True Grit at Torrey Pines
June 15, 2008 by Sandy Mitchell
When his knee hurting so badly that he sometimes grimaced in pain and used his clubs as a crutch to make his way down the fairways, Tiger Woods gave a master class in guts, concentration, and skill at Torrey Pines yesterday during round three of the US Open.
Five strokes off of the lead coming into the 13th hole, Woods eagled 13 and began a rally that would turn that five-stroke deficit into a one-stroke lead before the round was finished. In addition to the eagle at 13, he lucked into a birdey at 17th when his chip shot one-hopped into the hole. But, with Tiger luck is a by-product of his incredible skill, which he displayed at 18, sinking a 30+-foot putt for the sole lead in the tournament.
Tiger is historically unbeatable when he has sole possession of the lead. He hasn’t been topped in more than seven years when he’s led at the beginning of the final round.
Still, Woods’ knee is the great variable. His amazing concentration seems able to put aside the pain, but he admitted to NBC reporters that the knee was getting worse each day of the tournament. If he can make it through another 18 holes this afternoon, will he pay a price later with his injury? Let’s hope that the price of winning the Open is not that great.
If you missed the round yesterday, below are the Tiger highlights. It’s golf at its best.
(photo © Newscom)
That sight at the end of round three watching Tiger slowly walking up the 18th green, being egged on by the supportive crowd was something that would be hard to forget. To top that, just being able to get back into the zone to make that length eagle putt was a superhuman effort and that is what makes Tiger so special and endears him to so many fans across the world.
The restrained celebration with fist pumping and an ecstatic crowd, it could easily go down as one of the special moments in the sport, It might not have been a title winning moment but it was nearly that good. The guy tops that by holing a shorter but even more crucial putt the very next day to leave you with no doubt that he is truly a magician.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you say “For Tiger, luck is a by-product of his incredible skill”. Many people often dismiss Tiger’s genius by saying the number of lucky breaks that he gets are just too many but that is purely because he makes his own luck and that moment on the 18th on Saturday evening convinced me once and for all that he is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes ever.
tiger played his worst ever! the knee was BS!! yes he might of had “Some” pain but if it was that bad he would not of been walking around fast pace like he did 99.9% of the time!. He makes a bad shot and then uses a face like he’s in pain! BS! then walks off like nothing was hurting!. HE USED THAT AS AN EXCUSE CAUSE HE WAS PLAYING HIS WORSE EVER!!!! but then again the politics of the game tried to cover it up by again saying how painful his leg was feeling! lol yeah ok. Then at the end they GAVE HIM THE 7TH HOLE IN THE SUDDEN DEATH CAUSE THE USGA KNEW IT WAS ONE OF TIGERS BEST HOLES AND KNEW HE COULD PUT IT ON THE GREEN IN 2 SHOTS!!!! AND THAT THIS SAME HOLE WAS ROCCO’S WORST! THEY DID THIS FOR 2 REASONS!.. AGAIN, POLITICS OF THE GAME and 2, FLAT OUT SO THEY COULD GET THIS FINISHED!!! END OF STORY!!! IT was costing the networks too much to keep coverage going on the same two players! AGAIN POLITICS!!!! SAD BUT TRUE PEOPLE!!! THE BETTER GOLFER HERE WAS ROCCO! but of course it wouldn’t look good for tiger to get beat by someone listed 158th on the players ranking!! C’MON PEOPLE!!!! SEE THE COLORS HERE AND SMELL THE ROSES!!! the playoff was set up for tiger to win not for Rocco! We all know ROCCO would of beat tiger if it was a different hole instead of the 7th! as he played far better then woods! dam, politics have ruined this fine game as we once knew it and now it’s all based on who you are and who you know instead of true skills! that is the biggest shame of all.