The "Must Make" Putt

I've been out of the country since the U.S. Open, but one thing that lingers in my mind from the final round coverage I saw was how many "must make" putts Tiger Woods had, missed, and still had a chance to win. Maltbie, Rolfing, and maybe a couple others on the NBC team said at various times that a certain putt was a "must make" putt when it wasn't. Each of those putts could have been missed and the player could have gone on to victory. (Especially when that player is Tiger Woods!) When you're two shots back and you and the leader have three holes left at the U.S. Open, a birdie putt is not a must make putt. You can miss it and still win. You can be two back with one hole to play and still have a chance at any tournament, especially a major, and especially the U.S. Open. Just last year Monty and Phil threw away the Open with double bogeys on the last hole. So I'm convinced that (1) "must make" is an overused phrase by golf commentators, and (2) if anything, it means something along the lines of "if this putt goes in, his chances of victory increase substantially." In most cases it certainly doesn't mean that the putt has to go in order for the player to win.