Today the improbable U.S Open came to its inevitable end. Of all people, Rocco Mediate was challenging to win a major championship. Safely in the clubhouse with a one-stroke lead, he watched as Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods both had putts of about 12 feet to force a playoff.
Westwood is a good player who never quite lived up to his promise. When he was younger, they said he was England's answer to Tiger Woods. Maybe in the Ryder Cups, but he's had an up and down career, never winning a major championship. Predictably, he missed his putt, and had to settle for third place. Also predictably, Tiger was Tiger, and his putt found the edge of the cup and fell in.
It's impossible not to like Rocco Mediate. Guys named "Rocco" usually break other guys' legs for a living; it's rare for a Rocco to end up on the PGA tour. But this guy doesn't look like a Rocco. He doesn't even look like a golfer. He's short and pudgy, and looks like he could have been cast to play the Penguin in one of the Batman movies.
He's 45 years old now, hasn't won a tournament in six years, and only won five times in his entire career. He had to qualify just to get into the U.S. Open, playing against kids half his age who were outdriving him by fifty yards. He's a jumpy little guy with such a herky-jerky swing that I still can't see how he manages to get all the parts of his body moving in the same direction when hits the ball. But he loves the game and the crowds, and doesn't mind that he has to hit six-irons when Tiger is hitting a wedge.
Yet here he was, this Cindarella story forcing Tiger to an 18-hole playoff the next day. After 10 holes, Tiger was up by three strokes, and it appeared the clock had struck midnight. But then Rocco birdied 13 and 14, and then made a long putt to birdie 15. Meanwhile, Tiger had started spraying the ball all over the course, and had dropped a shot.
Rocco took a one-stroke lead into the 18th hole, and had a long putt to win the Open. I was rooting for him. For Rocco, this would be the capstone of his career, his one and only major championship. For Tiger, it would be just one more major in addition to his 13 other majors.
Rocco had a long birdie putt to win the U.S. Open. He missed. Tiger made birdie, and after 90 holes of golf, it was still a tie. As an announcer said, Tiger Woods against a guy who looked like he should be cleaning Tiger Woods' swimming pool. On the first sudden death hole, Rocco made a mistake, and it was over. Yes, Tiger deserved to win. He played on one leg, when he should have been recuperating from knee surgery. That's just one more measure of greatness.
But Rocco is at the age where he is running out of chances to win a major, and I doubt we will hear from him again. I can only hope that somehwere out there is a parallel universe in which Tiger's putt lipped out on the 72nd hole, and a portly little crowd favorite is now the U.S. Open champion.
No comments:
Post a Comment