We could talk for sometime about whether Rocco Mediate beating Tiger Woods would relate similarly to Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson, but let's be honest, it's not going to happen. The fact that Rocco is even golfing this morning against the greatest ever is upset enough, and it's why we love golf.Tiger has brought all kinds of new fans to the sport, and many would label him as the reason they follow golf at all, but for me it's a guy like Mediate that makes me love one of the oldest games in the world.
A 45-year-old, awkward, slightly chubby man represents your average nightly golf league hack. Mediate makes the armchair golfer at home dream of having a chance against Tiger Woods if he could just string together his best rounds four days in a row. It's the same fan mentality that has made baseball a national pastime. We see a guy like Jamie Moyer mowing down batter after batter with less than inspiring stuff and there's that little part in you that thinks if you would have worked hard enough and with a little luck, maybe that's you out there striking out Albert Pujols.
Watching Tiger hit the playoff-forcing birdie putt on 18, Mediate's reaction was just like ours. "I knew it, I knew it. Unbelievable. He's Tiger Woods," Rocco responded while shaking the hands of US Open officials. And he'll approach today's round with the same nervous thrill of your regular golfer - just happy to go on a long walk with Tiger on one of the world's most beautiful golf courses.
Tiger's breathtaking to watch, but he's not human. We can only fantasize about being built into a golfing machine, but we can very easily pretend to be in Rocco Mediate's shoes. Speaking for myself at least, that's why I love golf.
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