Here's what the US Open boils down to: Tiger's knee. Nothing else. No matter how lovable, how fun, how gregarious and enjoyable it is to listen to Rocco Mediate, and watch him play golf, he's never been, nor ever will be any kind of serious threat to Tiger Woods. On a usual day, on a usual course, Woods is probably 7 shots better than Rocco. On the US Open, Woods should be about 10 shots better. But here's the thing. Rocco is currently having what all professional team athletes hope to have - he's having a career-defining moment. He's on a roll to end all rolls. Standing in his way is the greatest golfer of our generation - and arguably already the greatest golfer ever. But...that same greatest golfer is only on one leg. So here we go - a career journeyman versus a one-legged champion. It's a dice roll now.

For Mediate, this is a chance to savor glory he's never tasted before. I don't even know if a defeat would really hurt. After all, he wasn't supposed to be there. He's never supposed to be there. As a journeyman, he's expected to grab a couple of wins on second-tier tour stops, the ones that the likes of Tiger never bother with anymore. The kind of tournaments that if it has a top 10 world ranking player, it's because that player is trying to work out a change in his game, or trying to come back after an injury. So Mediate being in the final pairing on a Sunday in the Open is a total mismatch, right?

Except that Mediate didn't get the memo, or was too busy laughing it up to read it. Mediate has played this tournament like a true champion. Steady and simple, his game is drive to the fairway, his a solid approach and two-putt for par. That's what wins Opens. Driving the ball all hither and yon will beat you in this tournament - only the superlative ability of Woods has prevented him from seeing a journeyman win it. Don't expect Mediate to fold under pressure today. He's not feeling any pressure. In a way, Woods has all the pressure - the pressure of his own making to win at virtually all costs, the pressure of an adoring public watching his every move, the pressure to continue to secure his place amongst the greats of the game. What pressure does Mediate feel? He's an also-ran, a nobody, the guy who's managed to get on the greatest stage in golf and here he has a chance to win...and still nobody gives him a prayer of a shot. So what pressure does he feel? All he has to do is play his game - Rocco will never try to out-drive Tiger (he can't...even on his best driving day). He doesn't have the wizardry to scramble from mistakes. He's putted beautifully this week - will that stand up? Thing is, Rocco doesn't seem to think about it. Instead, all he knows is that he has the best chance of his life to win a major tournament, and doing it against the game's best is just the icing on the cake. Maybe Mediate won't shut up the entire time he's on the course, and try to engage Tiger in good-natured trash talk. Maybe that's his game. But it certainly isn't bearing down and beating Woods at the game they both love.

For Tiger, there are so many things to worry about, starting and ending with that knee. If it gives out, if it screams in pain that he can barely swing the club, his day is done, and his chance is lost again. If he can grind it out, he'll walk away with perhaps the most satisfying win of his career, major or not. To win against such odds - being off for nearly 7 weeks prior to the tournament, playing through the pain, having to overcome the bad shots resulting from the rust and pain - would make this title perhaps the greatest of all. Should Tiger cement this win, and as amazing as this sounds, it would greatly enhance the Legend of Tiger Woods. I can only wonder, when his career is over, what he'd say about this weekend's performance.

It doesn't really matter who you're rooting for. If anything, today's match is the Battle of the Wounded Knee. It's worthy of greatness, and is therefore fitting that it's David and Goliath theme mixes with the Wounded Knee to create truly Must See TV.