sportsblog

It’s not over yet (who’s excited for this 18-hole playoff?), but I can’t let this morning go by without at least mentioning the US Open. It has just been a great tournament to watch, starting with Tiger and Phil battling on Friday and Tiger crushing the front 9 (his last nine holes of the day). Saturday, in the second to last group, Tiger struggled most of the day, but exploded on the back nine and took the 54 hole lead. His chip shot on 17 and eagle putt on 18 were classic Tiger. The laughter (a rare show of raw emotion from Tiger) was awesome to see after the unbelievable chip in for birdie on 17. There was never a doubt about that putt on 18 and watching him stand there with a sly grin on his face and his fist clenched, you just knew you were just watching something special.

All the while, though, Lee Westwood and the seemingly unflappable Rocco Mediate hung tough and kept right at Tiger’s heels setting up some interesting golf on Sunday, and boy was it interesting. No one can battle quite like Tiger, but no one was more consistent this entire week than Rocco. I am just plain ecstatic that I got to watch on Sunday and that we get 18 more holes on Monday (granted, I’ll have to watch at work, keep the volume down and try not to yell, but it will still be awesome).

Rocco smiling all week, Tiger grimmacing after every shot both good and bad. It just doesn’t get much better than what happened on Sunday despite the fact that neither of them played particularly well. They both played just well enough to lose, which set up the tie and that awesome birdie putt by Tiger on 18. Of course, the fact that neither of them played that well didn’t make the theater any less compelling or exciting, because DAMN was it exciting. The USGA and NBC certainly got what they wanted: an exciting prime time tournament with Tiger involved down the stretch. The ratings are going to be great and the excitement generated for the game of golf has been just fantastic.

Monday, Rocco Mediate has the pressure of having to go one-on-one with the best golfer ever. Sure, on Sunday he and Tiger were both there, but there were others around the top of the leaderboard to take some of the pressure off. Tiger, on the other hand, has never had to play an 18-hole palyoff after holding the 54-hole lead. And he has to play his fifth round in five days on a knee that is clearly not 100%. Will his knee wear down enough for Rocco to take advantage? Will Rocco handle the pressure well enough to keep hitting fairways and greens? We don’t have to wait long to find out now and man I hope it is as exciting as it has been to this point.

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