U.S. Open Playoff Coverage: Woods and Mediate in 18-Hole Playoff

U.S. Open Playoff Coverage: Can the man that barely ranks beat the man that ranks number one? More importantly who is everyone rooting for? Does the drama of Tiger Woods comeback after surgery outweigh the theater of an also-ran slow and steady player upsetting the king of contemporary golf? Maybe the answer lies in the comparison of sportsmanship versus temper and hype versus golf savvy.

Compare the smiling and sometimes giddy Rocco Mediate handling the unavoidable pressure with mostly a smile and at the very least, on a bad hole, a frown to the Tiger tantrums displayed on Sunday on the 13^th and 18^th holes, where on the 18^th only the skilled management of an NBC camera close up avoided showing the potential damage Tiger's club throwing might have made to the playing surface after his poor fairway bunker shot. On father's day the issue of sportsmanship and how you carry yourself is particularly important. On that point Rocco is a fine example and Tiger needs a lesson or two.

With Tiger wincing all day from reported pain on every bad shot and even some good shots that started out bad, you might have thought he was tuned in to NBC,s broadcast and was caught up in the drama being reported with a frenzy about his post operative condition. These reports continued on NBC to the exclusion of golf in general, any pain or hardships other golfers may have had and great shots made by Tiger's competitors. On one occasion a commentator even alluded to a comparison of Tiger to an injured football player, obviously sans the 250 pound plus lineman trying to kill you on each drive. With Canada and many other countries relying on NBC's broadcast as the sole source for golf information this Sunday, it must have seemed that a reality TV show about Tiger and his surgery had preempted the U.S.Open broadcast. This pain however seemed to magically disappear on the last hole of regulation when Tiger sank the putt that guaranteed an 18 hole playoff Monday when he assumed a wince free knee stressing pose after draining a difficult shot.

But you can't blame Tiger for the obvious obsession with everything Tiger. So let us analyze Johnny Miller with one ten thousandth the degree of the attention dedicated to Tiger on NBC. His personal fascination with Tiger may be genuine even though the network and sponsors demand a maximum of Tiger time. With that said, it shouldn't excuse a man who is paid a premium for his words from his comments regarding Rocco Mediate. According to Johnny, the man who criticizes any putt not made by himself, Rocco looks more like Tiger Wood's pool caretaker than a professional golfer. No wonder the Europeans relish cleaning our clock annually at the Ryder cup with the U.S. and Tiger centric reporting they have to endure with broadcasts from the U.S. There is drama and good golf all over a course like Torrey Pines on a U.S. Open Sunday, you just wouldn't know it from watching Johnny Miller on NBC.

So are we going to root for hype and questionable sportsmanship on Monday or are we for the little guy with humility and the sport of golf? I think it's way over due for the later.

The Broadcast schedule is as follows: ESPN360 and NBC at 11 am. Hopefully Johnny will sleep in.