The 2008 U.S. Open was Compelling, but it Doesn't Belong on Mount Rushmore of Championships
Many sports fans say that June 15th, 2008, remains an iconic day on the calendar. That’s when the Los Angeles Lakers won the fifth game of the NBA finals to go down three games to two to the Boston Celtics. It was a showdown between Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, and it was epic.
You may have thought I’d mention the final round of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, when Tiger Woods limped his way into a playoff with Rocco Mediate.
But numbers don’t lie: Game 5 in Los Angeles drew 17.39 million viewers and a rating of 10.2. It far surpassed what was happening down the coast outside San Diego, when everyone was trying to find a way to hand Woods the trophy for his third U.S. Open win and 14th major title.
In the summer of 2008, Woods was larger than life. The 32-year-old was ranked No. 1 by a mile – he was 9.229 points ahead of No. 2 Phil Mickelson and nearly 14 points ahead of third-ranked Adam Scott.
Coming into that U.S. Open week, Woods was the clear favorite thanks to his consistent dominance and his success at Torrey Pines in the Buick Invitational, where he had six wins and four consecutive titles from 2005 through 2008 on the PGA Tour.
Woods made the cover of SI after his win. (But the NBA Finals did receive some space in the top right as well.)
But Torrey Pines is not an iconic Rota course like Oakmont, Winged Foot, Shinnecock Hills, Pebble Beach or The Country Club, and that’s not because it’s a muni. It’s a William Bell design from 1957 that never fully utilized the land and has little redeeming qualities. Rees Jones tried to revamp it in 2001 and I wouldn’t say he failed, but it just doesn’t live up to the other venues of U.S. Open lore.
In 2008, the drivable par 4 was all the rage, so the USGA converted the par-4 14th to “drivable” when it was never designed that way. Add it all up, and it had the makings of a mediocre U.S. Open.
On the bright side, there would be Tiger Woods in prime time on the East Coast.
Woods’ pesky knee was the story all week -- not only to golf fans, but to casual sports fans. Woods persevered through Saturday.
No one else within striking distance made a charge. If Woods didn’t curl in that 12-footer on the bumpy 18th green, the aura and mystique of the 2008 championship at Torrey Pines is nonexistent.
The playoff wasn’t exactly the Thrilla in Manila (the third boxing matchup between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, when Ali won by TKO). Woods was hobbling along with a left knee that would need reconstructive surgery days later, and Mediate was 45 and had recorded only two top-10s in majors before 2008.
It would’ve been a David vs. Goliath story if Woods was healthy, but he wasn’t. If he had been healthy, it’s unlikely the event ever would’ve reached a playoff. Instead, it was a physically limited Woods against a journeyman Mediate.
Back then the USGA used 18-hole playoffs to decide the Open, and the question was if Woods could go the distance with a knee that was clearly much worse than he was letting on during his post-round interviews.
Mediate looked the part of the spoiler, wearing black-on-black with a peace-sign belt buckle alongside Woods, who wore his traditional Sunday red for the Monday finish. It was no secret that most of the golf world wanted Woods to win. As they say, it was the better story.
In the end, the players were tied after 18 holes, and Woods made par on the par-4 seventh to win in the first hole of sudden death. Who has the playoff start on the seventh hole? Another reason Torrey Pines is not iconic.
After it was over, the interview room was standing-room only. Woods told the collected media that he needed to shut it down for a little bit, that he was a bit sore and that he needed a break.
Days later it was revealed that Woods’ season was over.
If anything, that 2008 Open was the end of an era. Woods would continue to win golf tournaments, but he didn’t win another major until he caught lightning in a bottle at the 2019 Masters.
Mediate would transition to the Champions Tour and later revealed that he had issues with alcohol, which he was likely battling in 2008.
Neither Woods nor Mediate is here this week. Woods is recovering from a February car accident, and Mediate is still toiling away on the Champions Tour.
The 2008 U.S. Open was compelling that week, as most majors are, but to put it on the Mount Rushmore of U.S. Opens seems silly.
Without Woods, the knee and the playoff, Torrey Pines may have never seen another U.S. Open.
After this week, will it ever see another?