2008 U.S. Open: One of the Most Heroic Performances in the History of Sports

When thinking of heroic performances in the world of sports, golfers are rarely among the first athletes that come to mind.

You might think of Kirk Gibson hobbling up to the plate in Game One of the 1988 World Series and hitting a walk-off home run.

You might think of Willis Reed limping around the court during Game Seven of the 1970 NBA Finals.

That was, until this past week.

What Tiger Woods overcame to win the 2008 U.S. Open was nothing short of miraculous.  His performance at Torrey Pines will endure as one of the most heroic performances in the history of sports.

Gibson hobbled up to the plate and took a few grueling swings.

Willis Reed limped around for portions of a two-and-a-half-hour basketball game and faintly contributed to the Knicks winning Game Seven of the NBA Finals.

Tiger Woods had to walk a 7,600-yard golf course, the equivalent of 4.3 miles, for five hours per day for five straight days, stopping every couple of hundred yards to take a swing which clearly resulted in severe pain.

On a knee that was not fully recovered from his recent surgery, Woods hobbled around 91 holes, walking the equivalent of 21.5 miles. He also took hundreds of swings with club head speeds of up to 120 miles per hour, putting tremendous strain on his injured left knee.

Oh yeah, and he won.

Woods didn’t play injured for a few minutes and contribute to his team’s success, or take a few swings to win the tournament—he played 25 hours' worth of golf on a severely injured left knee and was still good enough to beat a field of 156 of the world’s best golfers.

If that is not one of the most heroic moments in the history of sports, then I don’t know what is.

Woods’ rounds were filled with moments that will be seen on highlight reels forever.

He made more clutch shots in one tournament, on one leg, then most golfers will make throughout the course of their entire career.

Other than Ben Hogan returning a year after a car accident, which nearly claimed his life to win the U.S. Open, Woods’ performance at the 2008 U.S. Open will have to go down as one of the gutsiest performances in the history of the game.

Whether Tiger catches Nicklaus’ record of 18 major wins with ease, or whether his injured knee will inhibit his ability to perform in years to come, no one can ever take away what Woods accomplished this past week at Torrey Pines.

It is not every day that you see a man with essentially one leg beat 156 of the world’s best players to win a major championship.  That accomplishment will be spoken of for many, many years to come as one of the greatest moments in the history of sports.

If Woods had not already established himself as one of the greatest athletes of all time, his performance at the 2008 U.S. Open cemented his place in sports immortality.