With a good attitude and a smile, Mediate no laughing matter for hurt Tiger


"Did it get better? No," Woods said. "I took some things to relieve that, so I feel a bit better now."

Again, reporters asked Woods to elaborate on his condition. Again, they were repulsed.

Q: "Is what you're experiencing right now residual soreness from the surgery or is it the way it is forever and ever?"

A: "It's different."

Q: "I don't understand. You don't know?"

A: "I know."

That Woods has been able to perform at an elite level while wincing his way around the longest Open course in history is a testament to his incomparable talent and his incalculable toughness. That he was able to sink a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to force a playoff is a credit to the finest pressure putter on the planet.

Rocco Mediate is going to have his hands full with whatever Tiger Woods shows up.

"I heard people say, `Is he going to play golf today?'" Mediate said. "That man will crawl around if he has to play. Like I said at the beginning of the week, you want him there. You want him there.

"Would I have wanted to make one more birdie? Sure. I would like to win outright, but I didn't. I don't know what else to say. It's just going to be a great day and certainly anything can happen."

Tiger Woods should win, but he is unlikely to waltz. Not on that knee, anyway.


