Tiger Woods VS Rocco Mediate in an 18 hole playoff a the U.S. Open!

ESPN: Monday 12 pm - 2 pm &

NBC: 2 pm - 4 pm ET

My pal Dan Smith sent me a CD full of about 350 pictures from the Wednesday practice round at the 2008 Masters! I’ve just added of the photos to the Hooked On Golf Blog Masters Gallery.

There are some great player and course shots from hole #11 and some very cool pictures from the Masters Wednesday Par-3 tournament. There is even a shot of Fred Couples when he got a hole in one during the Masters par-3 contest.

With the addition of these photos, the HOG Photo Gallery is now at over 8000 golf images!

Tiger Woods is now off the crutches and wearing a knee brace. He hopes to start rehabbing soon, but has no definite date scheduled for him to return to competition.

Apparently Tiger has been playing in pain and knew he’d have the knee surgery for a couple of months. He was going to have the surgery after Augusta whether or not he won at The Masters. Tiger did not attribute his loss at The Masters to his knee:

“I’ve definitely been playing in pain, but that’s not why I didn’t win at Augusta.”

Tiger Woods underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his previously troubled left knee. This marks the 3rd time he’s had this knee worked on (1994, 2002).

He had the surgery at the Healthsouth Surgery Center in Park City, Utah. Hey that’s about 35 minutes from my place.

Tiger is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks and back in time for the U.S. OPEN, so take him off your fantasy teams!

Special note to Tiger

Tiger, I wish you the best of luck on your recovery. I’m a short drive from you if you are rehabbing in your place in DV. If you need some company, let me know. I’d be happy grab my DVD of Caddyshack, some popcorn, and make the short drive up there to help out a fellow golfer on the injured reserve list.

I look forward to the Masters more than any tournament. I practically schedule the entire week off from my business and personal life to watch it. Now that it is over, and Trevor Immelman is the champ, I need to reset.

I’ll come up with my Masters final thoughts in the next day or two, when I recover from this week.

Tiger and the grand slam

One thought that comes to mind is that Tiger should do what he himself said and what he quoted his father as saying: “Let your clubs do the talking.” Tiger should NEVER have mentioned the grand slam or anything about winning all four majors this year. He should have just gone out and won the damn things. Then he could do the talking….

The wind is howling

2:00: The players on the first page or two of the leaderboard will be teeing off soon. Phil Mickelson is at -2 still on the 3rd hole. He’s using a different putter today. Ian Poulter just went to -4 after making a birdie on #2. Retief Goosen just missed about a four foot birdie putt on #2. He’ll stay at -2.

2:40: Shaky start for Immelman and Snedeker. Immelman missed the fairway on #1 and Snedeker missed the green. They’re both looking at bogey and yes, two bogies. Tiger has picked up a shot on the 1st hole having pared it.

3:05: Tiger is in the greenside bunker on the par-3 #4. Meanwhile Brand Snedeker just EAGLED #2 with an improbable putt through the fringe and is tied for the lead. Immelman made par. Paul Casey just stiffed one on #3 and should have birdie to go to -8. Yup, -8 now for Casey and he’s two back. OH NO Tiger just power-lipped his par putt and now he’s got a four footer for bogey. Bogey.

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12:31PM ET: The leaders don’t tee off for a while. Zach Johnson has birdied two of the first three holes to bring it back to even par for the tournament. Geoff Ogilvy and Boo Weekly are -1 on their rounds so far and +1 total.

2:28: Tiger Woods birdied #2 and is now at -2, six shots back. Zach Johnson shot -4 on the front to reach -2 for the tournament.

3:30: Man I need some psychological help. I had tears gushing out of my eyes when the network broadcast started. Anyone have a tissue? Tiger has had a couple more good birdie opportunities but hasn’t made a putt.

3:45: Phil Michelson had a tap in birdie on #2 which put him at -6. Goosen is at -4 after five holes. Furyk is going the wrong direction, having dropped two shots to +1 after seven.

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