One For The Ages

It was billed as a mismatch. By one of the participants. And most others, as well.

However, the playoff to decide the 108th US Open was not a mismatch. It was an example of what makes golf a great game.

Two men whose games could not be much more different. One a 32 year old phenom in the midst of what may be the greatest golf career ever, the other a 45 year old veteran who has been solid, but not spectacular, on the PGA Tour for a long time.

One a physical specimen, one of the strongest golfers on Tour, routinely hitting the ball well over 300 yards, the other a more average player, with drives that were normally 30 yards farther back.

They proved, time and again, one of the first things I was told when I started playing golf years ago:

It's not how, it's how many.

The playoff was great to watch, as the players exchanged the lead several times, and each took a turn in control of the tournament. Both made runs, and both responded to those runs. Normally, when Tiger has a tournament in his grasp, his closest competitors tend to fold. Rocco Mediate stood toe-to-toe, and never flinched. He missed a couple of putts that would have won the US Open, but those putts were not "gimme's."

Rocco Mediate did not lose the US Open. Tiger Woods won it.