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      Women’s P.G.A. Championship Is Last Chance for Olympic Berths

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      This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Games are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story.ATLANTA — As the Olympic rosters for men’s golf were finalized on Tuesday, three top-12 invitees had respectfully sent their regrets. Joining the world No. 2, Dustin Johnson of the United States, who confirmed his decision in March, were the 11th-ranked Tyrrell Hatton of Britain and the 12th-ranked Louis Oosthuizen, the South African who finished second in the past two major tournaments. Oosthuizen said family commitments were partly responsible for his decision to bypass the Games, especially after his recent purchase of an 86-acre horse farm in Ocala, Fla.For Sophia Popov, family considerations explain an enthusiastic embrace of the chance to pursue a pandemic-delayed Olympic gold medal. Popov, 28, who holds dual American and German citizenship, has secured a spot in the 60-player competition, representing Germany and realizing a dream that, for different reasons, eluded her maternal grandmother, her mother and her older brother.“The Olympics is a huge deal for me,” Popov, the reigning Women’s British Open champion, said Wednesday.This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Olympics are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story, fiercely jockeying for spots in the field, which will be finalized after this week’s KPMG Women’s P.G.A. Championship. The top 15 players in the world are eligible for the Olympics, including up to four players from a single country. The rest of the field is filled according to the rankings, with a maximum of two players per nation.Because of the country caps, Popov, the 22nd-ranked player, is set for the Tokyo Games, while Ally Ewing, ranked 18th, is one of several Americans who could, with a victory this week at Atlanta Athletic Club, vault over the fourth U.S. player, Jessica Korda, who is ranked 13th, 10 spots behind her younger sister, Nelly. In between the Korda sisters are the Americans Danielle Kang at No. 6 and Lexi Thompson at No. 7.“It’s going to take good golf this week, but it would obviously be a huge honor,” said Ewing, 28, who won her second L.P.G.A. tour title last month. “I think one of the coolest things for me, aside from being an Olympian, would just be walking beside other Olympians like Allyson Felix and just people I’ve watched on TV for so many years.” Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympics will proceed in a severely stripped-down version, with limited crowds, no international fans and restricted movement between venues for athletes and other members of the Olympic contingent.“I think one of the big things is the experience of the Olympics and what I was able to do won’t be possible for guys this year,” said Rickie Fowler, who competed in the men’s event in 2016, when golf returned to the Games for the first time since 1904. Fowler, speaking Wednesday in a remote news conference from this week’s PGA Tour stop in Connecticut, added, “The Olympics in general are not going to be the same experience.”The women don’t care. They appreciate what the Olympics can deliver: the opportunity to compete in front of the largest global audience in sports.Shanshan Feng won the bronze medal four years ago.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images“I think it was a great chance for us to actually play on the same golf course as the men and just to show the world how good the ladies golfers are,” said Shanshan Feng, the 2016 bronze medalist from China.She added: “I think we should do everything that we can to support the game and ladies golf. I wouldn’t be surprised to see maybe most or even all of the ladies that get in go to Tokyo.”.css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Three weeks after the Olympic men’s golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club, roughly 23 miles north of Tokyo, the PGA Tour is scheduled to begin its three-tournament postseason offering a $60 million overall purse. The L.P.G.A.’s total purse for the 2021 season was expected to be $76.5 million.“Those players can retire when they’re finished with their careers,” said Australia’s Hannah Green, the 2019 Women’s P.G.A. champion, referring to her PGA Tour counterparts. But on the L.P.G.A. circuit, she continued, most of the players will retire to motherhood or some other full-time occupation.“That perspective is probably changed, playing for money versus for a medal,” said Green, who added that she would exchange her major title for a gold medal.“I think because it is so rare to get a gold medal — once every four years,” said Green, who added, “I think everyone would notice, not just the golfing world.”Popov grew up loving the Olympics. Her mother, Claudia Schwarzer Popov, was a standout swimmer at Stanford whose Olympic dreams were sidetracked in 1980 because of the U.S.-led boycott, and again in 1984 because of an elbow injury.Claudia’s mother, Sabine Schwarzer, qualified for the United Team of Germany in the high jump at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. But because of an injury and a move to the United States to join her fiancé, she did not compete.Popov’s brother Nicholas, who competed for the University of Arizona, swam in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials in the 50-meter freestyle but did not advance out of the preliminaries.“He was kind of bummed,” said Popov, adding that her brother traveled to London to watch and to cheer for his friends who did qualify.“The reason I didn’t become a swimmer,” Popov said, “is because of all that heartbreak. My mom was like, ‘I want to teach you guys how to swim, but I wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t become swimmers because it’s a very unrewarding sport.’”Barring unforeseen circumstances, Popov will finally compete in an Olympics, though her family will not travel to Tokyo to share in the experience with her. It’s small consolation, but her mother and brother have joked about getting an Olympic rings tattoo, the must-have status symbol for all qualifiers.They said they would have “brother” or “mother” written underneath the rings, Popov explained with a laugh. “I was like, you can do whatever you want.”She said their experiences had added to her motivation. “I have two other people to represent,” she said, “that I feel like could have been there in the past.” More

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      Players of Asian Descent on the L.P.G.A. Tour Lift Silence on Racism and Sexism

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      The Women’s P.G.A. Championship this week in Atlanta, just minutes from the fatal shootings of six Asian women this year, has surfaced fears and feelings about what it means to be Asian in the United States at a time of pervasive discrimination.ATLANTA — Players of Asian descent have won eight of the past 10 Women’s P.G.A. Championships, but there is nothing cookie cutter about the winners. They include Shanshan Feng of China, who has worn tailored cow pants to reflect her fun-loving personality, and Sung Hyun Park of South Korea, who had a Korean word on her bag that translated to “I am different.”More than five dozen Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are L.P.G.A. members, more than any league or tour in North American professional sports. Several other members have Asian roots, and their convergence on the Atlanta Athletic Club this week for the third major of the season throws into stark relief both their ascendancy and ancestry.The golf course is roughly 15 minutes from two of the three massage businesses where eight people, six of them Asian women, were fatally shot in March in a crime that encapsulates the escalating violence against Asians in America during the pandemic.The rise of anti-Asian hatred and bias has jolted the players out of their silence. For years, these women have endured microaggressions about their names, their appearance, even their success. At a time when Asians have been scapegoated in American communities for the spread of the coronavirus, players of Asian descent who show no fear on the golf course have grown uneasy, and outraged, enough that they are speaking out about what it means, and how it feels, to be Asian in the United States right now.A woman held a sign during a Community Rally Against Racial & Misogynistic Violence at Columbus Park in Manhattan in the spring.Jeenah Moon for The New York Times“I’m scared every time I see the news that it could happen to me,” said Yani Tseng, a two-time Women’s P.G.A. champion and the first player from Taiwan to become the world No. 1.Tseng, 32, was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2012, but in 2021 she feels helpless. Tseng, who said she fell in love with America during her first visit in 2007 because everyone “was so nice,” was incredulous when a friend who lives in Irvine, Calif., relayed a terrifying experience she had while seated in her car in a grocery store parking lot. A group of strangers approached her automobile and attempted to open its locked doors, pounding on the car with so much force the vehicle oscillated. After hearing that, Tseng, who has a residence in San Diego, about a 90-minute drive south of Irvine, said, “I was really worried about myself.”At home in Taiwan, her family also frets. “Every time they see the news they say, ‘Are you OK there?’” she said.The nine-time L.P.G.A. tour winner Na Yeon Choi, one of 25 L.P.G.A. members from South Korea, has traveled to events in America in the past accompanied by her mother. But she advised her not to bother coming to the United States for her tournaments this year, even if, or as, travel restrictions are loosened.“I was thinking it’s not safe for her to be alone when I’m focusing on practice,” Choi said. “She can’t speak English, so she’d be stuck in the hotel because I wouldn’t want her going out.”According to a national report released by Stop AAPI Hate, 6,603 incidents of anti-Asian violence, harassment and discrimination were reported to the organization in the previous 12 months ending March 31. Verbal harassment (65.2 percent), shunning (18.1 percent) and physical assault (12.6 percent) led the recorded incidents.Choi advised her mother to stay away from her American tournaments.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesAfter a white male gunman allegedly opened fire at the three Atlanta-area spas, the L.P.G.A. released a statement in support of the A.A.P.I. community and Choi received an internal email, which she said was sent to all the players, advising them to be careful when venturing outside the tour bubble at all tournaments.In March, Mike Whan, the departing L.P.G.A. commissioner, said there had been isolated incidents involving Asian players away from tournament venues over the years, including some in which the tour’s security detail had to get involved.The Covid-19 protocols in place during the past year have provided a protective membrane. Players have been prohibited from dining or socializing outside the tournament grounds or their accommodations. And tournaments have had few, if any, spectators. But their environments aren’t airtight, and pandemic protocols are easing, increasing interaction between the players and the public.The players find themselves distracted by worries about the safety of their loved ones — and of themselves.Mina Harigae, 31, a four-time California Women’s Amateur champion from Monterey whose parents are Japanese, said: “I’ll be honest. I got so scared I went online and bought a self-defense stick.”At the year’s first women’s major, which was held outside Palm Springs, Calif., Michelle Wie West said she ran an errand at a strip mall near the course, one of thousands of such pit stops she has made for one forgotten item or another during her nearly two decades of competing in L.P.G.A. events. This time, though, was different.“It was the first time I was truly afraid,” she said, adding, “We’re a target now, unfortunately.”Michelle Wie West felt fearful going out to run errands because of threat of violence against the asian community.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesLydia Ko, 24, a Korean-born New Zealander with 16 L.P.G.A. victories, including two majors, acknowledged at the Los Angeles tour stop in April that she worried about her mother traveling on her own in the United States.Tiffany Joh, a first-generation American, grew up in a nice neighborhood in San Diego. Her South Korean-born parents still live nearby. “It was kind of a sad day when my mom was like, ‘Should we start carrying around pepper spray?’” Joh said.Joh, 34, is easy to place on the golf course. Just follow the laughter. With one-liners as crisp as her iron shots, she spent two years grinding on what is now the Symetra circuit, where she often stayed with families to save money before she joined the L.P.G.A. Tour in 2011.At one stop, Joh recalled, her hosts remarked on her height, which is 5 feet 6 inches, and asked: “Are both your parents Oriental? Because you’re quite tall and built for an Oriental.”“I said, ‘No, I’m not a rug and I’m not a chicken salad, so no, I’m not Oriental,’” Joh said. “And then I was joking around because for me, when I have a sense of discomfort, my defense mechanism is humor. So I said, ‘You know, no one has ever told me my parents are my real parents. Maybe I need to talk to the milkman.’ And they said: ‘Oh, no, sweetie. That would be the soy milk man.’ They were trying to be cute.”Joh added, “It was kind of an example of how you can educate someone without being a jerk about it.”.css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}.css-1jiwgt1{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;margin-bottom:1.25rem;}.css-8o2i8v{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-8o2i8v p{margin-bottom:0;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Jane Park has also used humor to deflect uncomfortable situations. Despite having won the U.S. Women’s Amateur while in high school and been on the L.P.G.A. Tour since 2007, Park, an American of Korean descent, could tell from her amateur playing partners’ initial lack of enthusiasm that they thought she was another indistinguishable — in their eyes — Asian player at a pro-am in Arizona several years ago.Park sometimes uses humor to deal with uncomfortable situations.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesSo she decided to play a prank on them. At the first tee, she bowed formally and greeted them in Korean, then said nothing more for the rest of the hole. On the second hole, she asked in English if they were ready for beers, and her playing partners laughed and were animated for the rest of the round.But not every indignity can be dismissed with laughs. Park, 34, lives with her husband and 11-month-old daughter roughly five miles from one of the three massage businesses targeted. She described the spa shootings as “jarring.”They dredged up a memory from a few years ago, when she was waiting to pay for a pair of shoes at a nearby store. A woman behind her in line stage-whispered an anti-Asian pejorative directed at her. “My whole body started sweating,” said Park, who whirled around and said to the woman, “I understand English.”The shootings in Atlanta rattled Inbee Park of South Korea, a three-time Women’s P.G.A. champion and former world No. 1, whose aunt operates a dry-cleaning business not far from where they occurred. “I called her straight away to make sure she was OK,” she said, adding, “It’s really unfortunate what’s happening.”The rise in anti-Asian sentiment in American society has caused players to see experiences they’ve had on the golf course in a different light. Park wondered why broadcasters persisted in mispronouncing the names of Asian players even after she had corrected them on social media. Or why she was asked if she was related to “all the other Parks” on the tour.Christina Kim, a Californian of Korean descent, is tired of hearing that Asians “talk funny” and really tired of the added pressure that Asian-born players on the tour feel to speak the Queen’s English to avoid being mocked or criticized. She is tired of people on social media directing comments to her about the “kung flu.”Christina Kim has had racist comments in her social media feeds calling the coronavirus the “kung flu.”Jim Wilson/The New York TimesPlayers of Asian descent are weary of the many microaggressions that they must deflect, ignore or swallow because competitive golf at the highest level presents enough obstacles without having to also maneuver around race and gender-related hazards.Wie West, the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion, said: “I look back at a lot of the questions that reporters ask me. ‘Why are the South Koreans so good?’ That question always bothered me, but I answered it. I’d say, ‘Oh, because they practice really hard’ and by saying that I was playing into the microaggression. I never really put two and two together as to why that question, and certain other comments, bothered me until this year.”The next person who asks Wie West the question will receive a different answer. She said, “I would say that’s a really inappropriate question.” More

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      Jon Rahm Wins the U.S. Open, His First Major Championship

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      In his first tournament back after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Spaniard, 26, birded the final two holes to overtake Louis Oosthuizen and claim his first major title.SAN DIEGO — A golf ball hit by one of the leaders lodged in the limb of a tree. A shot by another contender settled next to an open case of beer. No one seemed able to keep his footing on the 13th tee, where the surface was as unpredictable as a carnival Tilt-A-Whirl. The reigning champion missed a hole in one by an inch.The final round of the 121st U.S. Open on Sunday did not lack for tension and theatrics. But Jon Rahm, who two weeks ago was forced to withdraw from a tournament in tears because he had tested positive for the coronavirus, found the resolve to birdie the final two holes at Torrey Pines Golf Course to win America’s national golf championship by one stroke.The victory was Rahm’s first in a major championship and made him the first Spaniard to win the event. On June 5, he was leading the Memorial Tournament in Ohio by a commanding six strokes when the coronavirus test kept him out of the final round. Informed of the result as he came off the 18th green, Rahm doubled over and left the area wiping his eyes.JON. RAHM.An UNREAL finish and he leads at the #USOpen! pic.twitter.com/Bdozxfkdmb— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 20, 2021
      On Sunday night after his U.S. Open victory, Rahm, 26, said that when he was cleared last week to return to the tour and play at Torrey Pines he felt that “the stars were aligning.”“I just had a good feeling knowing I was coming to San Diego,” said Rahm, who has often visited the area and who proposed to his wife, Kelley, at Torrey Pines. “Every time we come here, we’re happy. It had to happen this way, every part of the journey.”That included, Rahm said, what transpired at the Memorial Tournament.“I was never resentful for anything for any second, and I don’t blame anybody,” he said. “Unfortunately Covid is a reality. We have lost a lot of people. People said it wasn’t fair, but it was what had to be done. And all of it led to this moment.”Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa finished second at Torrey Pines, the sixth time he has been the runner-up in a major golf championship. Oosthuizen, 38, won the 2010 British Open, then placed second at the 2012 Masters, at the 2015 U.S. and British Opens and at the P.G.A. Championship in 2017 and in 2021, when Phil Mickelson won to become the oldest major champion.Rahm’s victory ended a streak of six consecutive American winners in the event. With about two hours left in Sunday’s championship, nearly 10 players had a chance to claim the title. However, in the final 45 minutes, the chase narrowed to Rahm and Oosthuizen.Rahm, who began the final round three strokes off the lead held by Oosthuizen, Russell Henley of the United States and Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, played his opening nine holes at two under par to jump up the leaderboard. Seven consecutive pars beginning on the 10th hole kept Rahm in contention. The streak included a pivotal par putt from 20 feet that he sank on the par-3 16th hole. Rahm, a passionate player who was once best known for his fits of temper instead of for his game, closed with a flourish.At the 17th hole, trailing Oosthuizen by a stroke, he wisely flew his tee shot to the right of the fairway, where there was ample room, then knocked his approach onto the green. Sizing up a 24-foot putt with at least six feet of left-to-right break, Rahm gently tapped the downhill putt, which curled into the hole for a birdie that put him in a tie for the lead at five under par.Rahm after a birdie putt on the 17th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday. He also birdied No. 18.Erik S Lesser/EPA, via ShutterstockOn the par-5 18th hole, Rahm bombed his drive and had 223 yards to the green. His four-iron shot faded a bit, and the ball skittered into a bunker to the right of the green. Rahm made a gutsy decision to play his third shot away from the hole, flipping the ball to the right of the hole above the flagstick.From 18 feet, Rahm sank another curving putt, the ball slipping into the right edge of the hole. His emotions now welcome, the popular Rahm pumped his right fist repeatedly as fans enveloped him in raucous cheers. A four-under, final-round 67 had made Rahm the leader in the clubhouse.Oosthuizen had a chance to catch Rahm, but he pulled his tee shot at the 17th hole left into a ravine. The mistake led to a devastating bogey that ruined his opportunity to force a playoff, even with a birdie on the 18th hole.“The tee shot on 17 really cost me,” Oosthuizen said. “I’m second again. No, look, it’s frustrating. It’s disappointing.”Earlier Sunday afternoon, at about 2 p.m. Pacific time, it appeared that Bryson DeChambeau might successfully defend his 2020 U.S. Open title, as his tee shot on the 175-yard, par-3 eighth hole bounced onto the putting surface and tracked toward the hole until it stopped one inch from the lip.DeChambeau followed up the tap-in birdie with two pars, but his powerful drives began to drift right and into the rough. That led to bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes. On the par-5 13th tee, like many of his competitors, DeChambeau slipped as he pushed off his right foot. The drive was short and in the thick grass, as was his next shot. A third shot ended up in a bunker and his escape from the sand flew over the green until it came to rest next to a cardboard box of beer.By the time DeChambeau putted out on the hole, he had made a double-bogey 7. He shot 44 on the back nine and 77 for his final round.Minutes after DeChambeau’s near ace, Rory McIlroy missed a seven-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole that would have tied him with DeChambeau. It was the high-water mark of the tournament for McIlroy, who was seeking his first major championship since 2014. A bogey on the 11th hole and a disastrous double bogey on the 12th derailed his hopes, and he finished five strokes back at one under par.Hughes stayed in the hunt until a shot to the 11th green lodged in a tree, a mishap that resulted in a double bogey and sent him tumbling down the leaderboard.Celebrating on the 18th green Sunday evening, Rahm held his infant son, Kepa, in his arms, smiled and looked around at his parents and other members of his extended family.“Even though Father’s Day in Spain is a different day, I’m forcing him to celebrate it today,” he said, “and we’re going to have fun because there’s three generations of Rahms on this green right now. One of them doesn’t really know what’s going on, but I am glad he’s going to get to see it in the future and enjoy it.”Rahm hugged his father, Edorta Rahm and mother, Angela, after finishing his round.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images More

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      Mackenzie Hughes, Louis Oosthuizen, Russell Henley tied for lead at U.S. Open

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      Mackenzie Hughes, Louis Oosthuizen and Russell Henley are knotted at five under par, but Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm enter Sunday’s final round as threats.SAN DIEGO — There were plenty of intriguing story lines, but little sizzle, in the opening half of the 2021 United States Open. Richard Bland of England, who qualified for the championship by winning his first European Tour event after 477 failed attempts, was tied for the lead with Russell Henley, a PGA Tour veteran whose last tournament victory was four years ago.The spotlight of America’s national golf championship was desperately looking for a familiar face.In the third round on Saturday at Torrey Pines Golf Course, the sport’s headliners finally stepped to the edge of the stage, an experienced, decorated crew that may forecast a star-powered and suspenseful finish to Sunday’s final round.Henley finished the round at five under par overall and remained atop the leaderboard and was tied by another lesser-known player, Mackenzie Hughes of Canada. But with a thrilling 52-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole, Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion from South Africa, also vaulted into a tie for first. Moreover, Rory McIlroy, the five-time major champion, and Bryson DeChambeau, the defending U.S. Open champion, mustered charges that left them two strokes off the lead at three under.Jon Rahm, a prominent pretournament favorite because of his stellar play in the last month, was at two under, as was the resurgent Matthew Wolff, last year’s runner-up in the event, and Scottie Scheffler, another promising young player with several recent top finishes. Not to be overlooked at just four strokes off the lead were last year’s Masters champion Dustin Johnson, who shot a 68 on Saturday, and Collin Morikawa, the winner of the 2020 P.G.A. Championship.“Yeah, it was moving day, I guess,” McIlroy said afterward. “A lot of guys are playing well and getting in the fight. That’s what you have to do in the third round of a major.”McIlroy played his shot from No. 7 on Saturday. He finished the round with a 67.Gregory Bull/Associated PressMcIlroy started slowly on Saturday but had four birdies and a bogey on his final nine to finish with a 67, which was six strokes better than his second-round performance. His late run started when he chipped in from 33 yards at the 12th hole, and it concluded with a nervy downhill two-putt from 62 feet at the par-5 18th hole.Although McIlroy said the biggest shot of his back nine had been a 4-foot bogey putt at the 15th hole.“This is the only tournament in the world where you fist-pump a bogey,” he said. “That putt was huge for momentum — to not give away two strokes.”The superstitious McIlroy also said he was going to eat the same chicken sandwich he had had for the previous five dinners this week at Torrey Pines.“It’s really good, and it’s really working for me,” McIlroy said.DeChambeau had the most error-free day among the leaders, shooting a 68 without making a bogey. DeChambeau’s round could have been better, as he pounded many drives roughly 340 yards. But his approach shots did not consistently find the greens. Still, DeChambeau overpowered the lengthy first and sixth holes to make birdies on each and took advantage of the par-5 13th hole for a third birdie.Most encouraging for DeChambeau was his sharp short game, something he relied on during his victory at last year’s U.S. Open. As much as DeChambeau is known for how far he hits the golf ball, efficient play near the greens, and accurate putting, has usually been the best predictor of his success.As has been the case for the past few weeks, DeChambeau on Saturday was also taunted by fans who shouted “Let’s go, Brooks-y” after many of his swings — a nod to the running feud with his colleague Brooks Koepka.DeChambeau said afterward that he had learned to treat the shouts “as a compliment.”“I’m embracing it — I smile,” he said.DeChambeau prepared to putt on No. 15. He finished the day with a 68.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesKoepka, who like DeChambeau began the day at even par, did not improve his position with three birdies and three bogeys for a 71.Wolff had an erratic day and shot 73 with four bogeys, but after not playing competitively for the last two months, he was satisfied that he remained in the hunt for the championship.“I was a hair off out there at times,” Wolff, 22, said. “But I felt like I grinded pretty good and kept the scores as low as possible to give myself a good chance going into tomorrow.”Henley was one under par on his opening nine holes and held a two-shot lead on the field, an edge he kept when he lofted a shot from a right greenside bunker on the 11th hole and watched his ball bounce once and then disappear in the hole for a birdie.But it was Henley’s last birdie in an even-par round of 71.Hughes caught Henley with a blistering back nine, shooting a four-under 32. He will play in the final group on Sunday, paired with Oosthuizen.“You get goose bumps thinking about it,” Hughes said Saturday evening of the matchup. “I know I’m going to be nervous tomorrow. But yeah, I’m going to try and enjoy it lots. You know, it’s where you want to be.”Bland, after his stunning surge in Friday’s second round, seemed calm throughout his opening nine holes on Saturday with an uncomplicated swing that consistently set up par and birdie putts. But some of the magic of his putting stroke was missing. Bland had converted 31 of 31 putts inside 10 feet in the first two rounds. That streak ended on the fifth hole, when he missed an 8-foot par putt and made bogey.Things got worse, with consecutive bogeys on the 11th and 12th holes. Bland then left a 7-foot par putt short on the 16th hole, and his 20-foot par putt on the 17th green slid past the right side of the hole. The par-5 18th hole brought a most ignominious ending when Bland’s third shot plunked into the pond fronting the green. That led to a third successive bogey as he finished with a 77 and was one over for the tournament.“That’s the U.S. Open — some days it’s just going to beat you up all day,” Bland said shortly after his round. “And today was my day.” More

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      At the U.S. Open, a 48-Year-Old Is in the Hunt

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      The 48-year-old English golfer, whose first tour victory came last month, shared the lead after two rounds of the Open at Torrey Pines.SAN DIEGO — For 25 years, Richard Bland of England wondered if he might forever view his golf career with “the disappointment of slightly underachieving.”Lacking strong results, and sometimes even mediocre ones, Bland was kicked off the European tour several times. He never considered quitting and fought his way back from the sport’s minor leagues even as he got used to being one of the oldest players in each event. Then, out of the blue last month, after 477 tries, Bland, 48, won his first tour event, a victory that qualified him for a berth in the 2021 U.S. Open.When asked what he looked forward to about playing in America’s national golf championship, he mentioned “all the add-ons,” a reference to the freebies at elite golf events — use of a luxury courtesy car, welcome gifts, a spot in a sumptuous locker room alongside the best golfers on the planet.Bland did not mention one other possible perk: A chance to win the tournament and join the exclusive club of major golf champions. And yet on Friday, at the midpoint of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course, Bland’s name was atop the leaderboard, where he was tied with Russell Henley.In fact, Bland, who teed off early Friday morning, held the second-round lead for most of the day until Henley caught and passed him with a late charge. But on his final hole, Henley missed a five-foot par putt to finish with a one-under-par 70 that dropped him back to five under for the tournament.Matthew Wolff and Louis Oosthuizen were in third place, one stroke off the lead.While Bland’s Friday performance may have been a surprise, it was not a fluke. He shot 67 with seven birdies, and three bogeys. Coupled with a first-round 70, Bland now has two below-par rounds at the championship, heady scores in an event in which anything under par is often good enough to win.A month after Phil Mickelson won the P.G.A. Championship at 50 and four months after Tom Brady won the Super Bowl at 43, here comes the seasoned Bland, who actually has a gray beard.“This has been the year for us oldies,” Bland said with a wide grin Friday. “It’s nice to give the gym goers a run for their money.”To be clear, Bland was not mocking the modern, young golf pro who works out regularly.“It’s just a figure of speech,” he said, adding: “As we get older, everything kind of creaks in the morning and there’s a new ache to wake up to.”Bland, who is No. 115 in the men’s world rankings, conceded that Mickelson’s recent victory was an inspiration but said he was stunned to see how many viewed his May 16 win, at the British Masters, in the same way.Mickelson, whose world ranking was 115 before the P.G.A. Championship last month and who survived Friday’s cut with a 69 after a 75 in the first round, said of Bland: “To stay at it, work as long as he did and to have that breakthrough, is awesome. I’m really happy for him.”Fred Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, sent warm congratulations via Twitter. Bland’s countryman Ian Poulter wrote: “Happy to see that the flame still burns. Hard work pays off.”Bland called the few days after his victory a blur, “with as much of the first 24 hours more hangover than anything.”But then he noticed that his social media accounts had exploded.“I wasn’t ready for messages from people all over the globe — Australia, South America, China, America,” he said. “All these people saying how inspired they were by it. That’s something I wasn’t expecting. I’m just a guy who’s won a golf tournament really, when you boil it down.”Bland shot 67 with seven birdies, and three bogeys, a performance that left him at five under par for the championship after two rounds.Harry How/Getty ImagesBland was underselling his perseverance, and the more he talked about his determination through recurring setbacks, the more he seemed to understand the deeper message being sent.“I think every kind of sportsman or sportswoman, they have that never-die or that never-quit attitude, no matter whether it’s golf or it’s tennis or it’s boxing, whatever it is,” he said. “The old saying is you get knocked down seven times, you get up eight. I’ve always had that kind of attitude that you just keep going. You never know in this game, you just keep going.”Bland poked fun at the uneven and circuitous path of his golf career.“Golf is all I know, and even if things got hard there for a while, what was I going to do?” he asked. “I wasn’t going to get an office job. To be honest, I’m not that intelligent. I’ve always been someone that can put my head down and work hard. And I always felt I had the game to compete on the European tour at the highest level. It just took a while to prove that, I guess.”Bland’s only other appearance in an American golf tournament came in 2009, when he accumulated enough standing in the European rankings to qualify for the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black on Long Island. He shot a nervous 77 in the first round but came back with a par 70 in the second. The rally was not enough to make the cut, but the experience may have served Bland well.On Friday, he did not shy away from talking about contending for the championship on Sunday in the final round at Torrey Pines.“I’ve been driving the ball very well for the last six weeks or so, and on this golf course that’s what you have to do to have any success,” Bland said. “If I keep doing what I’ve been doing, I feel like I can still be there on Sunday on the back nine when we finish.”Bland laughed.“I know that sounds unbelievable to some, maybe,” he said. “But that would be a proper dream come true.”Several top golfers rallied from disappointing first rounds to get back into contention on Friday, including Collin Morikawa, whose 67 left him at even par overall. Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas shot 69s to pull even with Morikawa, while Brooks Koepka slumped to a 73 to also settle at even par for the tournament. More

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      Night Golf Is Taking Over South Korea

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      “White night” golf is a nocturnal sports phenomenon that reflects the still surging popularity of the sport and the lengths some will go in order to nab a tee time.City lights shimmer in the distance.Shadows splay in every direction on glowing green grass.It’s close to midnight, the moon hangs high in the dark night sky, and South Koreans are still outside, golfing.This is “white night” golf, a nocturnal sports phenomenon in South Korea that reflects the still surging popularity of the sport there, the persistent challenges many encounter in nabbing a tee time in the country’s dense cities, and the lengths some will nevertheless go to get one.South Korea is the third-largest market for golf in the world, behind only the United States and Japan.For golf fans worldwide, the game’s grip on the country is most easily observed in its surplus of elite professional players, particularly in the women’s game. As of last week, 32 of the top 100 players in the women’s world rankings, including 4 of the top 10, were from South Korea.But on the ground, golf is very much a participatory pastime, even if the popularity of the sport and the undersupply of courses in metropolitan areas make opportunities to actually play scarce and expensive. Seoul, a city of nearly 10 million people, has only one course, and it is open only to military personnel.Some make do with screen golf, a virtual simulation game played indoors, which has become its own booming pastime in South Korea, with some facilities offering 24-hour service.But golfers understandably desire the real thing. So what do you do when the demand for tee times outstrips the sunlight in a given day?According to Seo Chun-beom, president of the Korea Leisure Industry Institute, South Korea now boasts a whopping 117 golf courses of 18 holes or more (83 public courses, 34 private clubs) that offer nighttime play for willing golfers, with tee times as late as 8 p.m. Seo said there are countless other 9-hole courses that also feature floodlights and do not close until midnight or later.Many people from Seoul, for instance, make the trek to Sky 72 Golf & Resort in Incheon, close to the area’s main international airport, where 2,700 lights have been installed to illuminate 36 of the facility’s 72 holes.A similar scene plays out nightly at TGV Country Club, located an hour and a half outside Seoul, which offers after-dark play for its own 36 holes — most of which have double side-by-side greens to help offset the wear from heavy use.The concept of golfing under lights exists outside South Korea, of course.A writer for the website GolfPass last year counted 65 courses in the United States that featured at least some amount of nighttime lighting — though all but one of them were short courses. And courses in the States that offer late tee times still close far earlier than those in South Korea, which often remain open as late as 1 a.m.Golfing under the moonlight can have other practical purposes. At Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, for example, late-night tee times offer golfers respite from the region’s punishing summer sun.But no other country has embraced the practice with quite the same gusto as South Korea, where playing at night offers its own quirks and charms.Warm nights make bug spray all the more crucial.Floodlights can imbue even ordinary play with a cinematic quality.The sun may be long out of sight, but visors still rest atop many golfers’ heads. (A recent study found South Koreans spend more per capita on golf apparel and equipment than residents of any other country.)And for all of the minor hassles, there is one considerable upside of being a night owl: Golf tans, at least, are out of the question. More

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      At the U.S. Open, Matthew Wolff Is Having Fun Again

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      The promising young golfer took two months off the PGA Tour when he stopped enjoying the game and was worried about his mental health. He says he’s thrilled to be back.SAN DIEGO — For Matthew Wolff, rock bottom came in April when he was at the Masters, perhaps golf’s most cherished event, and was utterly miserable.“The entire time there my head was down and I hated it,” said Wolff, 22, who a year ago was the PGA Tour’s breakout star with a string of top finishes that vaulted him to 12th in the world rankings. “I didn’t enjoy it and it was hard for me. The Masters was pretty much the turning point.”Emboldened by other professional athletes who have talked this year about concerns for their mental health and the outsize expectations of their jobs, Wolff decided that he had to walk away from golf for nearly two months.“Seeing all these other athletes coming out and being like mental health is such an important thing and whether it’s something that’s going on personally or you’re not playing well or you’re not enjoying it,” Wolff said on Thursday after shooting a one-under par 70 in the first round of the U.S. Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course. “I just needed to take a break.”It was Wolff’s first tournament since missing the cut at the Zurich Classic in late April.Wolff called the comments of athletes like the tennis star Naomi Osaka, who has recently discussed her issues with anxiety and depression, a primary inspiration for his decision to take time off from competition, and also for returning to the course.“Mental health is a really big problem and we play a lot of golf or we play a lot of games and any professional athlete has to deal with a lot more stress and pressure than most people,” he said. “And it just kind of got to me. But I’ve been working on it. I’ve been learning and I think that’s all I can do. It’s probably something I’ll be doing for most of my career but I’m feeling a lot better.“It’s been a help to know that others are talking about the same things I am — and I’ve gotten a ton of support from the fans out there. People were yelling, ‘It’s good to see you back, Matt.’ And that was great.”Wolff was 11-over par through two rounds at this year’s Masters then signed an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified. A few weeks before that, he had shot a first-round 83 at the World Golf Championship-Workday tournament and promptly withdrew without citing an injury, which is highly uncommon for tour players. That exit followed a first-round 78 and another withdrawal from the Farmers Insurance Open. Since late last season, Wolff has played in 10 successive tournaments without finishing in the top 25.Moreover, Wolff’s countenance had changed from 2020, when he usually seemed to enjoy interacting with fans and his colleagues. This spring, Wolff played and behaved like someone who could not wait to get off the course.“I was in a pretty bad head space,” he said.But on Thursday, Wolff smiled easily even though his round was topsy-turvy. He was tied for the lead at one point at three-under par but slumped to one under a few holes later. Overall, Wolff had eight birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys.“A lot of good and a lot of bad,” Wolff answered with a snicker when asked to describe his play. “But that’s OK. That’s golf and I’m having fun with it. That’s what I have to focus on.“Many millions of people would trade with me in a heartbeat. And I needed to just kind of get back and be like, ‘Dude, you live an unbelievable life, like you don’t always have to play good.’ I wanted to be too perfect. I wanted to always please the fans — maybe too much sometimes.”Wolff’s 70 on Thursday had him three strokes off the championship’s early leader, Russell Henley, who shot 67. With half the field still finishing rounds, Francesco Molinari and Rafa Cabrera-Bello trailed Henley by one stroke. Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele, two of the pretournament favorites, were one stroke behind them. Phil Mickelson struggled throughout his round with five bogeys and shot 75. Viktor Hovland, a contemporary of Wolff’s whose impressive play this year has had made him a major championship contender, shot 74. Justin Thomas, who won this year’s Players Championship, opened with a two-over par 73.Wolff, however, was not watching the scoreboard, even though he was the third-round leader at the 2020 U.S. Open and the eventual runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau.“Like it’s awesome that I played well today, I mean, I’m thrilled,” said Wolff, adding that he did not watch golf on television during his two-month layoff. “But no matter what happened today the score that I shot I, like I said, I just have been having fun and I haven’t had fun out here in quite awhile.” More

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      At the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, Tiger Woods Still Looms Large

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      The 2008 championship would be the last major tournament victory for Woods until the 2019 Masters. Rocco Mediate, the golfer he beat in an epic 19-hole playoff, remembers every putt.SAN DIEGO — Arms folded across his chest, Rocco Mediate stared at a small, square television to see if his life was about to change forevermore.Mediate stood in a low-slung nondescript area behind the 18th hole grandstand at the Torrey Pines Golf Course, a space so cramped he ducked his head to avoid wires hanging from the ceiling. He could not see the 18th green, where minutes earlier, he had made par to take a one-stroke lead in the fourth round of the 2008 United States Open.Mediate, ranked 158th in the world at the time, was trying to become the oldest man, at 45, to win the event. He paced nervously, cleats crackling on the bare concrete floor as the image of Tiger Woods appeared on TV.Woods, playing without an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and with stress fractures in his left tibia, had a 12-foot birdie putt to tie Mediate and send the championship to an 18-hole playoff the next day.Usually garrulous, Mediate was silent as Woods stroked his putt, the ball taking hops across the bumpy surface, traveling at a hopscotch cadence that seemed certain to send the putt offline. But the golf ball tickled the edge of the hole and toppled in.“Of course he made it,” Mediate said with a chortle, turning to two nearby reporters. “He’s Tiger Woods.”Half grinning and half sighing, he looked away adding: “He’s Tiger Woods. Of course.”Mediate on the 10th tee in his playoff against Woods.Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesExcept it would not be that simple. What felt like the end of Mediate’s time in the spotlight turned out to be the beginning. And what felt like a renewal of triumphs for Woods instead was the high-water mark of his 11-year sprint to 14 major titles. Soon enough, for Woods, nothing would be the same again.As the U.S. Open returns to Torrey Pines for the first time since that tournament, when Woods eventually vanquished Mediate after 19 extra holes in a last-of-its-kind Monday playoff, the 2008 championship is a revered golf keepsake — when Woods was a shimmering Goliath at the peak of his powers and a rumpled David whose nickname was “Rock” almost overcame his fearsome rival.The memory, the last major title for Woods until he won the 2019 Masters, is particularly poignant this year because Woods can’t play in the event after sustaining severe leg injuries in a February car crash. Still in rehabilitation, Woods recently said his chief goal was to walk on his own.But 13 years ago Woods was at his best, and so was Mediate, and the two are eternally linked.“Great fight,” Woods, who looked exhausted, said to Mediate as the two hugged on the final green. “The best of my major championships.”Mediate, who was disappointed but happy, answered: “It was the most fun I’ve ever had playing golf with somebody, let alone against the greatest golfer in the world.”Five days earlier, the tournament had begun with Woods’s caddie, Steve Williams, imploring him to withdraw.Fourteen holes into his first round, Woods, whose shattered knee had prevented him from walking or playing golf for the previous six weeks, was one over par and spraying shots far and wide. “You’ve got many more years to win majors,” Williams said to Woods, who was 32. Woods cursed and said: “I’m winning the tournament.”Woods on the 18th hole during the final round where he made his legendary putt.Charles Baus/Icon Sportswire, via Getty ImagesAdam Scott and Phil Mickelson played the first two rounds of the 2008 championship with Woods and suspected there was more wrong with his knee than the “soreness” that Woods had blamed for his layoff.“Tiger looked more uncomfortable than I had ever seen him,” Scott said in an interview this month. “But I don’t know that the crowd noticed. They were going crazy with Tiger and Phil, two California kids, playing on a public golf course in their home state. It was pretty much mayhem out there.”After nine holes in the second round, Woods had slumped to three over par and was in danger of missing the cut, but he rallied to birdie five of the next nine holes, shooting a spectacular 30 on the second nine.“He flipped the switch and I remember thinking, ‘Here goes Tiger doing something special — something Tiger-esque — again,’” Scott said.Paired with Robert Karlsson in the third round, Woods often bent over in pain after tee shots and kept tumbling down the leaderboard. On the tee at the par-5 13th, his drive was so far right it came to rest near portable toilets that were far from the fairway.“Tiger was aiming way left off every tee and hitting big slices, because that’s how he kept from putting too much weight on his injured left knee on the downswing,” Karlsson said in an interview this month.Woods’s recovery flew to the back of the green, 65 feet from the hole atop a steep pitch. On the same devilish green that day, Mickelson had three-putted and spun three consecutive wedge shots off the green for a quadruple-bogey 9.Woods sank the 65-footer for an eagle. “Tiger-mania was full on at that point,” Karlsson said. “That was an impossible putt. Impossible.”The 15th hole was a dogleg left, and required a right-to-left draw off the tee, not the purposeful slice Woods had been hitting. Woods would have to put considerable weight on his damaged left knee. He told Karlsson and their caddies that after he swung they should just walk off the tee without him.“Tiger then hit this fantastic, piercing draw in the middle of the fairway, but he doubled over after it, leaning on his club to stay upright,” Karlsson said. “He was hyperventilating. He knew that swing was going to hurt like mad, but he committed to it anyway.”Woods played without an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and with stress fractures in his left tibia.Charlie Riedel/Associated Press“We all walked off the tee quickly like he asked and when we got to the fairway, we looked back and he was still on the tee.”Consecutive pars and a lucky chip-in at the 17th hole for birdie — the ball clanged off the flagstick about a foot off the ground and fell into the hole — led to a 30-foot eagle putt on the 18th green that Woods converted for a round of 70. The surge gave him the tournament lead at three under par, two strokes ahead of Mediate, who was in third place.Walking the 18th hole, Karlsson asked Williams if he thought Woods would be able to play in Sunday’s final round. “Stevie said he thought it was 50-50,” Karlsson said.Woods made it to Sunday but was three over par for the first two holes. Mediate shot 71 to take the lead by one stroke. Woods steadily rescued par after par to stay in contention and at the par-5 final hole hit a magnificent third shot from the rough to set up the birdie attempt that would send the championship to a playoff after 72 holes.In the last 13 years, Mediate has watched a replay of the putt hundreds of times. “No one else makes that putt,” he said. “No one.”Scott has often been asked by young golfers what it was like to play with Woods in his prime. He cites the last putt of the fourth round at Torrey Pines in 2008.“The young guys can’t quite understand why we all say he was so much better than everybody else,” Scott said. “That putt, while it’s not the longest he ever made, pretty much sums what had happened for 10 years.”The following day, in the 18-hole playoff, it was Mediate who fell behind by three strokes after 10 holes, but he was buoyed by a crowd drawn to his everyman status.The massive crowd looking on during the playoff round.Chris WIlliams/Icon Sportswire, via Getty Images“Go get ’em, Rock,” fans called out after his tee shots.Mediate, a good but not great PGA Tour player for more than two decades, fought back with three consecutive birdies to take a one-stroke lead. As he did the previous day, Woods birdied the 18th hole, while Mediate made par to send the playoff to sudden death extra holes.At that moment, the PGA Tour pro Kevin Streelman was on a plane taking golfers and their families to Connecticut, where the Travelers Championship would be played that week. In the air, everyone watched the playoff on television, and the jet landed as Woods and Mediate were headed to a 19th hole. There were courtesy cars on the tarmac waiting to drive the players to their hotels. No one got off the aircraft.Every Cinderella story has a midnight and Mediate’s tee shot on par-4 No. 7 found a bunker. His approach shot missed the green, and a pitch from the rough was well short of the hole. Woods made a routine par, and Mediate missed a lengthy par putt.Woods walked toward Mediate to shake his hand, and Mediate embraced Woods in a hug.Mediate hugged Woods after he lost. “Great fight,” Woods said to Mediate.Chris WIlliams/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesTwo days later, Woods announced he would have season-ending surgery on his left leg. He returned in 2009 and stormed to six tour event victories but failed to win a major championship for the first year since 2004. And his year would worsen. The day after Thanksgiving, Woods had a car accident that led to revelations about his serial marital infidelities. For the next nine years, Woods, who won 14 of the 50 majors he played from 1997 to 2009, entered 24 majors and won none.Mediate, who watched the last putt of Woods’s fourth round in 2008 wondering if he was about to get a life-altering victory, was himself changed by his defeat at the U.S. Open.“I still get questions about it every single day,” Mediate said. “And my wife will go, ‘What?’ And I say that’s the way it is — they’re asking me a question about something they saw that meant something to them. It wasn’t like Joe’s Open, it was the United States Open. And it was a hell of a battle.” More