I guess you had to figure someone was going to do this at some point. I'm just surprised it wasn't Skip Bayless.

SF Gate columnist Gwen Knapp yesterday wrote an article where she drilled Tiger Woods for deciding to play the US Open injured. And she didn't mince her words.

Tiger Woods is an idiot. A mesmerizing, peerless, incandescent idiot.

Tell us how you really feel! But more seriously, is she actually right? Maybe.

From a strict medical standpoint, Knapp's less than tactful criticism makes some sense. It's not the best idea to play 91 holes of golf when you're actually aware that you have a double stress fracture and a torn ligament in your left leg. As she points out, Woods could have skipped the Open, healed himself up, and won the PGA Championship - which she calls less strenuous (although I'm not really sure how).

Strangely, she interviewed Jerry Rice for his take on knee injuries, mainly because Rice tore his ACL (like Woods) and his MCL. Rice rushed back too soon, and had to go under the knife again.  Considering Rice's injury was in 1997, and he played, you know, football, I'm not really sure how his thoughts on Woods are all that relevant. Woods won't even be rushing back from his injury. But hey, if Dr. Jerry Rice is concerned for Woods, I guess we all should be. And yes, I'm being sarcastic.

But I digress. Again, while there may be some point to Knapp's original argument that Woods should have skipped the US Open for his longterm health, she also forgets to consider what Tiger's US Open performance does for his legacy.

We're all well aware that Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer to ever play the game, even though he has yet to break Jack Nicklaus' majors record. And while Woods has had some truly dominating performances over the years, he's seemed more robotic than anything else. A cold, calculating, Nike-backed winning machine. Or at least that's how I've always seen him.

But this US Open changed my opinion of Woods. Torrey Pines was the first real golf course Woods ever played when he was 10. The course has a deep and special meaning for him, and is obviously a reminder of his father. So on Father's Day weekend, I can understand why Woods wanted to be out there playing. It wasn't just for Nike. It was for his father.

Woods' performance, even if it hurts him somewhat in the long term, also helped put an indelible stamp on his career. It was his Willis Reed moment.

For all the talk we'll hear down the line 25 years from now of how many majors Tiger won, it's really just a number. It doesn't mean much to the average person. Will you be able to remember how he won most of those majors? Most people who aren't serious golf fans, such as myself, won't be able to.

But thanks to Woods' performance this past weekend, we'll always remember this US Open - whether we even saw it or not. It'll be burned into our memories forever of how Tiger pushed through an injury to cement his place in history.

And, most importantly for Woods, we'll be able to recall his performance long after Knapp's column fades from existence.