Tiger wins US Open, Whoopee
By Tom Grout
June 19, 2008
Ok, Tiger Woods won the US Open, and yeah he won it on one and a half legs. He is a hero, an icon, and a guy who no doubt will go down in history as maybe the best golfer ever. Whoopee.
I’m sorry if I’m not sounding too excited about the whole deal, but geez you would think he is the only golfer out there. I know he hits the ball a mile, putts great under pressure, wins everything, and has reached the same iconic heights as Michael Jordan. He is black, he is Korean he has as many white teeth as Julia Roberts and has a stunning looking wife and makes enough money through endorsements that he really doesn’t need to golf anymore.
He has brought golf to new heights, whether you know anything about golf or not, you know who Tiger Woods is. He also has an ego as big as his smile and has brought the “celebration” that other sports have, to golf as he goes to his knees after a shot and pumps his fist in the air and whoops it up after a great shot. He does everything but spike the ball into the cup.
He also brings a temper that all us duffers have to the game as he often displays his emotions after a bad shot and is known to slam a club to the ground when he has really chunked one. No doubt about it, he is the man.
Like Paul Harvey likes to say, “And now for the rest of the story” there is another story here at the open. One, because of all the hoopla over Tiger Woods that seems to be slipping away. It’s the plight of all second place finishers in that nobody knows who you are or cares.
Coming into the Open Tiger Woods was rated the number one golfer in the pro ranks. Coming into the Open the second place finisher, Rocco Mediate, was ranked 158th. He is 45 years old and a year removed from being a commentator on the Golf Channel. Had Rocco won the Open he would have been the oldest player to do so.
Mediate quickly became a fan favorite with the crowd at the Open and proved to be as entertaining as former golfer Lee Trevino. The crowd chanted more that once “Rocco! Rocco! Rocco!”.
Woods may be a young guy with a bad knee, but Rocco is an old guy with a bad back and a guy who nobody had ever heard of. He was a guy who took the “Crowned Prince” of golf to a tie at regulation and then a tie after the 18 hole playoff only to lose on the first whole of sudden death. He put a ton of pressure on “Mr. Wonderful” and has been an inspiration to all us old duffers out there and for now we have a new hero.
So Tiger I hope your surgery goes well and you can successfully return to the game as you have been great for the game. But now that you are gone for awhile maybe other stars will emerge and maybe more feel good stories like Rocco will actually be talked about more than Tiger.
AMEN!!
I cant say i wasnt pulling for Rocco, even though Im a HUGE Tiger fan with that said....the Mickelsons the Roccos..and all the other golfers all had the same amount of clubs in there bags....all played the same course...and ALL shot terrible....the pin placements were set up for low scores and yet everybody struggled hitting fairways and greens....really if you look at the overall stats it really wasnt a well played open...Tiger had 2 Eagles that saved his hide and a couple timely putts other than that he played Average...its just that nobody stepped up....Was an average tournament with below average scoring...Im sure Phil and Vijay are licking there chops now that Tiger is caged for the rest of the season...and im betting a few Euro players step it up too.....
Another great article, Tom. You've got the gift of the pen! Now, what's your problem with Tiger -- he hits the ball too far? Putts too well? His wife is too cute? Is your beef with the media -- that Rocco was the bigger story and they didn't do it justice? How is that Tiger's fault? Rocco had a great run -- one tremendous week of golf. An inspiration to all of us, and one great feel-good story. I thought the open was vastly entertaining and was sorry that I had to miss the 19 holes on Monday. Rocco showed us some great golf shots, 91 holes of high level play, great character, and a wonderful sense of himself. I couldn't have asked for more. So that's a reason to stick it to Tiger?
Put simply: Woods is the planet's best golfer.
That Mediate could push Tiger to 19 "overtime" holes is quite the story! (regardless if Tiger is playing on one leg or not)
Woods has been elite since childhood, has honed his game for many years and now, we just _expect_ him to win. When he doesn't win, there is that "downer" feeling that he should have. (Yes, any event that Woods enters, he _should_ win)
Is that unfair to say? Well, if he wasn't so doggone good, wasn't so doggone consistent, wasn't so personable and seemingly wasn't leading the perfect life, I think then, we could allow ourselves some expectation of failure.
That's just not the case with Tiger.
Long live the King!
Sorry but there is a lot to disagree with here. A few things to ponder about Tiger's performance at the US Open:
*He hadn't walked 18 holes of golf (Since the masters in April) until the first round.
*He hadn't leaned over to read a putt until the first round.
*He knew (the media and fans didn't) that he had a torn ACL and a stress fracture in his tibia and didn't back off any shot.
*The golf course was not even moderately easy and to say the other players played poorly is absolutely false. The US open golf courses are all set up the most difficult of any tournament of the year. During a practice round a month before the open, Mickelson called it the most difficult course he has ever played.
*Golf is the most difficult sport to win because you are playing against 150 of the best players in the world at one time. All it takes is to have one of those 150 to play out of their mind and you are beat. It makes Tiger's victory all the more staggering.
To be sarcastic and say Whoopee about this performance is not recognizing the greatness of Woods and the event. It will go down as one of the great tournaments in golf history. Because of the great long putts Tiger made on Saturday, Rocco Mediate's fantastic underdog rally, Tiger's amazing clutch putt to force a playoff, and the fact it was done on a broken bone and torn ACL.
One other thing I take large exception to rip Tiger's ego and reactions on the course. His celebrations after great putts are some of the great moments in sports. To compare this to end zone celebrations is ridiculous. End zone celebrations are often hot-dogging and sometimes planned ahead of time. What you see with Tiger is pure uncoreographed emotion, excitement, and most of all competitiveness. He pumps his fists because he is the greatest competitor of this generation and he wants to win so badly that he reacts with great excitement. This is not ego-this is the will to win and is why he is better than everyone else.
There were also complaints about his temper, and sure he drops an occassional unfortunate expletive that the mics pick up. But he is undoubtedly one of the great role models in sports. In his 12 years as a pro has he had any legal problems, or off the course issues that so many athletes have? Not even one. He always gives due to competitors that he beats, he gives millions to children for his Tiger Woods foundation, and he is a family man that loves his parents, wife, and child. I think I can handle the occassional upset reaction at a poor shot.
I guess if all that is only worth a simple WHOOPE then I am way off base. Sports fans are lucky because nobody in history has been better at their particular sport than Tiger Woods and we get to watch him. I am thrilled to watch him and hope he can get healthy soon so he can add to his incredible legacy.
Correction: Tiger is not Korean. He is however a mix of Thai, Chinese, African American, Native American, and Dutch. (Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods...)
Let's take a gander at this, paragraph by paragraph.
“Whoopee” is the word Grout uses to describe what Johnny Miller and numerous other golf analysts considered to be one of the best professional golf tournaments ever played in the United States. If it is the plain fact that Tiger Woods, winner of 14 professional majors, simply won – and you aren’t a fan of his – fine. However, to blow this off as some sort of boring club tourney is unforgivable.
Anyone who watched the tournament is well aware that there are other golfers out there. The reasons so much coverage is devoted to him are many and basic:
1) He was the leader and eventual winner of the tournament – that’s how it works.
2) He is the best, and I mean by an astronomical margin, best player out there. According to the Official World Golf Ranking, Kang Sung-hoon, the 998th best player in the world, has a score of 0.05. Phil Mickelson, 2nd in the world, as a score of 9.94. That’s 997 players within a margin of 9.89 points. Tiger? Number 1 at 20.73. It is inconceivable how much he dominates only the toughest fields on tour.
3) Everyone wants to see him. He is exciting and entertaining. Nobody cares if Neal Lancaster drops a seven-foot birdie putt to stick him in a tie at 64th place. To that I would say “whoopee.”
He is not the slightest bit Korean, just like I’m not from Canada.
Any golfer would celebrate in the same way, if they were to ever accomplish what he does. They just don’t. Do you honestly think he feels the need to gloat about his golf game? That is pure energy, and pure competitive spirit. Did you get mad when Kirby held his arm in the air as he rounded the bases during game six in 1991? During majors, he is fired up – 100% of the time. If you’re not, you don’t win.
“No doubt about it, he is the man.” – What does this even mean? Have you ever been to one of these tournaments? Nobody is happy after chunking a shot. Many players swear. Some carry on for two holes like babies. Maybe he shouldn’t be upset with himself, maybe he should accept doing less than his best. That would probably help him win more often. Give me a break.
This second-place finisher stuff is laughable. It’s a professional sport. That’s how it goes. You finish second, people don’t really immortalize you. Should we have focused on how Charlie Liebrandt worked Puckett inside well before hanging that left-handed curveball? Mediate received more well-deserved respect, admiration, and attention than any runner-up I’ve seen in a long time. Nothing was “slipping away.”
Golf will not be as much fun over the next few months without Woods. There won’t be many feel good stories, there won’t be many emerging stars. There will be one lingering story during the next 2 majors: “He may have won, but he didn’t have to beat Woods to do it.”
I simply don’t understand how someone can walk away from watching this tournament with a bored reaction of “whoopee.” That person is clearly not a fan of the PGA Tour.
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