91 Holes, Only One Tiger Woods

Is there anyone in sports who is more automatic than Tiger Woods?

Stuck at two U.S. Open titles and thirteen major wins, Woods came back from a surgically-repaired, still injured left knee to play in a tough U.S. Open tournament at Torrey Pines. He hadn't walked or played 18 holes since his surgery on April 15, let alone 72...or 90...or 91.

Yet while hobbling throughout the tournament, grimacing from twisting his knee during most of his tee shots and double bogeying the first hole in three of the four regulation rounds, Woods once again made the impossible possible and won his fourteenth major to date in possibly the most amazing fashion.

I've watched my fair share of final round Sunday's but decided this tournament would be my first to watch from beginning to end. In addition to seeing a tough fight to stay above par all weekend, I witnessed two of Woods' top ten shots of all time--the eagles on 16 and 18 on Saturday.

I also saw someone fight against continuously increasing adversity including hitting his final birdie on 18 Sunday to force today's playoff. Everyone knew he would make that put, including the best sport I have ever seen, Rocco Mediate. Then today, Woods loses a three shot lead at 10 to drop a shot below Mediate and doesn't capitalize until the last minute--grabbing another birdie on 18 to force a sudden death playoff. That's not to mention two puts that fell short of winning Woods the title outright both in regulation and at 19.

It only makes me wonder how this tournament would have turned out if Woods was healthy. That is something we may not see for a while as indicated by Woods in his post-match interview.

"I'm glad I'm done. I'm done. I really don't feel like playing any more. (My left knee) has been sore, and all I can say is the atmosphere is what kept me going. The tournament being a major championship here at Torrey Pines, all the people. I could never quit in front of these people--it wasn't going to happen."

"(I'm) not (going to play) for a while. I'm going to shut it down here for a little bit and see what happens."

But for now, Woods is stuck no more. Make that three U.S. Open titles and fourteen major wins, even if it took 91 holes to accomplish perhaps his most amazing major win thus far.