By John Strege
Nostalgia seems to be written into the script in the run-up to every major championship, and in the absence of Tiger Woods ("the face of golf for the last 15, 20 years," Rory McIlroy said Wednesday), some of it inevitably is directed toward him.
(Getty Images photo)
So it was that Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee on Tuesday night offered this observation from the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach as a reminder of Woods' prowess:
"I was on practice tee warming up on Tuesday I had a great friend of mine who used to played the tour, knew a lot about golf. I thought he was watching me hit golf balls, and right behind me was Tiger Woods. He said, look, I know you're grinding, I know you want to play well this week, but if you don't stop what you're doing and turn around and watch what's going on behind you you will have missed the greatest show I've ever seen. You will miss the greatest swing in the history of golf.'
"I turned around and I got wrapped up in it. I watched him for 30 minutes. It was wide and it was full and it was flowing and it was rhythmical. I felt impotent after that. My ball sounded like it came out of a puff gun. It was just awesome and beautiful all at the same time."
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