By MARK CANNIZZARO
Last updated: 8:07 pm
June 27, 2008
Posted: 3:15 am
June 17, 2008
SAN DIEGO - This time, Tiger Woods did the impossible: He outdid himself.
When the final, most definitive book is written on Woods' astonishing career, the chapter about this week's 108th U.S. Open will go down as his most remarkable accomplishment.
Woods won his third career U.S. Open yesterday at Torrey Pines South when he overcame Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff, securing his 14th career major championship.
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None of those 14 majors has been as difficult to finish off as this one.
Woods' surgically repaired left knee, which he revealed yesterday he put in jeopardy of damaging worse by playing here, had been shooting pain throughout his body all week.
You could see it on his face as he made swings, his face grimacing, his body buckling over on numerous occasions throughout the tournament.
"I think this is probably the best ever," said Woods, who celebrated after his victory with his wife, Elin, and his daughter, Sam. "This week had a lot of doubt to it, to be honest with you. I hadn't walked 18 holes until the first round here since Augusta. You know, you keep playing. You just keep going, keep going forward.
"All my buddies, when we were working out, used to always say 'For.' How many more reps do we have? 'For. Forever.' And that's the idea. You just keep going. There's no finish line."
This is the scary thing about Woods, the fact that there is no finish line. He's now four major championships shy of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. In fact, Nicklaus was three years older than Woods when he won his 14th major.
Do the math. Woods is charging toward that number and he's a virtual lock to shatter the record.
What makes this week's U.S. Open win so cool is that Woods seemed to surprise himself en route to victory.
