2008 at Torrey Pines: Looking Back One Year Later

As we anxiously approach the start of the 2009 U.S. championship, one can't help but reflect on last year's edition. The 2008 U.S. Open will arguably go down as one of the greatest Opens to date.

It was one of those weekends when the sport took center stage and you had no choice but to pay attention, regardless of whether you were a golf fan or not. To solidify that statement, the final round achieved a higher TV rating than the NBA Finals match up between the Lakers and Celtics. Enough said.

The first two rounds featured a threesome that a golf fan could only dream of. Woods, Mickelson, and Adam Scott to boot. The atmosphere for those two days was nothing short of euphoric as two local icons of the sport tackled the layout at Torrey Pines.

Saturday came along and the east coast got a taste of prime time golf.  Tiger, of course, took the lead role as the drama ensued. Limping around the course on a bad knee, his back nine that included two eagles, an improbable chip in and a huge putt on 18 vaulted the world's No. 1 into the lead.  A 54-hole lead that Tiger never relinquishes on Sundays.

Final round excitement reigned on Sunday as journeyman Rocco Mediate took Tiger down to the wire with a valiant performance.  Entering the clubhouse with the lead, he watched and pondered his fate as U.S. Open champion while Tiger walked down the 18th needing birdie to tie.

Tiger's final hole was an adventurous one.  In the bunker off the tee, landing in the rough after his second shot, and leaving his third shot about 15 feet from the hole for birdie.

Seemingly willed in by Tiger himself, the putt fell and the crowd reacted with a deafening roar followed by a stirring reaction by Tiger. The stage was set for a Monday playoff.

Ninety holes would not be enough to determine the champion, as both Tiger and Rocco came through in the clutch and extended the playoff to extra holes. Mediate bogeyed the first playoff hole allowing Woods to capitalize and secure the championship.

The Monday playoff generated so much interest throughout work places all across the country, that the event was the most watched sporting event being streamed on-line in the history of the Internet.

It was a weekend filled with drama and excitement that will not soon be forgotten, as the world's best player battled a player down to the wire that most casual fans had never even heard of. Watching Woods navigate Torrey Pines in what seemed sometimes as agonizing pain furthermore solidified his status as one of the greats of all time.