Legal Commentary

Tiger's bittersweet victory

By Tom Kirkendall

Just off one of the most remarkable performances of his amazing career, Tiger Woods is going on the shelf for the rest of this golf season and probably for a good chunk of next season rehabilitating from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Frankly, it's been difficult this close to last week's thrilling U.S. Open to provide any decent perspective of the event. Unquestionably, the tournament will go down as one of the most entertaining U.S. Opens of the modern era. Torrey Pines is a great muny golf course, but it's not considered an architectural gem on the level of many other U.S. Open venues, so there really was not much anticipation going into the tournament that the course would produce a particularly memorable event. Nevertheless, to the surprise of most golf fans, the USGA wisely moved away from its draconian past course set-ups and arranged Torrey Pines in a first-class manner that facilitated the competition rather than restricting it.

Meanwhile, 45-year-old journeyman Rocco Mediate -- ranked 158th in the World Rankings coming into the tournament and without a win on the Tour since 2002 -- somehow found a rhythm over the week that allowed him to take the best player in the history of the game to the brink of a crushing loss on two different occasions.  Mediate -- who has always been one of the friendliest players on the Tour -- looked all weekend as if he was just as surprised as everyone else that he was battling Woods toe-to-toe all weekend. Amazingly, had he been able to hit a decent wedge shot on either Sunday or Monday to set up a birdie either day on the relatively easy par-5 18th hole, Rocce Mediate, not Tiger Woods, would be the 2008 U.S. Open champion. Playing on what we now know is a torn ACL, Woods was certainly not at his best during the tournament, perhaps best reflected by the fact that he double-bogeyed the par-4 first hole three times in the first four rounds only to be offset by Woods' extraordinary play at other times, such as making three eagles on the par-5's and holing more clutch putts than any player in the field. Stated simply, Woods and Mediate put on a great show that will rank as one of the best U.S. Opens ever.

Sadly, however, Woods' once-in-a-lifetime talent will not be on display for a good while now. And, as noted here a couple of months ago, what is perhaps most baffling about Woods' injury is that it is largely self-inflicted. He has unwisely for years included a frequent long-distance running regimen in his intense exercise protocol, which has almost certainly contributed to the injury in his left knee. Exercise that causes unnecessary injuries defeats much of its purpose, and I sincerely hope that Woods' stubborn adherence to a physically-damaging exercise regimen does not end up taking from us the enjoyment of watching one of the most gifted athletes of our time compete at the highest level of his ability.

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on June 19, 2008 (boomark / email).