If Tiger Woods lost the US Open?

Question

Would it have been called the biggest choke in Golf history?

Answer 1

a choke?... He was barely in the lead on the last day and was playing with a bad leg....you dont know the definition of "Choke"

Answer 2

Oh sure, some idiot or other would have done that...but given his knee problems, I think he would have been lauded just for competing.  I love how he did not whine about it during the competition, don't you?

Answer 3

no he would have shot a 73 to lose by one . that is not a choke , that is a display of mind over matter . his knee blown, if he had lost , by one still a great great match . he was determined to win sat all cost . and he did .

Answer 4

Yes!! And if the dog hadn't stopped, he would have caught the rabbit." If " is supposition and it has its place but not in the discussion of facts. Tiger won!! End of discussion. Was he smart to have played? That is a story for another day.

Answer 5

No way!!!

In 1960 at Cherry Hills, Palmer began the final round seven shots behind - and won.

In 1966 at Olympic Club, Palmer had a 7-shot lead in the final round - and lost.

Palmer started the fourth round three shots better than Billy Casper, and when the players made the turn, Palmer had stretched his lead to seven strokes.

But then Casper went on a tear (he'd shoot 32 on the back nine) and Palmer cooled off. Arnie gave up a stroke at the 10th, then lost another at the 13th. The players halved the 14th, so to speak, which left Palmer with a 5-stroke lead with four holes to play.

And Casper completely erased that lead over the next three holes. Palmer gave two back at the 15th, then gave up another two on the 16th.

And once again, in the playoff, Palmer let a lead slip away. Arnie was up by two in the playoff with eight holes to go, but gave up six shots over the remaining holes. Casper won the playoff, 69 to 73, and the U.S. Open.

Palmer didn't play as poorly, overall, in the fourth round of the 1966 U.S. Open as did Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters. Norman shot 78 that day, while Palmer posted the very respectable score of 71.

In some respects, what happened to Palmer in 1966 might not even qualify as a "collapse." Can you really call a round of 71 a "collapse"?

And yet, Palmer's faltering in the final round of the 1966 U.S. Open was even worse than the Shark's because, well, because he's Arnie - a much better player than Norman, one of the greats. But mostly because Palmer lost a 7-shot lead entirely on the back nine - and then compounded the blunder by losing another lead in the ensuing 18-hole playoff.

Billy Casper deserves a tremendous amount of credit for winning this championship - probably more credit for winning the title than Palmer deserves blame for losing it. Casper went out and shot a 68, with a sizzling 32 on the back nine.

But consider it a measure of Palmer's greatness and mystique that we're putting this episode No. 1 on our list of worst golf chokes and collapses. It's easy to imagine, say, Jean Van de Velde or Greg Norman blowing a big lead with a few holes to play.

But Arnie? Losing a 7-shot lead over the final nine holes of a U.S. Open? That's a collapse, all right.

Answer 6

No it wouldn't have been called a choke, because he had the perfect excuse for losing with the injury.  But his intelligence certainly would have been questioned for risking further injury in a losing cause.  Now his questionable decision to play against doctors recommendations is being heralded as bravery.