Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, Monday June 15, 10:30pm
Well, after a couple of very intense days of golf, Tiger was crowned US Open champ. But just barely. As most of you probably know by now, Tiger took 19 extra holes to beat no-name Rocco Mediate, a journeyman pro who has been languishing in the bottom third of the PGA rankings over the past number of years.
I had stood by the 18th green on Sunday for about 7 hours, from 11am to almost 6pm. My back was aching, my feet were sore, I was tired and thirsty, but the pain and suffering were well worth the drama and excitement that took place there. I had an ideal vantage point just to the right of the green, no more than 20 feet from the green and about 35 feet from the pin. I had made friends with a local couple to my left and an off duty volunteer marshal to my right, and we were all rooting for Rocco the underdog.
Rocco was 1 under par for the tournament and had a one shot lead coming to the last hole on Sunday. After a poor tee shot, he had to lay up on the par 5. Knowing that even if he parred the hole Tiger would have to at least birdie to tie him, Rocco put his approach shot in the middle of the green and two putted for par. There was a tremendous cheer of “ROC-CO, ROC-CO” from the massive gallery around the 18th hole.
Sunday was a day to give many PGA pros much hope for the future, Tiger is beatable on Sunday of a major. Having started at 3 under par, Tiger had been struggling all day and by the 18th hole he was 3 over par for the day, even par for the tournament, and one shot behind Rocco. Coming to the 18th hole I'm sure he had a very good mental image of what he needed to do, since he had made a miraculous eagle there just the day before. Tiger proceeded to hit his tee shot awry and was forced to lay up, hitting his approach shot a mere 20 feet from where I stood.
After prowling around the green and surveying the hole for what seemed like an eternity, he carefully stepped up to the ball. The once raucous crowd was amazingly quiet, it's unnerving to see 20,000 people or more but not hear a sound except for the occasional chirp from a bird flying overhead. Tiger only had about a 15 foot putt left to tie Rocco and force a Monday playoff, but we had not seen anyone make this putt all day. Like some pre-ordained event, Tiger's putt started off quickly and tracked directly into the hole. There was a massive eruption from the crowd, and Tiger gave his patented double fist pump. Tiger is probably the best pressure putter I have ever seen, when everything is on the line, it seems that he draws from a reserve of willpower and determination no-one else has. Sometimes when you watch golf on TV the commentators blather on about Tiger this and Tiger that, but watching him live in a major gives a lot of credence to what seems like pandering by the media. It truly was electric to watch.
As I was leaving the course, I had the sense that although everyone expected Tiger to run away in the playoff, Rocco might have the temperament to fare well against Tiger. He's sort of a laid back kinda guy, and all throughout the pressure cooker of the final round, he kept his composure up and outplayed Tiger in the end. I expected a good match on Monday, and I was not disappointed.
I arrived Monday morning about a half hour after the pair teed off, I knew that they would have to play at least 18 holes. After a walk of about 20 minutes from the front entrance, I joined the gallery on the 5th hole, just in time to watch Rocco play from rough to rough to end up with a bogey and lose a shot to Tiger. At that point the gallery was large and growing, there was a constant stream of people coming through the gates, and I knew that it would be futile to try and follow Tiger around the course. I formulated a plan to skip ahead a couple of holes and wait for the golfers to come to me.
After watching Tiger make 2 straight birdies in a row at holes 6 and 7 and going 3 shots up, the next few holes would be critical. I skipped ahead to hole 9, where I knew that the left side of the green would provide a very good vantage point to watch the putts. We heard a loud groan coupled with some cheers of “ROC-CO”, so we figured that Rocco had gained a stroke on number 8. As I waited on the 9th green, the crowd seemed to be swelling right before my eyes. After playing the hole almost perfectly, Rocco had a short 2 foot putt to tie Tiger with par on the hole, but he missed badly, causing a collective gasp from the crowd. Was this where the wheels would begin to fall off? Was the pressure of playing against Tiger for the US Open championship too much for Rocco to bear?
After making bogey on hole 9 and another on hole 10 by Rocco, I knew that it was going to be really difficult for him to come back from four strokes down with 8 holes to go against the best player on the planet. While they were playing the 10th hole I skipped over to an area adjacent to both the 11th and 13th holes. I knew that from my previous days I would be able to see both holes from this location. Unfortunately, about 5,000 other people had found this spot as well. As I jostled for position, Rocco and Tiger hit their tee shots to the 11th hole.
Then the almost miracle began (I say “almost miracle” because it still ended badly). Rocco proceeded to gain strokes on 4 of the next 5 holes, erasing the massive 4 stroke deficit before anyone could really digest what was happening. There was a stunned buzz from the Tiger fans, most of whom were not really golf fans, coupled with hooting and hollering from the Rocco contingent (which was quite a bit smaller).
I say that the majority of Tiger's fans are not really golfers or golf fans because they are clueless. First, they are ignorant of the rules and etiquette of golf. A number of times after Tiger had putted out, there would be a massive movement of “fans” to the next hole, even though Rocco had not finished the hole, thus causing innumerable delays while the marshals tried to stem the movement. Then there would be the fans that claim to know how easy it is to play out the four inch deep rough, saying it's easier to get the ball in the air. Then there would be the parents telling their kids to cheer for Tiger just as Rocco was about to hit a shot. Ignorant hicks, they're all caught up in the Tiger hype. That's my anti-Tiger rant for the day.
Getting back to the golf, after watching the action on the 15th green where Rocco took the lead, his first of the day, I quickly scrambled over to the 18th green. I figured that with Rocco in the lead by a stroke going to the 16th hole, the deciding action could be on the 18th hole. After circling the area for 10 minutes, I realized that it was a futile activity to try and get close, there were probably 15,000 people waiting on the 18th hole, the grandstands were packed to capacity, the greens were 20 deep, the fairway was 10 deep, and people had resorted to climbing onto the backs of service vehicles to try to catch a glimpse of the action.
I found a place about 50 yards from the green from which I could at least see part of the green. As the players walked down the 18th fairway after their tee shots, there was a loud series of chants for “ROC-CO, ROC-CO”. Unfortunately, he had hit his tee shot into the bunker and like Sunday, was forced to lay up. Tiger on the other hand, was able to go for the green in two, and with a massive swing he ripped an iron to the middle of the green. Now it was going to be a putting contest. Rocco two putted for par, and after Tiger missed his eagle attempt, he had a fairly short putt to force a sudden death playoff. At this point the crowd was just enormous, and after another eternity of checking the angles, ensuring that all of the flecks of sand were brushed aside, and asking the ants to please move (just kidding), Tiger lined up his putt. Seeing as how Tiger hadn't missed an important putt like this in about 10 years, I again had a very baaaad feeling that he was somehow going to reach into his reserves of mental power, and will the ball into the hole. I really didn't see much of this putt, since by this time the crush of the crowd was about 20 people deep where I was, all I could see were the backs of what seemed like the entire LA Lakers basketball team. I was mentally cursing my gene pool which only made me 5'11” tall, I needed to be at least 7 feet!!!
With Tiger's last putt on the 18th hole, there was a mad dash for people to run to the 6th hole, the first sudden death playoff hole. I decided to gamble and stay in my current position, slowly making my way closer to the fairway in the event that the playoff would make it back to the 18th. As I made it to the second row, Tiger and his escort of about 10 uniformed police officers walked no more than 10 feet from where I now stood, ostensibly on his way to the bathroom. At this critical juncture, even the mighty Tiger Woods had to pee, and silently I had a smile to myself.
The first sudden death playoff was somewhat anticlimactic. Everyone around, myself included, were glued to the portable TV's. After a groan (Rocco's missed putt), there was a tremendous cheer, and after the 3 second TV delay we saw Tiger 's winning par putt.
For some reason, I didn't feel like sticking around for the trophy presentation. It was a little bit disappointing, after 8 days of following groups around, that I did not get to see the final winning hole, but I'm sure it was more disappointing for Rocco. All things considered, it's been a pretty phenomenal week.
Starting tomorrow I'll journey northward on Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway towards Los Angeles.
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