Golf Gets Exciting as Tiger Beats Rocco In Sudden Death

Under ordinary circumstances, I usually wouldn’t get too excited about watching golf. I like to play golf, but watching it on television can be a little like watching grass grow. This year’s U.S. Open, however, was far from ordinary. It was actually really exciting.

Tiger Woods (ranked #1 in the world) and Rocco Mediate (ranked #158 in the world before this match) played an extra 18 holes yesterday after scoring evenly on Sunday. When they were still tied after 18 holes on Monday, both shooting a 71, they went into sudden death. Who knew there was sudden death in golf? Not me.

Even though his knee was still sore from arthoscopic surgery two months ago, Tiger ended up beating Rocco by one stroke on the first hole of sudden death. But that wasn’t what all the excitement was about. The exciting thing, at least for me, was that 45 year-old Rocco Mediate was able to hang with the best golfer in the world for so long. Tiger is tough to beat. He’s got intensity, focus, and a perfect swing. Because I love a good underdog story, watching this tournament actually gave me goosebumps. In the end, the master of golf still prevailed, but just barely.

He may not have won the purse, but after playing so well against Tiger in the U.S. Open, Rocco moved up considerably in the rankings. He became a household name yesterday. And even if he does nothing else in his career, he’ll be known for giving golf fans one of the most exciting days in golf history.

The article on Golf.com quotes Tiger as saying, “It was a great battle.”

Indeed. I love, love, love when the little guy does well. Way to give him a run for his money, Rocco.

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