...or at least one who doesn’t wear a jersey. Still, he may be the best competitor, jersey notwithstanding. On Monday, June 16, 2008, Tiger Woods won his 3rd US Open on one bad knee and only months after surgery. In order to achieve the win, Woods had to persevere through excruciating pain to sink two eagles and a birdie on the 3rd day along with a 4th day marathon playoff round of 18 holes PLUS one sudden death par to bring in the eventual win. It was the stuff that defines a champion and gives evidence to why we immortalize athletes like we do. The up-and-down drama of Tiger’s play throughout the tournament played out like a film with all the dramatics of Tiger using his clubs as a cane intermittently on the course.

Tiger’s dominance speaks for itself:

#2 all-time majors winner trailing Jack Nicklaus by only 4 wins in less than half years of Nicklaus’ career

#3 PGA Tour wins all-time

#2 PGA Tour win streak

Named PGA Player of the Year 9 times

#1PGA Tour record for most consecutive rounds at par or better (52 rounds)

First golfer to win four PGA Tour events five times or more.

He’s only been out of the Top 5 on the Golf Money List ranking once. His first year on tour.

I think you probably get the point. He’s the best golfer around. What makes Tiger legendary is his unyielding desire to truly dominate his competition without relent every single time he steps onto a course. Even when he went through his “slump” in 2004 he still managed to win one PGA Tour event and finished 4th on the Money List.

With Tiger’s re-injury of his knee at the US Open, he will need to go through ACL surgery which will force him to miss the remainder of th 2008 season. Here’s to hoping a speedy recovery for Tiger post-surgery as he moves onward towards tying Jack Nicklaus.