The Broken Leg Heard Around the World: Tiger’s 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines
There are great sporting performances and then there is what Tiger Woods did at Torrey Pines in June 2008. Five days of golf played on a broken leg, a torn ACL, and a level of competitive will that left everyone who witnessed it struggling to find adequate words.
Doctors had told Woods he had two stress fractures in his left tibia and advised him to rest. He did not follow their advice the week of the US Open at Torrey Pines. CBSSports.com He had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery after the Masters, with only 58 days until the Open, and chose not to repair his torn ACL so he could return in time to compete. Nobody knew he was playing with a torn ligament and a broken leg until two days after the championship ended, when Woods announced he would undergo further surgery and miss the rest of the season. Golf
The night before the opening round, Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg called USGA executive director Mike Davis to tell him Tiger would play, but that he had fractures in his leg. Davis kept the secret for the entire championship. Golfcompendium The cameras, however, could not hide what everyone could see. Woods winced after full swings. He limped between shots. USGA president Jim Vernon, after walking with Woods during the first round, didn’t think he would be able to tee it up for round two. Masters
Tiger double-bogeyed the first hole on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Golf He scraped and ground and willed his way around a 7,600-yard course that showed no mercy. And somehow, impossibly, he found himself on the 72nd green needing a birdie putt to force a playoff against Rocco Mediate, a 45-year-old journeyman who had barely made a cut all year.
He made it. Woods sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on Sunday, letting out one of his signature roars, then went out the next day and played 18 more holes in the playoff, sinking another birdie on 18 to force sudden death, which he won with a par on the first extra hole. Mastershousing
The duel aired on ESPN and NBC and became the most-viewed golf event in cable television history, and the highest-rated golf broadcast on network television in 30 years. Mastershousing It gave him his 14th major title and represented his 91st hole of the week. Farmersinsuranceopen
Eight days later, Woods underwent reconstructive surgery on his left knee. He did not play again in 2008. Masters In hindsight, the 2008 US Open was the last time the golf world saw Tiger Woods at the absolute peak of his powers. He never quite got back there. Which is exactly why those five days at Torrey Pines occupy a place in sporting history that no scorecard can fully capture.
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