The course logo for Torrey Pines, the site of the 121st U.S. Open this week near San Diego, shows a tree leaning toward a setting sun on a single trunk.
Coincidentally, the defining moment of the 2008 national championship conducted at Torrey Pines belonged to a player leaning on a single leg.
At 5:52 p.m. West Coast time on June 15, 2008, Tiger Woods, having winced his way through 71 holes with a torn left knee ligament and double stress fracture in his left shin, lined up a 12-foot birdie putt that would either miss the mark or drop in the cup to force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate.
As Mediate watched from the scoring hut, having already completed his round, Woods pulled back his Scotty Cameron putter and sent the ball bouncing along the bumpy green. Woods moved to his left and crouched as the ball slipped into the cup on the high side, the man in the red Nike shirt celebrating with a double fist pump as NBC commentator Dan Hicks exclaimed, “Expect anything different?”
The next day, Woods made a 4-foot birdie putt at 18 to extend the playoff, then won his 14th major championship with a par on the first hole of sudden death.
The U.S. Open returns to Torrey Pines for the first time since Woods wowed the world on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific, but these days the most dominant golfer in history — but only second-greatest, as fans of Jack Nicklaus would argue — can barely walk 91 yards on one leg, much less 91 holes.
Now, as then, Woods is nursing a leg injury, though this one was caused by high-speed SUV driving rather than a high-speed Nike driver.
Without Woods in the field, any homage to 2008 will need to be satisfied by the plaque placed adjacent to the 18th green on the South Course to commemorate Woods’ legendary moment.
Now 45, Woods will watch from his home in Florida as the 156 players teeing off on Thursday attempt to create similar history without nearing the supremacy he enjoyed then.
Justin Ray of the sports analytics website twentyfirstgroup.com unearthed this morsel: from August 2007 through the 2008 Open, Woods played 11 tournaments worldwide, winning eight times and finishing second, tied for second and fifth in the other three. Of the 1,227 opposing players in those fields, only seven finished ahead of him.
So, who will win? We present five candidates, but dare not guarantee any will hoist the trophy.