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Normally, a performance like the one Rocco Mediate put on at last year’s US Open would be celebrated far and wide. Since the invention of Tiger Woods, however, these types of celebrations have been largely eliminated; especially during Major championships. Even though Mediate didn’t beat Woods, you simply have to admire his “Sorry, Tiger. You are going to have to beat me to win this thing.” approach, not to mention his “F-off. I can wear red, too.” outfit. The lead video features the culmination of Tiger’s huge win, something that took 90 holes to complete.

90 holes of golf, and still no winner.

Of course, were it not for the following putt by Woods, there would’ve been no 19th hole. Instead, Mediate would’ve won and leaving Tiger to face a bitter layoff while he recuperated from knee surgery. Surely, you remember this:

After the jump >>

Well. That was just… f**king brilliant for lack of a better term. Not only was Tiger’s eagle an incredible chip shot, it also made up for a bogey a few holes previous and took him to within one stroke of the lead. Oh, and it would be safe to say it put pressure on the rest of the field — roars for Tiger from the crowd have a way of doing that. As if his eagle didn’t provide enough flair, Woods birdied holes 17 and 18 to give him a one-stroke win over Jim Furyk.

I’m guessing all that talk about Tiger’s demise is over? Furyk, for one, hopes so:

“I just wish you all would just quit [ticking] him off … so he has to come back and keep proving stuff,” Furyk said. “I think he answered a lot of questions today.”

Oh, and look: Tiger’s rounding into form just in time for the US Open. Do we dare hope for a similar ending as last year’s Rocco Mediate/Tiger Woods duel?

Now that he’s a famous NBA fence-rider, and due to the fact that he’s “struggled” since his return from knee surgery, perhaps Woods thought today was a good time to remind folks he still has considerable golf skills, just in time for a couple of golfing events of significance: The Memorial and the US Open. What we have is Tiger, Jack Nicklaus, Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink playing in today’s Memorial Skins Challenge. First, Tiger hits a putt causing the remaining skins to carryover to a “closest to the hole” chipping competition, winner take all.

And what, exactly, do you think happened?

If you said, “Woods will knock his chip directly in the whole with a smile on his face, making it look far easier than it is” then collect your winnings — provided Tiger didn’t take them all with that nasty chip shot. After seeing that, do you think his odds for winning the Memorial or the Open (or both) suddenly increased?

H/t to Awful Announcing for the video and such.

Angel Cabrera won the elusive green jacket yesterday, beating Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell in a sudden death playoff to secure his Masters victory. Yes, Kenny Perry’s faltering on the 17th and 18th holes played a large part in Cabrera’s second major title, but give credit the first Argentine to win Augusta National’s prestigious tournament. Unfortunately for Cabrera, most of the press is focusing on the aforementioned Perry, as well as the Tiger Woods/Phil Mickelson pairing.

Something else is helping steal Cabrera’s post Masters victory thunder as well: boobs. An excited spectator decided he’d share his zeal for PGA golf by grabbing the boob of the woman next to him. Fortunately for the grabber, the woman didn’t take too much offense; otherwise, said boob-grabber might be picking his head up off the ground.

That, my friends, will be what the sports blogosphere remembers most about the 2009 Masters. Angel Cabrera winning is way down on the list, behind folks like Perry, Woods and Mickelson.

And boobs.

Apparently, winning the green jacket only resonates if your first name is “Phil” or “Eldrick.”

Kentucky boy Kenny “Powers” Perry, powered by a five-under 67, is now tied with Chad Campbell atop the Masters leaderboard. Campbell maintained the lead/tie he forged yesterday by shooting a two-under 70. Perry, who in the above video, does a skip-the-ball-trick similar to Vijay Singh’s, birdied holes 1, 2, 12, 15, and 18, while shooting even par on the other 13 holes. Both Campbell and Perry lead the rest of the field by at least three strokes. Apparently, Augusta National is inviting players with no PGA Majors on their resumes into the inner circle. Will either of these two be able to accept? Would a hole in space-time open up if a Kentucky boy won one of Georgia’s go-to events?

As for the other notables, Tiger struggled with birdies followed by bogeys today. As a result, Woods shot a 72, gaining absolutely no ground on the leaders. Jim Furyk, Angel Cabrera, and Todd Hamilton all sit in “second” place at six-under. Cabrera, however, is two-under through 10 and is in a position to gain even more ground on the in-the-clubhouse leaders.

This is setting up for a great weekend of who wants it more. Granted, you can’t count Tiger out yet, but he’s going to have to make a mighty charge on Saturday and Sunday … Or hope the pack falls back to him. Unfortunately, the way Perry and Campbell have been shooting, that might be out of the question.

For those of you expecting a familiar name like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson sitting atop The Masters leaderboard … SURPRISE!!! Introducing Chad Campbell, who opened yesterday’s round with five straight birdies, on his way to an opening score of 65 and the overall lead going into Day 2. Currently, Campbell is on the course and his start is similar to yesterday blistering front nine. Through five holes, Campbell is two-under, taking him to nine-under for the tournament — which, in turn, gives him a three stroke lead over Jim Furyk, who is in second place.

A quick glance at Campbell’s Wikipedia page reveals he has four tournament wins since turning pro in 1996; although, there are no majors on said list. Nevertheless, Campbell has made a nice living from golf — something his $16.5 million career earnings total indicates quite nicely. Oh, and he has a hot wife as well (see, we cover the important stuff here):

She has a fledgling music career if you are interested.

As for Campbell, while he doesn’t have any major titles, he has finished in the top five in both the US Open and The Masters. However, if he continues his torrid play, the “no majors” moniker might very well die on Sunday.

The entire field is underway in Augusta, and while the Tiger watch is still going strong (1-over though 6), we might want to turn out attention to Jim Furyk, who apparently wants another Major championship to go with his US Open victory. Currently, Furyk is on top of the leaderboard with a 6-under, while folks like Shingo Katayama, Larry Mize, and Chad Campbell are right behind him at 5-under. After those three, there are four other golfers sitting two strokes behind the leader.

Other notables:

Mickelson: 1-over
Immelman: 1-over
Garcia: Even
Harrington: 3-under
Cabrera, aka, No More Cigarette Smoking Man: 4-under
Vijay Singh: 1-under

It’s Masters Tournament time in Augusta, Georgia and while the Tiger watch is already at full-force, perhaps we should be giving Trevor Immelman some more love; I mean, seeing how he won the damn thing last year. Granted, Immelman hasn’t won, well, anything PGA-related since his green jacket victory, but the fact remains, as defending champion, there’s been relatively little talk about Immelman’s chances at a repeat.

For that, you can obviously blame Woods, who will be participating in his first major since he had his knee repaired.

The media has been on full Tiger alert this week, rightfully so, I might add. Of course, if Tiger does win his fifth green jacket this weekend, the media blitz will the pre-Masters talk pale in comparison. Besides Tiger, there is another cat named Phil you might want to consider. All Lefty has done in 2009 is win two tournaments already. Not only that, but between Tiger and Phil, Phil has the most recent Masters victory.

Tee Times of Note (all times Eastern)
Retief Goosen – 9:39
Justin Rose – 10:12
Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy, Ernie Els – 10:23 (the threesome to watch?)
Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington – 10:34
Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk – 10:45
Stuart Appleby, Sergio Garcia – 10:56
Fred Couples, Rocco Mediate – 12:02 pm
Zach Johnson – 1:08 pm
Trevor Immelman – 1:41 pm
Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink – 1:52 pm

As you can see, Woods is in the second-to-last pairing of the day, giving him a good idea of what he needs to shoot if he decides to announce his presence early in the tournament. Currently, your leader is Ross Fisher at 3-under par. Fisher is through 10 holes. Watch him be your wire-to-wire winner. Would the Tiger-starved media embrace something so unexpected with the same fever they embrace Woods?