More U.S. Open Clippings

So much great 2008 U.S. Open reading and so much time to savor it thanks to a pitiful Game 6...

Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com:

I watched 5½ holes of the playoff while waiting near a food kiosk at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. My flight to Tampa, Fla., was delayed, so I sat on the edge of a huge potted plant as Woods' 3-stroke lead morphed into a 1-stroke deficit.

But here's the thing: It wasn't just me sitting there. I turned around and there was a guy crouched below the palm fronds. A woman sat on the floor to my right. A father and son stood to my left. Before long, there were about 20 of us in a semicircle -- business people, tourists, flight crews, ticket agents -- all watching an ancient TV whose spotty reception featured a series of Zorro-like slashes on the picture.

A handful of us had to board before it was finished. When I left the TV, Woods was in the fairway on No. 18 and Mediate was in the rough. That's all we knew as they shut the cabin door.

"I want Tiger to win," said one of the businessmen who had stood nearby, "but I don't want Rocco to lose."

That's how pure the U.S. Open was. You rooted for the underdog and the big dog.

Pat Forde says it was "arguably the greatest golf tournament ever" and writes:

If you sat next to Mediate on a flight from San Diego to New York, you'd probably know his life story by the time you were over Omaha, Neb. He'd be doing card tricks, telling jokes, showing you pictures from his vacation.

If you sat next to Woods on a flight -- well, forget it. He'd be on his private jet.

In his peppy Golf World game story John Hawkins writes:

Tee markers were moved all over the place -- six holes played to significantly different lengths during the week. For Sunday's final round, the 7,643-yard behemoth was shortened by a whopping 361 yards. Davis' makeshift drivable par 4, the 14th, had a subtle effect on the outcome: five of the top-eight finishers birdied it. The greens might have been a bit soft and the breeze somewhat feeble, but after back-to-back winning scores of five over, a playoff at one under was easy on the eyes and even nicer to the ears.

Jaime Diaz looks at Tiger and wonders...

...it is impossible not to be worried whether Tiger Woods will fulfill his destiny as a golfer. Will his gift be diminished? Have we seen the best of him? Is his time at the pinnacle of the game short?

These are heavy questions, and perhaps not even Woods really knows the answers, as he indicated when he said after the victory, "This week had a lot of doubt to it."

Tim Rosaforte takes on the Phil driver drama and says Harmon and Pelz signed off...

It didn't matter that Mickelson was trying to avoid the wide-left miss that cost him at Winged Foot two years ago. This was the longest course in Open history, and just about every expert except Harmon piled on Mickelson and short-game guru Dave Pelz—who provided data that led to the decision to sacrifice distance for accuracy. "I don't have a problem with the decision but with the execution," Harmon said.

Two weeks before the Open, Mickelson gave hints he wasn't going to attack Torrey South in the conventional way, saying he expected to hit driver only four to six times per round. In the interim, Pelz emphasized to Mickelson that playing from the fairway was going to be the key for the week. Their plan was based on a club Mickelson had made for him at the Callaway facility, a 13-degree FT Fairway 3-wood bent to 11.5 degrees. Able to carry shots hit with that club 280 yards, with 20 yards of roll, Mickelson was hoping to put less stress on his short game by keeping his ball in the fairway.

Bob Verdi focuses on Rocco but also compliments the USGA hierarchy.

Mediate walks as if he's late for a train. He's perpetual motion over the ball until impact. He waves, he laughs, he talks to himself, then hangs around waiting for an answer. Rocco earned a spot by surviving an Open playoff qualifier against so many kids, he felt like a chaperone. When he arrived at Torrey Pines, he went to the merchandise tent and bought Open pins for his hat, like the fan he is. "Hey, I play golf for a living," Mediate said. "And I played well in my favorite tournament, one where you don't have to make eight birdies a round to compete, one where you have to be precise. Why shouldn't I be happy?"

Spongy greens troubled some players, one of whom carped that it felt like he was "putting an egg instead of a ball." But Rocco never barked, because this was the "most fairest" Open setup ever. His attitude might have had something to do with his altitude, and overall, the usually restive locker room was a demilitarized zone. Torrey South was difficult and exacting, yet playable and flexible. More significantly, golfers sensed the intransigence and arrogance of the previous USGA regime was absent. Jim Vernon, Jim Hyler and Mike Davis got high marks for directing and producing an electric show. "Nothing wrong with the course," Rocco repeated. "Absolutely nothing."

Steve Elling has the Hank angle covered.

Hank Haney got a shade choked up, his eyes misting over as he watched his prized pupil hoist the U.S. Open trophy overhead for the third time.

As Tiger Woods kissed the chrome, Haney had no trouble putting the guy's latest other-worldly accomplishment into perspective. He did not equivocate, qualify or pull his punches, and even though he's on the Woods payroll, his opinion means plenty because Haney knew more than anybody about what Woods was enduring this week.

After 91 grueling, grinding holes had been completed, Haney finally pulled back the curtain regarding what Woods faced over the past two months since having surgery on his chewed-up left knee for the third time.

"It's his greatest win, given all of the things he had to overcome," Haney said, repeatedly clearing his throat. "The amount of pain he played in, the lack of preparation, it's his greatest win and I know he feels the same way."

Bill Fields zeros in on the amateurs in last week's field, while Brett Avery's stat package includes some interesting numbers.

Doug Ferguson's notes column clarifies Tiger's PGA Tour status should he not play a full schedule (not to worry!), reminds us that the North Course at Torrey will have a few extra weeks of recovery thanks to a later Buick date and noted that Curtis Strange looked "as comfortable as ever" in the booth. So sorry I missed that.

Finally, Harvey Araton in the New York Times says Tiger is the new Jordan.

Woods has the advantage of playing an individual country-club sport that affluent baby boomers have grown into, not out of, but by Sunday evening he was no doubt crossing generational and socioeconomic lines, getting the attention of many who weren’t certain of the difference between a birdie and a bogey.

When N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern held his annual state-of-affairs finals news conference before Game 2 here last week, I asked him about the yearly challenge of Woods and the United States Open to what used to be a window for the N.B.A. to dominate coverage and conversation.

“That’s not really a concern for us at all,” Stern said. “We worry that all sporting events over the past several years have had a decline in their big events, and to see that reversing, where it was reversed this year in the Stanley Cup, it has been reversed in our playoffs, in our conference finals in double digits, and it’s going to be reversed in our finals in double digits, we would like to see all sporting events do better.”