The Daily Dose
Pining To Win At The Major
Posted June 16, 2008 at 4:30 pm by Dave
What do you get when you take a golfer 5 yrs short of the senior tour, an apex predator and a Major-”Easy Prey”??? Well if you watched the 108th US Open you’d know that Rocco Mediate performed like his namesake Rocky and never backed down from adversity. So did the “middle-aged, non-major winning striker find his edge to take down the best?” It would take a 19 hole playoff to decide.
With story lines like Tiger’s grimaces due to his newly repaired knee, to Rocco never winning a major, to Tiger never losing a major after 54 holes, to Rocco vying to become the oldest player ever to win a major, a Dickens’s novel would have been more apropos than a blog to describe this event. Nonetheless, I’ve never been more excited to try.
On the 19th playoff hole, Rocco drove the left side bunker; a serious mistake considering Tiger put it in the fairway. Rocco’s next shot hit the grandstand offering him a free drop, while Tiger hit the green some 30 feet below the hole. So here we had it with both sitting 3, Tiger on the green and Rocco in the rough. Tiger could end it with one straight putt to the jugular, a putt that he could make probably 9 out of 10 times. Lucky for Rocco, that 1 missed happened, and Tiger left it short by 1″ below the hole. Though the advantage was still with Tiger, Rocco had a chance, especially since flop shot landed 20 ft right of the hole. Rocco needed this putt to stay alive and to continue the storyline. With the Cardinal Sin of putting ringing in his ear, Rocco knew he couldn’t leave this putt short. He gave it a ride but the ball went past the hole and with that Tiger claimed his 14th Major.
This tournament was amazing! Both golfers performed at the highest level while displaying a mutual respect and admiration. Congrats to both, and I’ll be a Tiger/Rocco fan for a long time to come!
Keeping with the theme; “Which Golfer Has The Best Chance To Take Down The Tiger?”
Phil Mickelson
Adam Scott
Geoff Ogilvy
Stewart Cink
No One Ever
I’d like to think Geoff Ogilvy has a chance due to his putting but it’s probably “No One Ever”
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