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Doctors are amazed by the performance of Tiger Woods in last week’s U.S. Open, given the extent of his injuries. Retief Goosen, who finished 14th however, hinted that Tiger exaggerated his injuries, only feeling the pain after bad shots.

First of all, there were plenty of occasions when Tiger winced in pain after drives tha hit the fairway, prompting the announcers to mention that you can’t judge where the shot is going based on Tiger’s reaction.

Second, where did Retief study medicine?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article4160268.ece

Question:
How do you take all of the suspense out of a major sporting event and irritate your fans - those who have invested 4 days of their time and interest in your sport?

Answer:
An 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open.

There’s no reason to play another 18 holes that allow 2 participants to separate after you’ve already played 72. The common defense of the 18-hole playoff is “One hole shouldn’t decide the tournament.” That’s lame. It’s not one hole that decides an open in sudden death, it’s 73 or 74 holes. What if we’re tied after 71 holes - does the 72nd hole decide the tournament? Nonsense.

I hope the playoff is a blowout. Maybe they’ll re-evaluate.

You start to run out of adjectives. Why not call the U.S. Open a day early and let the boys gome home for Father’s Day.

They call Saturday “moving day” at the Masters. You’ve got to make a move up the leaderboard to get in position to be in contention on the final day. Woods started the day at -1 and shot a 4-under 68 to get to -5. Mickelson started the day -5 and shot a 3-over 75 to finish the day -2. It’s a contrast in mental toughness - let’s take a closer look.

Woods struck the ball well early, but hit several makeable birdie putts that grazed the edge of the cup or ran out of steam. Tiger didn’t get discouraged. He kept plugging away and birdied 3 of the last 9 holes to get within striking distance.

After nearly holing a wedge on 17 and tapping in for birdie, Tiger’s tee shot on 18 found the trees, potentially stopping the momentum. He promptly stuck an 8-iron over the trees onto the bottom of the green, and after his first putt came up short, nailed one of those 5-footers to save par that are the test of champions.

Mickelson caught a tough break at one point in round 3. A beautifully played shot with spin that should have landed behind the pin and backed up to within a few feet, instead hit the pin on a fly and spun below the hole. Mickelson promptly 3-putted from within 20 feet, a 2-shot swing.

Phil missed a makeable, short birdie putt on 15. Instead of letting that shot go and moving on, he plopped his tee shot on 16 into the bunker on the short side of the green, an impossible position to scramble from, and he made double bogey.

Tiger is 6 back going into the final round, and Phil is 9 back. If the leader shoots under par on Sunday, neither will contend. But if the leader falters, Tiger is right back in contention. Both great golfers, but Tiger has the mental edge.

Back around 1992-93 while living in Baton Rouge, a co-worker mentioned that her brother was in OK on a golf scholarship but the Monroe native was transferring to LSU. Shortly thereafter she introduced me to him.

Fifteen years later LSU Tiger golfer Brian Bateman won his first PGA tournament (Buick Open 2007), qualifying him for the 2008 Masters. In his first attempt, Bateman made the cut (69, 76), and is -1 through 10 today, bringing him back to EVEN par for the tournament. A great experience and a solid performance for the first timer.

Best of luck to the LA native, as years of grinding through qualifying school is starting to pay off. David Toms, another LSU Tiger is +3 through 3 rounds.

We forgot to mention the Zurich Classic Golf Tourney on the show last night. Here’s what you need to know:

Someone you’ve never heard posted a score of (-13) and edged out someone else you’ve never heard of, and some other nobody finished third. Oh yeah, and Tiger Woods didn’t play in New Orleans again.

Let’s face it, in the PGA these days there are Tiger Woods events and tournaments nobody cares about, and the Crescent City has the latter. Unless we find a way to get the marquis players here, this ain’t nothin’ but a stroll in the park on a sunny afternoon.

The upside - The Masters is only a couple of weeks away.