The Legend Grows

By Thomas Boswell
The Washington Post
Tuesday, June 17, 2008; E01

Tiger Woods hits on the 11th tee in his playoff match against compatriot Rocco Mediate at the 108th US Open championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California on June 16, 2008. Woods won in sudden death. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)


SAN DIEGO: What might have been the greatest of all U.S. 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's 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.

SAN DIEGO - JUNE 16: Tiger Woods (R), champion, and Rocco Mediate (L), runner up, share a moment on the 18th green during the trophy presentation after the playoff round of the 108th U.S. Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) on June 16, 2008 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

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, 3-wood, 3-wood, 3-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."

Did doctors warn him that he could injure his left knee, already operated on three times, further if he played? He nodded. And did he? "Maybe," he said.

Tiger Woods holds his trophy after defeating compatriot Rocco Mediate in the sudden death playoff at the 108th U.S. Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California on June 16, 2008. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

That's the sole reason that 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 to 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, lets 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 last night, yet came within an eyelash from 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."

SAN DIEGO - JUNE 16: Tiger Woods hits out of the bunker on the third hole during the playoff round of the 108th U.S. Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) on June 16, 2008 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

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-5, 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 foregone 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.

"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 painkiller in mid-round 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 birdies 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 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.