2008 U.S. Open:
Tiger Woods big favorite to win the playoff
Sunday
was the final round of the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods fumbled
again at the start and had to call on his enchanted club once
again at the end to rally up and force the US Open into a
playoff. Atop of the leaderboard after Round 3, Woods began the
final approach with the typical double bogey at the 1st,
followed by a bogey on the second. Just as two birdies on the
9th and 11th seemed to lead him on the right path, bogeys on the
13th and 15th put his U.S. Open dreams in jeopardy. By the time
Tiger Woods was approaching the 18th - Rocco Mediate was the
U.S. Open leader a shot ahead of Woods. A par or worse for the
world's No.1 at the 18th would have made Mediate the 2008 U.S.
Open winner and the oldest golfer to win the major tourney. But
it was not meant to be for Rocco Mediate, who went for an
even-par final round on Sunday. Tiger Woods, once again in his
typical style, went for a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th, just
enough to tie Mediate on the U.S. Open leaderboard and force a
playoff Monday. "Unbelievable. I knew he'd make it,"
Mediate said from the scoring room, as he watched the victory
slip away for one more day.
Thus the U.S. Open this year will be
decided by a playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate.
Woods, who opened on the betting sheets as the favorite golfer
to win the 108th U.S. Open with odds 10/3 was cut short as low
as 1/2 as the tournament progressed and is now -400 to win the
playoff at the online sportsbook
BodogSports. Meanwhile, Rocco
Mediate, who wasn't even listed with odds (he would pay out on
field odds 5/1 if winner) is the underdog of the 2008 U.S. Open
playoff with odds +275.
The playoff on Monday will be the first
playoff at the U.S. Open, the only major that goes 18 holes of
overtime, since 2001. But not the first time Woods and Mediate
are facing off for a victory. Back in 1999 in the final round of
the Phoenix Open Mediate won a three-shot victory against Woods,
one of Rocco's five PGA Tour wins. Tiger Woods is 14-1 in
playoffs, while Rocco Mediate is 2-0.
Published on
06/16/2008
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