It's been a little less than a week since Jordan Spieth survived and won the U.S. Open.
It's been a little more than a week since Fox made its debut covering big-time golf.
These events may be more intertwined than we realize.
Spieth's victory was gripping theater that made for a real sports moment in a month of championship sports moments.
We have been pretty spoiled this sporting June.
Golden State closed a record-setting NBA season with its first championship in 40 years.
American Pharaoh won the horse racing Triple Crown.
Serena Williams won the French Open and is halfway to the Grand Slam in women's tennis.
Now Spieth, who turns 22 next month, is halfway to a men's golf Grand Slam, his U.S. Open trophy holding a spot next to the Green Jacket he won at the Masters in April.
He's the youngest U.S. Open champ since some guy named Bobby Jones in 1923 and the youngest player to win two majors in a season since some cat named Gene Sarazen in 1922.
It was a performance that was surreal in the moment and even more worthy of appreciation in the days since. Some might wonder whether the quirky tract of Chambers Bay could truly crown a major champion.
We can see that point of view, and it carries a fair measure of weight since the randomness of the bad luck goes beyond the argument that "they're all playing the same course."
Still, the U.S. Open is about surviving more than winning, and that survival starts with mental toughness.
And what better way to measure that mental toughness than to see who can deal with the kick to the shins of a near-perfect shot getting a completely unfair result that leads to a nearly impossible situation.
If Chambers Bay ever gets another swing at this thing - and we think it should - it will need to have a few more places that, while very difficult to reach or get to, offer safer and/or truer results.
Still, for those questioning if Chambers Bay was a fair test, the best player on the planet right now won the U.S. Open. So in that regard, the test has to be considered somewhat true since the answer was 100 percent correct.
In victory, Spieth has become a true star in arguably the most star-needy sport across the landscape.
Golf needs names that are as big as the game, and those names are always forged in the major championship pressure that comes with the moments we witnessed last Sunday night on the coast of Puget Sound in Washington.
In fact, Spieth's accomplishments generate a whole new round of the "Next Tiger" conversation.
Can we all just agree to stop that now?
It's understandable why golf wants to find the next Tiger - Woods brought the game to an all-time public high that not even Jack or Arnold could reach - but it's not fair to the greatness that was Tiger to start tossing around the "next" tag.
It also is not fair to Spieth, who is way ahead of any player - including Mr. Woods - considering he's halfway to a Grand Slam and he's not yet 22.
So Spieth charges forward at a time when the game needs him, and that's a great thing for golf.
You know what else is great for golf? The weekend that was a full-on action movie at Chambers Bay that was covered and described by a Fox bunch who performed way better than expected in most ways.
The tracer tracking of golf shots could very well be the yellow first-down line of golf's future in that years from now we'll wonder how we did without it. Sure, Fox did not invent this, but they used it way more frequently. They need to designate where the hole is more clearly, but the ability to follow the trajectory of the shots made the viewing experience more enjoyable.
Greg Norman's analysis was up and down - and he benefitted greatly from his personal relationship with Jason Day for some keen insights - but to be fair, a big part of this business is relationships and contacts. Norman has potential to be really good at this, and when he talks about collapses, every golf fan has to listen.
Plus, lead announcer Joe Buck had an understated and steady style that was suited for this.
It was not all aces for Fox, though. Charles Davis is an accomplished college football expert, and as an interviewer off the 18th green last week he looked like an accomplished college football expert.
But in the end, this will be remembered not for Fox's debut or even the ups and downs of Chambers Bay, a municipal course that opened in 2007.
And speaking of the course, there was a ton of discussion, even from the leaders and Spieth, but as the players were bellyaching mightily on a) playing a world-class golf course for a seven-figure living and b) sounding quite whiny in the process, they need to remember two things.
First, there is a certain amount of viewing pleasure from average folks watching the best in the world work for par and bogey at the U.S. Open. It makes the pros more connectable.
Second, there also is a ton of value in bringing major championships to courses the public can play.
Throw in the fact that Fox made a spectacular viewing experience even better, and it was almost as big a win for golf as it was for Spieth.
But the side stories, while important in scope now and in the future, are just that, side stories, in the scheme of things.
Golf in general and the U.S. Open in particular belonged to Spieth, and now his future is open for almost anything.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @jgreesontfp.com. You can read his online column, "5-at-10," Monday through Friday at timesfreepress.com after 10 a.m.