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Second-place Tiger slams door on Open hype

Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 14:13

The U.S. Open carries a grand, oversized aura every June -- 156 players pursuing American golf's national championship on narrow fairways flanked by ankle-deep rough. This year's tournament will bring a special flavor at San Diego's Torrey Pines, given its prodigious length (more than 7,600 yards) and its distinction as the first Open held on a city-owned course.Just imagine if Tiger Woods had won the Masters.It's too bad, really. Woods could have created two months of eager anticipation by chasing down Trevor Immelman on Sunday, amid the flapping flags and swaying trees of Augusta National. That would have made the Open utterly tantalizing, with Grand Slam visions hovering over San Diego like one of those ever-present hang gliders.Woods still might make a run at the Slam in the coming years -- the next two U.S. Opens, after Torrey, will be staged on the courses where he previously won the event, Bethpage Black in New York and Pebble Beach. And he seems due to win another Masters soon, after finishing tied for third, tied for second and solo second, respectively, the past three years.In a strange way, Woods' performance at Augusta National vividly illustrated his immense ability. He was off his game for three of the four rounds -- every day but Saturday -- and he still lingered in contention, rising from 19th place to 15th to 5th to 2nd. It sure felt like Woods played terribly Sunday with a 72, but he was one of only nine players to shoot even par or better.Other notes and random observations while marveling at the perfectly still conditions Monday morning in Augusta (barely any wind at all):-- ON THE RISE: Immelman's victory made him the only active player in his 20s with a major championship. He and Brandt Snedeker also showed there's a wave of young players with the talent and poise to contend on the game's marquee stages.Gary Player might have engaged in friendly hyperbole when he compared Immelman's swing to Ben Hogan's, but Immelman strikes the ball efficiently, with a compact and reliable motion. He also brings sturdy, square-jawed athleticism -- the bicep flex as he walked off the No. 18 green was a nice touch -- and a classy pride in his homeland."Hopefully, I'll be an inspiration for young South Africans to work hard and dream big dreams -- because that's what I did," he said.Immelman, incidentally, became the first player since Seve Ballesteros in 1980 to win the Masters after holding at least a share of the lead after all four rounds.-- UP-AND-DOWN COVERAGE: CBS, as usual, skillfully conveyed the majesty and tradition of the Masters. But the network still could not avoid several notable missteps during its coverage.Namely, was it really necessary to let analyst Peter Kostis interview Paul Casey after Saturday's third round? Kostis is Casey's longtime swing coach, so the appearance of a conflict of interest was unavoidable (even if Kostis asked reasonable questions). CBS had plenty of other analysts who could have conducted the interview.Then there was Jim Nantz, on the air, imploring Fred Couples' birdie putt Friday on No. 18 to "get in!" Nantz was Couples' roommate at the University of Houston, so it was understandable for him to want Couples to extend his streak of made cuts at Augusta. Nantz still could have kept his thoughts to himself.Bobby Clampett, working the Internet broadcast at Amen Corner, also stumbled when he referred to Liang Wen-Chong as "the Chinaman" during Friday's second round. Clampett issued an apology Saturday.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)