The 2008 U. S. Open is considered one of the finest tournaments within the history of golf. It’s miles stated you’ll be able to’t surely overlook the depth and the unpredictability of the event that year. But what’s maximum remembered from the match is Rocco Mediate wearing the long-lasting hues that his opponent, Tiger Woods, wears on Sundays as a subculture in the playoffs.
“Can you honestly believe what he’s got on?” Tiger Woods could only wonder when he saw Mediate wear red and black to the playoffs. The 15-time major winner’s former caddie Steve Williams recalled the moment from the 2008 U. S. Open on the podcast ‘Chasing Majors.’
“I said, ‘that’s pretty ballsy,’” Williams explained what he said back then to his golfer. “He (Tiger) was bewildered,” Tiger’s former caddie added. “I don’t know if anybody else would do that.”
The color red is synonymous with Tiger who has always donned the same when playing tournaments on Sundays. There have been some changes made in terms of the design of the apparel. Nevertheless, the color has always stayed the same. The reason for it? His mother considers red and black to be his “powerful colors.”
Before the 2008 U. S. Open, Woods had won all his 13 majors while sporting the same colors in the final rounds. It had by then almost become his trademark colors. Yet, Mediate chose to wear red and black on the playoff day at the U. S. Open in 2008.
“It just added to the whole excitement,” Williams remembered how he and Woods felt then. “The whole drama and everything,” he further added.
Tiger Woods vs Rocco Mediate, the drama at the 2008 U. S. Open
Woods entered the 2008 U. S. Open just two months after going through arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Yet, fans believed that he could win the major as he was the reigning World No. 1 back then.
Meanwhile, Rocco Mediate was World No. 158 when he entered the field at the Torrey Pines. Despite having an upper hand in the tournament, it took 91 holes for Tiger to win over Mediate.
Eventually, reminding everyone why he is regarded as the GOAT of golf, Woods emerged as the winner of one of the most intense tournaments in the history of the sport.