We ain’t done yet. The 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines is going to a playoff. Tiger Woods birdied the 18th hole Sunday to tie Rocco Mediate at minus-1 for the tournament; they’ll play another 18 holes on Monday starting at noon Eastern.

Woods was the –400 favorite at press time, casting a huge shadow over Mediate at +275. But how much longer can Tiger compete on his recently scoped left knee? “I took some things to kind of relieve that,” Woods told the Associated Press after sinking his 12-foot birdie on 18.

Mediate is the No. 126 golfer on the PGA Tour’s money list. That ranking is about to go up substantially. He’s 45 years old, with five career Tour victories – most recently the 2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic. This would be Mediate’s first major championship. He’s been quite consistent thus far: 69-71-72-71 in the first four rounds. Woods is 72-68-70-73 with four double-bogeys compared to one for Mediate.

The folks at Flushing Meadows have brought out the bells and whistles for the 2007 U.S. Open. This year’s “innovations” include handheld TVs for select crowd members, giant screens showing live action for free at Rockefeller Center and Madison Square Park, and the always cringe-inducing practice of letting kids sing the National Anthem.

The new features that matter most to tennis handicappers involve expanded match coverage. Those with access to DirecTV will be able to call up a flood of player statistics while watching up to five matches at the same time. And the U.S. Open website has been upgraded with live broadband coverage of evening matches, analysis, and enough real-time stats to choke a horse.

All that info is a godsend for value-conscious bettors who are scouring the lower-ranked players in the first few rounds. It’s also a chance to avoid the grating panel commentary we often get on the tube. Hallelujah.