The Sports Chick Blog

 Watching Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines this weekend gave people the same chills as in the 1920’s when Babe Ruth smacked homers out of the Bronx. We are witnessing history! There will be no other player like Tiger Woods in the game of golf. And because I have a day off today from my day job I will be live blogging the 108th US Open Championship Playoff! Lucky you!!

• UPDATE 12:15: Tiger seemed to finally figure out hole number one and found the fairway on his first shot.

1st Hole - Tiger Woods-Par (E), Rocco Mediate-Bogey (+1)

• UPDATE 12:28: Mediate looked a bit foolish on this hole and seemed to be a bit late. He needs to shake off the nerves and he’ll be fine.

2nd Hole - Tiger Woods-Par (E), Rocco Mediate-Par (+1)

• UPDATE 12:35: Bad tee shot for Tiger straight into the deep bunker, and a barely missed hole-in-one for Mediate. This is gonna be a classic playoff. Tiger made a beautiful shot out of the bunker, but he is not looking good on this third hole.

3rd Hole - Tiger Woods-Bogey (+1), Rocco Mediate-Birdie (E)

• UPDATE 12:49: Both first shots were into the rough, but Tiger’s second shot went into another rough and Rocco put his on the fairway. Tiger’s third shot out of the rough was a beauty and Rocco’s long putt for Birdie slipped right past. Both shoot for Par. 

4th Hole - Tiger Woods-Par (+1), Rocco Mediate-Par (E)

• UPDATE 1:05: Bad tee shot for Rocco here, but funny moment when Tiger waited for the MetLife Blimp to move before his tee shot. That thing was flying so low Tiger might have hit it! Horrible break for Mediate here - shot out of the bunker hits not one, but TWO cement cart-paths amongst the crowd and into the trees. Then, Rocco hits it onto the fairway, wow! Slight right on the putt for Tiger. Inches away for Rocco there and he manages to Bogey the hole.

5th Hole - Tiger Woods-Par (+1), Rocco Mediate-Bogey (+1)

• UPDATE 1:20: This hole is the longest Par 4 in US Opne history, but Rocco manages to pull Par and Tiger makes him look silly with a Birdie.

6th Hole - Tiger Woods-Birdie (E), Rocco Mediate-Par (+1)

• UPDATE 1:33: Steve (and eveyone else and their Mother!!) questioned Tiger on the club selection, but Tiger always proves to be right with that second shot. The guy is seriously incredible! Just short on the long putt for Rocco (that’s the third time he’s done that today … it may be costly at the end). Another great hole for Tiger giving him a 2 stroke lead.

7th Hole - Tiger Woods-Birdie (-1), Rocco Mediate-Par (+1)

• UPDATE 1:43: Tiger going with the 8 Iron here on the Eigth hole … fyi- 8 is my lucky number! But the shot goes into the bunker, I guess 8 is not Tiger’s lucky number!!

8th Hole - Tiger Woods-Bogey (E), Rocco Mediate-Par (+1)

TAKING A LITTLE LUNCH BREAK HERE. MORE LIVE BLOGGING LATER!

• UPDATE 2:15: During my lunch break Rocco managed to screw up another putt to give Tiger another lead. Tiger is now up (E) to (+3).
• UPDATE 2:23: Tiger again smacks his tee shot badly, but Rocco’s was a beauty on the 11th hole. But the way Tiger has manged to wrangle himself out of these bad shots and the way Rocco has messed up his putts, I wouldn’t worry. Third Bogey of the day here for Tiger and the lead is cut to two strokes.

11th Hole - Tiger Woods-Bogey (+1), Rocco Mediate-Par (+3)

• UPDATE 2:38: Every hole I’ve noticed a voice in the background of every tee shot that says, “Get in the hole!” Listen dweeb! This is not Happy Gilmore, it’s the US Open so shut up already! God, that has to be the most irritating moment of the afternoon!! Tiger is not happy with his play on the 12th here, but Rocco has played it perfectly. If Rocco can perfect his putting here, then he may make the Birdie. Looks like Rocco’s pressure putting has failed him again. I feel like this was the hole that he could’ve really crippled Tiger on.

12th Hole - Tiger Woods-Bogey (+2), Rocco Mediate-Par (+3)

• UPDATE 2:54: So close for the Eagle putt for Tiger. Rocco has a great hole here for Birdie.

13th Hole - Tiger Woods-Birdie (+1), Rocco Mediate-Birdie (+2)

• UPDATE 3:04: The 14th hole will prove to be tricky for Tiger because he is in between clubs with the yardage. Identical yardage for both men on the tee shot, but Tiger’s ball ends up in the short rough right to the right. The short hole results in a Birdie for Rocco. And a rim shot for Tiger ties it up.

14th Hole - Tiger Woods-Par (+1), Rocco Mediate-Birdie (+1)

• UPDATE 3:21: Maybe Tiger’s knee is starting to bother him, he just shot the tee shot into the crowd. However, over the weekend the last 4 holes for Tiger and Rocco have looked like this: Tiger (-1) - Rooco (+2). Let’s see what happens! AGAIN!! Tiger is amazing! Only he can pin the ball that close after practically hitting the crowd! Wow Wow Wow! This is proving to be the best hole of the day as Rocco nets his first long putt of the day on a curve for Birdie. Tiger’s putt never broke and he has shot a Par on the 15th.

15th Hole- Tiger Woods-Par (+1), Rocco Mediate-Birdie (E)

• UPDATE 3:33: Well to be honest I had a great play-by-play typed here, but my computer decided not to save the post!! >:o Thanks computer!!!!

16th Hole- Tiger Woods-Par (+1), Rocco Mediate-Par (E)

• UPDATE 3:48 : Last minute club switch by Tiger here and it proved to be a good decision. Rocco in the intermediate rough pitches the ball pretty well on the outside. If Rocco’s poor putting holds true, then Tiger can make a move here. (**FYI- Yankee’s ace pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang has a partially torn tendon and strained ligament in his right foot. If all goes well he will be back by September! IF everything goes well. This is the worst case scenario for the Yanks and look for them to trade for a starter.**) Rocco’s long putt was a few inches away from the hole on his second stroke. Hole 17 also happens to be the miracle hole for Tiger with the chip-shot over the weekend. Is his 17 magic still there? Nope, another just short putt for Tiger. He made Par to stay at Even and Rocco stays at Par to go into a 1 stroke lead into the 18th Hole.

17th Hole- Tiger Woods-Par (+1), Rocco Mediate- Par (E)

• UPDATE 4:07: This US Open has proved to be the most dramatic event this year, but the 18th Hole has proved to be the most dramatic for Tiger Woods. The 18th and final hole is a Par 5. Pressure much? Rocco shoots the tee shot into the bunker on the 18th. However, the ball is close to the lip of the sand. Tiger’s tee shot goes right into the middle of the fairway. ** OKAY NBC NEWS IN NYC … It’s the 18th Hole of the US Open Championship and YOU INTERRUPT THE GAME FOR A WEATHER UPDATE IN NEW JERSEY!!!! WTF!!!!! ** No worries, Golf is back on the TV! Tiger chips his ball over the water for 2 strokes. If he sinks a long putter he can Eagle the 18th Hole! Tiger misses the Eagle putt. Rocco needs to sink the putt to win the US Open. And Rocco misses a little left. Tiger makes the Birdie putt. Rocco makes the putt to go to Sudden Death!

18th Hole- Tiger Woods-Birdie (E, 71), Rocco Mediate- Par (E, 71)

• UPDATE 4:13: The Sudden Death playoff will take place on the 7th hole. So it all comes down to this!
• UPDATE 4:17: Tiger’s tee shot leads him onto the fairway, but leaning on the lip. Rocco’s tee shot lands in the bunker.
• UPDATE : The shot out of the bunker for Rocco lands way left into the grandstand area. Not good. Tiger’s second shot lands on the Green. This may be it for Rocco Mediate.
• UPDATE 4:24: Because the Grand Stand is man-made, Rocco gets to drop the ball in the drop zone. His chip shot lands on the green for a 20 footer. If Tiger sinks this, then it’s over.
• UPDATE 4:27: Inches!! Tiger makes it by inches!! Rocco needs to sink his putt to tie. If he misses it Tiger wins and it’s over.
• UPDATE 4:28: Tiger Woods wins the 108th US Open at Torrey Pines. What a game!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 12:09 pm and is filed under other sports, sports celebrities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.