It was almost another Rocky Balboa story.
But in the end, Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, barely managed to hold off Rocco Mediate, No. 158 in the world, to win the 108th U.S. Open Monday with a par on the 19th playoff hole.
“I got what I wanted, a chance to play against the best player in the world, said Mediate, 45, who was trying to become the oldest U.S. Open winner in history. “I never gave up. I never gave up. And I think I had him scared at one point there.”
No question about that. Woods, who hobbled around Torrey Pines all week on a bum left knee he had surgically repaired nine weeks ago, called this, his third Open title and his 14th major, perhaps his greatest victory of all.
“It’s either this one or my first one,” he said, referring to his 12-shot win in the 1997 Masters as a rookie on the PGA Tour.
There was no question in the mind of his swing coach, Hank Haney. “This is his greatest ever, no doubt,” he said.
Because of the searing pain that the torque from his 125-mile-per-hour swing puts on his knee, neither Woods nor Haney was completely convinced he would be able walk the 72 holes of the championship this week, let alone the 91 holes it eventually went.
“He had only played 27 practice holes since the Masters, and he never hit more than 50 balls a day on the range,” Haney said. “Thursday in the first round was the first time he bent down to line up a putt.”
The knee did hurt. But in his post-victory news conference, Woods said he simply decided to choke back the pain.
“I wasn’t going to bag it,” he said. “It helped to have the energy from all the fans, because there were times it stung quite a bit.”
Energy from the fans is an understatement. Despite being a back-to-work Monday morning, thousands and thousands of spectators turned out on a clear, cool morning in San Diego to watch the two-man showdown. They were rooting for the seemingly invincible Woods, but they also clearly had a soft spot in their hearts for Mediate. And why wouldn’t they? It was all very David vs. Goliath, Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed.
Early on, at the par-3 third hole, when Woods dumped his tee shot in the front bunker and Mediate nestled his to tap-in range for a birdie, the fans chanted, “Roc-co, Roc-co, Roc-co” as he made his way to the green.
Considering that even Mediate worried that he was running on fumes going into the playoff, it turned out to be a battle to the finish, with both players shooting par 71 in regulation. As he did on Sunday, Woods kept the match alive by sinking a clutch birdie putt on the 18th hole. This one was from 4 feet, but Woods was uncertain enough about the break to call in his longtime caddie, Steve Williams, for a second opinion.
“Because I didn’t see any break at all,” Woods said. Williams didn’t either.
“OK, here we go, our tournament relies on a dead straight putt from 4 feet,” Woods said.
With the victory, his 65th on the PGA Tour, Woods, at 32, is only four behind Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors. He could bag No. 15 at the British Open next month, if he plays. That’s a big if.
“I think I need to shut it down for a little bit here,” Woods said, referring to giving his knee more time to heal. As for playing in the British Open, he said, “I really don’t know.”
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When Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate arrived Monday at the U.S. Open for their playoff for the title, they were wearing the same clothes. Black pants, black vest with a red shirt underneath and a black hat. How embarrassing. (When Tiger saw what Rocco was wearing, he took off the vest.) The two resembled each other on the course, too, hitting big shot after big shot. It almost was hard to keep track of who was doing what and when. With that in mind, take a look at the following U.S. Open tidbits and see if you can figure out if it describes Tiger or Rocco.
1) (underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(und erscore)(underscore)(underscore)(undersc ore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore) almost hit a hole-in-one on No. 3, the ball just missing the pin as it stopped 18 inches past for a tap-in birdie.
2) (underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(und erscore)(underscore)(underscore)(undersc ore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore) laughed as his 2-footer putt for par on No. 4 circled the cup and dropped in.
3) (underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(und erscore)(underscore)(underscore)(undersc ore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore) gouged it out of the rough and saved par with a 20-foot putt from the fringe on No. 10.
4) (underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(und erscore)(underscore)(underscore)(undersc ore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore) sank a 25-foot putt on the 15th for his third straight birdie.
5) (underscore)(underscore)(underscore)(und erscore)(underscore)(underscore)(undersc ore)(underscore)(underscore)(underscore)’s 50-foot birdie putt from the lower edge of the green stopped one turn shy of the cup.
