Woods’ decision to play the Open was fully rational, a decision made well before the event when he learned he’d suffered the stress fractures while rehabbing his repaired left knee. He had already played 12 tournaments with the torn ACL — and won nine of them — and knew he could manage that until the end of this season, when he intended to get it repaired.

Unlike Hogan, he had no practice in dealing with it. He played just 17 holes before the Open, riding those holes in a golf cart to protect his leg. Unlike Venturi, he was fully aware of what he was doing.

He put his entire career and his pursuit of Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles in jeopardy, simply because he thought he could play one more tournament at his favorite course — and win it. He weighed the possibilities and made his choice. It may not have been the smartest decision ever — only time will tell on that count — but it sure as heck was courageous.

And because of it, I finally understand why my kids — the boys anyway — loved to watch “Jackass,” because if ever there were a “Jackass” stunt in sports, Woods playing 91 holes on a broken leg and torn ACL has got to be at the top of the list. The difference is that the bozos in “Jackass” were doing stupid things to get on television and make money. Tiger doesn’t need to do anything to get on television other than step outside his house. He did his stupid human trick not for the publicity, but because he wants to win.

He even did it the right way, keeping news of the stress fractures to himself until two days after he hugged his baby daughter and kissed the hardware on the 18th green of Torrey Pines.

“I wanted to be very respectful of the USGA and their incredibly hard work, and make sure the focus was on the U.S. Open," he said on his Web site. So he kept the true extent of his injury to himself, let the world believe that his knee was just sore because he hadn’t fully recovered from arthroscopic surgery, and went out and played with as much courage as anyone has ever shown in a sport that’s more known for country club luxury than stevedore toughness.

He’s blown that stereotype out of the water. From now on, if anybody tells you golf is a sport for pansies, tell them about the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Tell them about Tiger Woods.

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