.
Tiger Woods, playing in his first tournament since knee surgery, defeated the 45 year-old Rocco Mediate after 19 extra-curricular holes on Monday, the last being a sudden-death hole. (The term “sudden-death hole” sounds kind of terrifying, doesn’t it?) He showed us moments of weakness and mere mortality, like those painful bogeys (single and, gasp, double) on the first hole throughout the weekend. He literally showed the pain he felt in his knee as his face contorted after each drive. He struggled to shoot an even round on the notoriously tough and long Torrey Pines course.
But, ladies and gentlemen, Tiger is not the man because he never gets himself into trouble. He’s the man because he always gets himself out if it – he does so better than anyone you or I have ever seen. Mentally, he’s unbreakable. Physically, he’s as strong as anyone on the course. He has the game; golf instructors around the world use slow motion frames of his drives to teach students of all ages the perfect swing. When Tiger got himself into trouble early on Friday and Saturday, he finished so amazingly, so spectacularly, that before Sunday even began, this was already a classic US Open. And then Sunday happened, and that great birdie putt on 18 to send it to an 18-hole playoff. And then Monday happened and well, you already know the rest. This will go down as one of the greatest tournaments ever, and it will certainly go down as Tiger’s greatest victory.
What we are witnessing, my friends, is the unfolding of the greatest legend the sport of golf has ever given us, possibly the greatest it ever will. Tiger was born to play this game, but he was also born to play it better than anyone ever has. Like Achilles, he appears to have been dipped into his own river Styx, perhaps by his father. Invincible in battle, the man born Eldrick Tont Woods strikes absolute fear into the hearts of his competitors. Like Achilles, his name will go down through the ages, passed on in stories and books as a hero. Unlike Achilles, however, even at his weakest, Tiger cannot be defeated. He proved that this last weekend.
And I was there. I saw him play on Saturday. I witnessed a part of Tiger’s greatest victory yet, and I’ll never forget it. But before I go on about the champion, I’d like to share a story about his tenacious competitor: Rocco Mediate.
My Dad and I sat in the grandstands that surround the 5th green at Torrey Pines during the Saturday round. We saw every single golfer come through, hit their drives and approach shots, make or miss their putts, etc. It was incredible to see the level of focus that these professionals maintain. When Tiger and Robert Karlsson arrived at the green, thousands of people and thirty cameras followed them. But they weren’t the last group to come through – Rocco and Stuart Appleby were last, with Rocco still in the lead for the tournament. As he approached, only two cameras and about 1/3 the people remained – the rest had followed Tiger on to six.
From first glimpse, Mediate looked to be having the time of his life. He was smiling, appreciative of the applause from the grandstand, where we had remained to see him play. As he approached his ball, someone yelled, “It’s straight, Rocco!” Rocco laughed and thanked the man in the crowd for the putting advice. While some golfers take themselves so seriously, this guy was laughing and joking with the crowd in the midst of the biggest tournament of his life. This is a guy that loves the game. He sank his putt and moved on. That’s a moment I’ll never forget.
By all accounts, Rocco Mediate deserved to win. He was steady, he played well, he had all the karma in the world on his side. And Tiger still beat him. That is why he’s the greatest now, and will continue to be the greatest golfer we’ll ever see. I can’t imagine anyone coming along and being more dominant, more perfect when he needs to be, than Mr. Woods.
And that’s also why I’ll never, ever be able to root against him.
K
WOW! For Rocco Mediate to play against Tiger in the US Open was an equivalent to “David and Goliath,” With Rocco only having two PGA wins and Tiger with 64 wins must of been an honor for Rocco to play the Worlds Greatest Golfer. But Rocco played Tiger toe to toe for ninety holes. What an game to will go down in history!
I feel that this year’s US open will be spoken of for decades to come.
When it comes to speaking of great US Opens, or even great golf tournaments; while Tiger Wood’s name will be legend, in the future Rocco Mediate’s name will be spoken in the same breath as Tiger’s – how many other golfers will be able to boast that?