The Terror of the 10-Foot Putt

The Terror of the 10-Foot Putt

The U.S. Open is professional golf’s most unpredictable championship. The four-day grind rewards calm and steady play and punishes gamblers with lonely searches for balls in expanses of knee-high fescue.
More than likely, the winner will be decided Sunday by a knee-knocking, medium-range putt, say, 10-feet or so, with just enough slope to make the proper line to the hole a mystery.
“That’s what it always comes down to, doesn’t it?” said Rocco Mediate, last year’s U.S. Open runner-up, who twice saw his chances for glory dashed, when Tiger Woods sank clutch putts on the 72nd and 90th holes. “There’s always the nerves, so it just becomes a matter of how you handle them.”

wsj.com
6/18/09