Woods wins Open

Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open in dramatic fashion today, defeating Rocco "The Mediator!" Mediate in the playoff.

Woods and Mediate went back and forth on the first eighteen holes today, but neither could pull away. Mediate was up by one stroke going into the 18th, but Woods made birdie to force sudden death, which is much less frightening than it sounds.

To us, anyway. It did look to be a little much for Mediate, who looked simply worn out as he walked out to his ball on the sudden death hole, though he hadn't blinked all day before that.

Woods had an opportunity to win with flair when he nearly sunk a long putt for the championship. He knocked it in on his short second attempt, then won the Open when Mediate couldn't sink a difficult putt of his own.

The win gave Woods his 14th major victory. Jack Nicholson himself is just four ahead. It's widely believed, and has been for years, that Woods will break the record easily before all is said and done.

What that means is that the moment may not be fully appreciated when it arrives. Setting a career mark like that requires so many key attributes—skill, of course, but also mental toughness, longevity, and a level of personal commitment rare even among superstar athletes. And what it really requires is winning a major tournament nineteen times in your career, enough to mean you can't let a single opportunity slip through your fingers.

Woods, of course, is the complete package, but it's impressive that even despite his gifts his march towards immortality is paved with victories like today's, when his knee hurt and his challenger refused to back down. The physical demands of golf are so small compared to many other sports, but playing nineteen playoff holes clearly requires a serious amount of concentration. And Woods delivered.

Rick Reilly, now with ESPN, wrote before the tournament that the Open meant less to Tiger than to Phil Mickelson, in part because Tiger's place in history is already secure. Reilly, like many of those rooting for Mediate today, almost seems to be taking Tiger's eventual career totals for granted. But part of being the best ever, as Woods aspires to be, is winning like Tiger Woods even when you don't feel like Tiger Woods or when you're not quite swinging like Tiger Woods. If or when Woods does break Nicklaus' career record for majors, don't forget that though this tense victory counts only as much as the others, it showcased the passion that got him the rest in the first place.