The ride was wild and the show was great, but in the end it was Woods standing on the 18th green with the U.S. Open trophy in his hands.
On a sunny day on the California coast, Tiger Woods beat a guy ranked 158th in the world - and the world couldn’t get enough of it.

This wasn’t Rocco versus Tiger for the U.S. Open title. This was Rocky against the champ in a slugfest so compelling that even an extra 18 holes couldn’t settle it.

In one corner was the superstar who seems to summon superhero powers when he needs them most. In the other was the common man who won over a crowd and a country with his ready smile and quick wit, someone we could imagine ourselves trading places with as he played Woods for the national championship.

They played 19 before the gritty underdog finally succumbed to the inevitable. They could have played 19 more and it would have likely been just as close. And in the end, a few words from the great one seemed to mean almost as much to Rocco Mediate as the U.S. Open title he so desperately wanted to win. “Great fight,” Woods told him. Tiger has now won 14 major championships, four short of Jack Nicklaus, and nearly every one of them has had a compelling storyline, from his runaway win at the Masters to his tearful win after his father’s death at the British Open.

That was all Mediate wanted to give Woods, all he wanted to be remembered for when the historians of the sport look back to the five days that unfolded on a muni perched on a cliff above the blue Pacific. He craved the respect of the greatest golfer of his era, while nervously cherishing the challenge of matching him shot for shot.

I am not surprised by the winner but i must say-Rocco, you are great! Great player and overall great guy. Congratulations to both.

Tags: GENERAL GOLF TOPICS //