The greatest thing about sports is its unpredictability. Sports isn't an evening sitcom or a Hollywood movie as predictable as the sun coming up each morning. While the majority of fans may pull for the fairy tale ending, sometimes it doesn't come off. In the end, isn't that what is so captivating about sports? Sometimes we see the storybook ending, and sometimes we don't. The US Open wrapped up on Monday with relative unknown Lucas Glover holding off a charge from Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and David Duval 2.0 (the 2.0 is for the 20+ lbs he appears to have put on since last seeing the public eye).
Of course everyone knows the story of Phil Mickelson, playing while his wife Amy is battling breast cancer at a hospital in California. With the NY fans at Bethpage fully behind Phil he surged to a tie for the lead with a heroic eagle on the 13th, but a 3-putt bogey on 15 and another bogey at 17 ended his hopes of finally getting that elusive US Open title. Phil's 5th 2nd place finish at an Open (now the most ever) amidst such difficult personal circumstances will only endear him more to his massive group of followers. If he would have won it would have made Tiger's win last year pale in comparison on the storybook totem pole...but it didn't happen.
Of course everyone knows the story of Phil Mickelson, playing while his wife Amy is battling breast cancer at a hospital in California. With the NY fans at Bethpage fully behind Phil he surged to a tie for the lead with a heroic eagle on the 13th, but a 3-putt bogey on 15 and another bogey at 17 ended his hopes of finally getting that elusive US Open title. Phil's 5th 2nd place finish at an Open (now the most ever) amidst such difficult personal circumstances will only endear him more to his massive group of followers. If he would have won it would have made Tiger's win last year pale in comparison on the storybook totem pole...but it didn't happen.
A different type of fairy tale was evident in the story of David Duval. As El Tigre was beginning his climb to the pinnacle of the sport, Duval was perched as the #1 player in the world 10 years ago. 10 Top-10 finishes in majors from '98-'01, and 13 PGA Tour wins including the '01 British had Duval among the elites. However, an 8 year slide from greatness saw him at #882 in the World Rankings coming into the Open. To put that in perspective that is somewhere between Jean Van de Velde and Charles Barkley...probably closer to Barkley. When total unknown Ben Curtis won the British in '03 he was 396th in the world...486 spots ahead of Duval's ranking!! If DD would have won, this would have been without a doubt the most shocking, unpredictable win in the history of sports...but it didn't happen.
What did happen was a slightly above-average pro from South Carolina, Lucas Glover, created his own storybook ending. Glover has some talent, he made the President's Cup team 2 years ago and has a couple Top-5's this year...but if you tell me you predicted him winning this week I suppose you have a bridge to sell me as well. Even at the top of the leaderboard on the back 9 I doubt most Monday afternoon viewers expected the untested Glover to hold on. You could tell on the broadcast that analyst Johnny Miller was willing every possible train wreck scenario on the steely eyed Glover, but to his credit he never folded. So while the majority of the sports world will be mourning the loss of two great what ifs, let's focus on the great story that did happen. A solid pro who lived out his own dream by qualifying his way into the Open, standing up to the best in the game, and winning the most pressurized tournament in the world.
1 comment:
I'm not so sure that I'd agree with the comparison of Tiger's feat last year and Phil's dealing with his wife having Breast Cancer. Phil's story was one of inspiration, something that Jimmy Roberts would have done a story on much like he does during the Olympic Games: one of sorrow, grief, followed by determination, grit and a great ending. Tiger's story last year ranks right up with Willis Reed in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Championship. The steely resolve of a great athlete allows them to pull through whatever ailments they may have to help achieve the greatest accolade an athlete can wish to attain. From the outside, yes Phil's story if he were to have won the open would have been great news, but to compare it to Tigers may have been slightly premature.
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