Capelle On Golf

2008 US Open Coverage

After bogeying #12, Woods was one over par for the tournament and not looking good considering the condition of his knee and the solid play of Rocco Mediate and Lee Westwood. Then the Golf Gods intervened and turned the US Open on its head.

This Open was set up to punish wayward drives – the worse the offense, the bigger the punishment. It would seem that Woods would pay the maximum penalties because he hits some of the wildest drives on tour. This is theory. In truth, he often hits them so far off line that they reach the turf where the gallery has been walking. Such was the case on #13. He hit his classic wide right – a drive that must surely lead to disaster. But wait! This is Tiger Woods. He drew a perfect lie, Nearly hole his second shot on the fly, then canned a twisting 60 footer for an eagle. Sorry but the punishment did not fit the crime.

On the fourteenth he hit a normal offline drive for a pro, paid the Open rough price, and made a much deserved bogey. After a quasi-regulation par at 15, Woods holed a testy six footer for a par on 16, taking us to the biggest travesty of justice in golf. Once again he hit his famous way wide right. This time someone in the gallery grabbed his ball and he got a drop. I can’t say for sure where his ball would have been – but I do know that his lie enabled him to loft his second shot just off the side of the 17th green. He hit his pitch shot way in the air, and way too hard. As it landed it was easy to see by the speed it was traveling that it was going to go about 20 past the cup. But it took one hop and dived into the cup. Even Tiger had to break out into a hand-in-the-cookie-jar grin.

On 18 he finally hit a fairway after missing five straight, then lofted a little cut 5-wood onto the back of the green. Johnny Miller said that Tiger played 3-4 feet of break, but when I looked at the replay, the initial line the ball traveled was at least 15 feet left of the cup. Which makes the result all the more astounding when you consider that the ball made a beeline for the cup 50 feet away. Tiger made eagle, and you know the rest – he’s 13 for 13 when leading or tied for the lead in a major. Now, thanks to be big helping hand from the Golf Gods, he’s got a chance to extend that to 14 straight.

Tiger played holes 13, 17, and 18 in five under par. When you consider where he hit his tee shots and the improbability of his putts and chip, scores of 6, 5, and 4, not 3, 3, and 3 would have been the more likely result. And he would have been six shots higher and not much of a threat to win considering his gimpy left knee. But he’s Tiger Woods, and these things seem to go his way.

In basketball they use the phrase “steal one” when a team wins a game on the road they are not supposed to. It will never apply more in golf than if Woods today goes on to win his third Open.