Home › Sports › Sports Columnists
Greetings from the U.S. Open: June 14
Download this story as a podcast!
STORY TOOLS 
More from Sports ColumnistsSAN DIEGO — After Thursday's first round, I was having dinner with a colleague and we both agreed that for some reason the 108th U.S. Open just didn't feel like a major championship.
Twenty-four hours later, the mood is completely different. After having two journeymen in the lead after Day 1, the leaderboard at the halfway point is filled with veteran players who seem very capable of winning a major championship.
Guys like Rocco Mediate and Stuart Appleby haven't won a major title yet, but they have both contended. Davis Love III has a major on his résumé and Ernie Els has three.
But the biggest difference is Tiger Woods. After 27 lackluster holes, Tiger turned in a magical final nine on Friday afternoon, putting him in prime position and pumping plenty of life into the tournament. When Woods is in the hunt at any tournament, the energy level is high, but when he's contending at a major, it's special. Watching him roll in putts all over the back nine was electric. It charged up the crowd, the media and even the other golfers in the field. What it's done is set up the possibility of a spectacular final two days. I'm looking forward to it.
— Check out Bob Buttitta's blog from the U.S. Open at http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/vcs/teeing_off.
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.