Wondering how to feel about that headline? LOL. I couldn’t resist, but, without the shades of slang, it’s unflinchingly true.

Though Tiger’s knee shot warning signals through him most of the week, it couldn’t penetrate the spirit and will of the #1 golfer on grass.

And Rocco — his precision of game and infectious outlook exhibited him as a hero all on his own. Rocco emerged from the battle not as the loser, but as a giant in golf lore.

Although Tiger’s wound brought him to his knees, he did not surrender. In fact, it seemed as though Tiger in part was helped along by Rocco’s joyous embrace of the day and his sparkly-eyed zeal for the intense competition that brought out the best in his game. But make no mistake: Tiger knows where his own bootstraps are.

This was a stop-the-world tournament. No one broke away, but some fell away. One missed shot became obscurity for many would-be champions. It was also a perpetual head-game. Phil seemed to lose that game on 13. Tiger tamed the head-game over his play, his challengers, and an unfamiliar enemy, his body.

This could very well be the beginning of the new golden age of golf, where age isn’t as relevant and where nationality is not a differentiator. This dawning age is identified by player after player growing taller and reaching higher for a bar we thought unreachable – but now it’s being grasped by the first in what I believe to be a new wave.

These players will come from anywhere, any era, at anytime, a different player each time Tiger plays. These players are out there now, preparing, reaching, grinding. And they are beginning to see results and glimmers of hope that it might just be them who will peak next week.

Tiger, I believe, feels them closing in, and he smiles. So should we.