Capelle On Golf

2008 US Open Coverage

The legend of Tiger Woods took a huge stride forward with his playoff win over Rocco Mediate at the US Open. Playing in pain and without the benefit of his normal preparations, Woods defied the odds, the experts, and the golf world to capture his fourteenth major title.

Woods victory was filled with his typical onslaught of long drives, laser like irons, precision chips and putts, and several elements not likely to appear in the media that I’m about to discuss below.

The Par 5 Advantage
USGA set up man Mike Davis may not be Tiger’s best friend, but you sure wouldn’t know it by the following: “We don’t want to penalize the long ball hitter. If they can hit a ball 340 yards, good for them. We’re going to give them an advantage.” And so he did. On the 12 par fives in regulation play, Woods picked up seven shots on Mediate, who is much shorter off the tee.

———–TW–RM
16 Par 3s -1 — +1
44 Par 4s +9 — 0
12 Par 5s -9 — -2

Two Big Scoring Binges
Tiger Woods orchestrated two scoring binges covering 11 holes in which he knocked eight shots from par. Oddly, both were kicked off by wildly errant tee shots where he was lucky to escaped disaster.

On Friday, his tee shot on the first hole (his tenth of the day) was a classic wide right that stopped just to the left of a tree. He took full advantage of this break by lofting an 8-iron onto the green and canning a 20 foot birdie putt. He then birdied the second with a 25 footer, parred the third, then rolled in a 35 footer on the fourth. His birdie binge culminated with a twisting 18 foot putt on the fifth.

Woods’ second binge came on the back nine on Saturday. When he teed off on the par 5 thirteenth he was one over for the tournament and several shots back of Mediate. He pushed his drive at least 60 yards off line, but naturally drew a very playable lie in the rough. His iron shot landed within a foot or two of the hole before rolling just off the back edge 65 feet from the cup. No problem. His cross country putt broke at least five feet before diving into the cup, setting off an enormous explosion from the gallery.

After a bogey and three pars Woods hit another patented miss far right of the seventeenth fairway. Once again he drew an open shot, which he knocked up next to the green. He then hit his pitch way too hard, but it bounced once and dove straight into the cup for a much undeserved birdie. Woods concluded his binge with a 40 foot eagle putt on 18.

Woods Putted Like a Demon
Woods has always putted well at Torrey Pines, and this Open was no exception. He made all of the short ones he always makes, the middle distance putts, and the roller coasters that don’t have to go in, but seem to when Woods’ putter is hot. I can remember at least four of over 30 feet, but I think there were a couple more.

And, of course, he made the clutch putts, the two biggest of which got him into the playoff. On the 70th hole his chip ran seven feet past. Faced with an easily missable right to left putt, he coolly ran it home to stay within one of Mediate.

On the eighteenth he rolled a 15 footer with about five inches of break over the bumpy poa annua green and into the far right edge of the cup. After it dropped he broke into an original and wildly exuberant knee bending fist pump of the ages, a vintage Tiger celebration if you like that ugly face he makes.

Woods Managed the Pain
Going into this Open the pundits could not stop speculating over the condition of Tiger’s knee and how it would hold up under the strain of US Open rough, the long ball, and walking 18 holes day after day. With guts, determination, and some pain meds, Woods persevered in a way that golf has perhaps not seen since the day when Ken Venturi fought heat exhaustion to win the 1964 US Open.

The USGA’s Biased Hole Selection
The USGA are such purists that they still use an18 hole playoff. Then they acted out of character by choosing to start double overtime on the seventh hole. Possibly they bowed to the needs of TV or the crowd. Whatever, the seventh, which doglegs to the right, gave Woods, with his power fade, a decided advantage over Mediate, who plays a draw. In five tries Woods was two under on seven while Mediate was one over. Sure enough, in the playoff Woods faded his drive to the right edge of the fairway, setting up a routine par. Mediate hooked his drive into the bunker, made bogey, and lost the playoff.

If Woods and Mediate had tied number seven, the eighth would have been next. Both played it in even par in five tries. On number 18 Woods held the advantage by two shots over Mediate. So, in short, two of the first three holes chosen by the USGA gave Woods a big advantage.

If the double overtime had started on number one, this would have enabled the fans to line both sides of the fairway (unlike seven), giving them a better view of the action. The hole is relatively straight, so it offer no big edge to players who play a fade or a draw. Mediate would have had a better chance at number one than at seven since he played it in one over to Tiger’s plus five. The first hole is also the logical place to start a playoff from the purist’s perspective.

Lee Westwood and the Other’s Collapsed on the Back Nine
The US Open usually ends for many on the back nine on Sunday, and this maxim held true once again, eliminating several of Woods’ closest pursuers. Ernie Els could have easily won this Open, but he missed a carload of putts, then triple bogeyed 15 to lose by six shots. Geoff Ogilvy bogeyed nine, then ballooned to a 39 on the back to lose by four shots. Robert Karlsson finished three back thanks in part to bogeys on 15 and 16. D.J. Trahan bogeyed 16 and 17 to trail the leaders by three.

Perhaps the most disappointed of all was England’s Lee Westwood. Playing with Tiger, he took a one shot lead into the back nine after birdying the ninth. But he opened the incoming nine with bogeys at 10, 12, and 13 to fall two back of Tiger. When he failed to birdie the easy 18th, he missed the playoff by a shot.

The Mickelson Pairing
Woods’ sternest competition was expected to come from San Diego’s own Phil Mickelson. It might have worked out that way on Sunday except that Mickelson self destructed once again in an Open, but in a new way. The seeds for his downfall were planted when the USGA paired him with Woods for the first two rounds. Though Mickelson has had his moments with Tiger, he retains the capacity to implode – and he did with a big fat 75 in the second round that left him six shots back of Woods.

Another big mistake was his strategy of using a 3-wood off the tee on the longest US Open course in history. Was this a practical decision, or did he think he was going to impress and outsmart Woods with this gambit? Only Mickelson knows for sure – but it did become certain that short and crooked is not as effective as long and crooked. The coupe de grace came on the 13th on Saturday when Mickelson scored a nine after watching a series of pitch shots roll back down to his feet.