Hello everyone!
Last weekend (Sunday) I was surprised by Michelle and she got us tickets to the US Open at Torrey Pines down in La Jolla (San Diego). Let me tell you it was well worth the three hour drive.
We get there around noon and man was I amazed by the amount of people that were there. I guess the count at the end of Sunday was 54,000 plus...and boy would we find this out later to be oh so true.
First thing I did is go to the practice area and watched Tiger putt for a while. He's so focused, I mean laser focused. It was wierd you could just feel in the air that something amazing was going to happen. I was so eager with anticipation of watching this event. This was my first major championship I've been two so I was like a teenager going to his first dance, well almost : )
I didn't catch up with Tiger until the 9th Hole due to a few beer tents that got in my way and talking with other people. I had my Montana Grizzlies shirt on and was surprised how many Montana's stopped and talked with me. So I see Tiger tee off on 9 and hit a beautiful shot right now the middle. Man I can hit the ball very well but I never got from just watching on TV how hard Tiger actually swings. I mean you can hear the difference, it sounded like a gun shot when he hit the ball. The only other person I've heard do that was John Daly. POWER! So I hustled up to the 9th green and watched Tiger hit his putt and the crowd went crazy. I swear out of the 54k people there 30k were following Tiger.
Lee Westwood hit a Driver off 10 and Tiger hit what appeared to be a hybrid and they were off. We cut off over towards hole 13 trying to get a good position but about half way there realized that 1000's of other people had already staked claim. Turned around and went over to the 17th green and waited. Rocco Mediate finished out his putt and was like a regular guy. I mean he's waving like he was having the time of this life. He actually seemed like he didn't believe he was there. Talking to the crowd and smiling to the cheers of ROCCO, ROCCO, ROCCO! I never had heard of the guy until this weekend and being around him I was an instant fan. I will follow him from now on, I hope he can keep it up. That would be exciting!
We were in the perfect spot, we were right behind the 17th green where the players crossed over to the 18th green. I was less than 2 feet from Tiger and was surprised how he seemed like he was in his own world. Just very calm. You couldn't tell he was in pain as he walked by.
He got up on the tee and I said to Michelle wouldn't it be cool if he birdie 18 and sent it to a play off, it was so loud all I got was a smile and a 'yes' nod. Tiger hit his tee shot and WOW could you tell he was hurting. I thought he was going to almost cry. There was no way he was faking!
So we hustled down to the 18 the green and got about 4 rows away but were able to still see the green. When Tiger walked up to the green the place went CRAZY! I mean it was so loud and I think all 54,000 people where there. What amazes me is how ever single person goes quiet when the marshals hold up the quiet signs. I mean you could hear a pin drop it's so quiet. So now time started to move in slow motion. Tiger watching his line, getting his angles and reading the put from all directions. He stepped up over his ball and I think everyone there held there breath for that second and wow did EVERYONE let it out when that put fell!
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p7/mj6403/00728170_us_open_article.jpg
I'm so happy I got to witness that as it happened, I will never forget it ever! If you have any interest in golf you've got to go to a tourny sometime, it's amazing what those players can do with a golf ball.
Thank you Michelle and Jordan for the Father's day gift of a life time