Final round on Sunday, holes 8-18
There are so many reasons Tiger Woods should have lost this U.S. Open.

His putter is the reason he didn't.

Another magical wave of that wand erased his mistakes on the back nine in yet another amazing finish.

Who doubted he would make that last 18-foot putt for birdie at the last hole to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate on Monday morning?

Mediate didn't.

Mediate said as much waiting in the wings.

Woods wasn't himself down the stretch. He didn't make the smart plays, and he let everyone else make the mistakes that lose championships. He made critical mistakes and nearly beat himself with bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes.

But a great putter can wipe slates clean. Woods is the greatest putter who ever lived.

Woods made a questionable play pulling his approach shot at the 13th left into the wild grass after Lee Westwood made the same awful play. In fact, Woods' shot was even worse than Westwood's in a spot Woods knew he couldn't hit it. It's hard to say it was really a dumb play given the nature of Woods' ailing left knee. He made bogey there after taking a drop for an unplayable lie.

Woods made another mistake at the 15th after pushing his drive right. He ballooned his escape attempt short and right in the rough, short siding himself. It was one of those places you don't want to miss. He was angry with himself.

Two bogeys coming home isn't what you expect from Woods at the end of a major.

You expect something spectacular, and he delivered on that count.

Final round on Sunday, holes 7-13
You can see Tiger Woods positioning himself now for the home stretch.

This time I suspect we may not see a dramatic late charge.

Woods will let the scoreboard dictate his tactics.

With a birdie at the 11th hole, he took back the lead for the first time since that double bogey at the first hole. Woods will be watching scoreboards now. He's a master at finishing. He won't take any great chances unless they're necessary. He'll be content to make pars if that's all that is demanded of him. He's like Jack Nicklaus in that he's perfectly content to let everyone else make mistakes to beat themselves.

And as I'm writing this, I see Woods just hooked his approach shot at the 13th into real trouble in wild grass left of the fairway. He had to take a drop for an unplayable lie. He did this after Lee Westwood hooked his approach over there, too. That's so uncharacteristic of Woods, a big mistake. Was it a mental mistake? Or physical? With that ailing knee, it's hard to tell.

108th U.S. Open Playoff on Monday Monday's playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate is currently live on ESPN, then will switch to NBC at 2 p.m. The entire round is being simulcast here on NBCSports.com.

There will be birdie chances for Westwood and Rocco Mediate coming home. Phil Mickelson birdied three of the last five holes. The question is whether Woods' challengers can take advantage to put some pressure on Woods or if Woods will make it easy on themselves and compound his mistake at the 13th.

Final round on Sunday, holes 1-6
Tiger Woods is either setting up more drama for the back nine, or he's going to blow his record of never having lost a major with the lead going into the final round.

Woods would have enjoyed skipping the first hole.

He wasted no time giving away his one-shot lead there.

It looked like we were still watching the Golf Digest's U.S. Open Challenge the way Woods butchered that first hole again. Golf Digest's U.S. Open Challenge, of course, featured three celebrities and a recreational player on this setup in a taped NBC showing before today's final round. John Atkinson, an 8-handicapper, shot 114 in that show.

Woods looked like he could give Atkinson a good game at the first hole, hitting two trees and chunking a wedge on the way to his third double-bogey this week at No. 1. He has played his first hole in 7-over for the week.

Woods followed that double-bogey with a bogey at the second, where he missed a 5-footer for par.

Woods played the first six holes today in 3-over and yet the good news for him is that he's only one shot behind Lee Westwood, the leader and his playing partner.

While Woods isn't limping as noticeably, his ailing left knee seems still to be affecting shots. He has pulled and hooked shots early.

We're still awaiting Woods' first birdie.

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