Tiger Woods made one last improbable escape this afternoon (Monday) and won the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate, his 14th career major and maybe the most amazing of them all.
One shot behind after a collapse no one saw coming, Woods birdied the 18th hole to force sudden death at Torrey Pines against a journeyman with a creaky back who simply wouldn’t go away.
But that one extra hole was enough to doom Mediate, trying to become the oldest U.S. Open champion at 45 years, 6 months.
He put his tee shot in the bunker at No. 7, knocked his approach off a cart path and against the bleachers, chipped some 18 feet past the hole and missed the par putt.
On the verge of one of golf’s greatest upsets, Mediate instead became another victim.
“Great fight,” Woods told him as they embraced on the seventh green.
It capped a remarkable week for the world’s No. 1 player, who had not played since April 15 surgery on his left knee and looked as though every step was a burden. But the knee held up for 91 holes, and the payoff was worth the pain, even if doctors had warned him that he risked further injury by playing the Open.
Mediate’s odyssey began two weeks ago when he had to survive a sudden-death playoff simply to qualify for this U.S. Open. Even more unlikely was going toe-to-toe with Woods – whom Mediate referred to as a “monster” – and nearly slaying him.
From the opening tee shot Thursday in a light fog known as “June Gloom,” this U.S. Open simply shined.
“This is probably the greatest tournament I’ve ever had,” Woods said.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
