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JJ Post, ESPN
tiger forest‘ the list of achievements in his extraordinary career is a long one.
The golf legend seems to have won every event and every manner. However, there is one highlight in Woods’ lengthy resume: his historically dominant performance at the 2000 U.S. Open.
Going into the tournament, it had been three decades since the tournament had been decided by over three strokes. It has not been decided by double-digit strokes since the 19th century.
At Pebble Beach in California, Woods won by a margin of 15 strokes, a record score that no other professional tournament has ever matched.
On this day in 2000, Tiger Woods won his 100th US Open championship by 15 strokes, the largest margin of victory in any major championship.
The only players other than Woods to win majors by 10 shots or more did so before the turn of the 20th century. pic.twitter.com/3iKGE90hT0
– ESPN info and stats (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 18, 2020
Below are highlights from Woods’ 2000 masterclass.
Set alarm tone
That Woods is in excellent form at Pebble Beach is not a shock – he is in the midst of what will become one of the most remarkable periods of his career. Fresh off a five-stroke victory at the Memorial Tour in late May, Woods wasted no time in taking the lead at the US Open.
He shot 6-under in the first round, good for a first. Although Woods led the field, his first-round lead was not indicative of the historic pace he would reach. Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain was only 1 stroke behind at the end of the round, with John Huston Back up 2 beats.
Great putt propels him forward
Although Woods excelled in every aspect of his game that June, it was his performance that especially amazed onlookers.
Despite poor weather conditions, Woods would make one shot on 20 of his first 38 greens. He didn’t three-putt once during the US Open. Spectators and competitors had no choice but to marvel at Woods’ accuracy.
“He’s got some Jedi powers; he can pretty much put the ball in the hole,” speak Jesper Parnevik, who played with Woods. “And sometimes I could have sworn he did because I thought the ball was going to miss or had missed, and it was going sideways. It was something powerful, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Jedi going on. “
Happy birthday @TigerWoods! In June, we will return to the first of his three locations #USOpen victories. In 2000, the record books were not safe at Pebble Beach. pic.twitter.com/vOFqPzQwZf
– US Open (@usopengolf) December 30, 2018
The only downside is round three
As if to convince those around him that he wasn’t supplementing his performance with earth-bending mind-controlling powers, Woods struggled on a hole in the third round.
His three bogeys on the third hole of the round added a 7 to an exemplary scorecard. It marked the first time in the Masters era that a player won a major championship with three bogeys on his card.
The last 2 golfers to win a major with three bogeys on their cards:
– Keegan Bradley at the 2011 PGA Championship
– Tiger Woods at the 2000 US Open https://t.co/LsVOR0Wm07– ESPN info and stats (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 26, 2020
The final two laps turn the contest into a race
Despite three bogeys in the third round, Woods still managed to finish even stronger than when he started at Pebble Beach. He ended Round 2 with a large lead of 6 strokes, but led Round 3 by a remarkable 10 strokes. His cushion at the end of the third round was the largest 54-hole lead in US Open history.
But even Woods’ excellent third round pales in comparison to his final round. He tanked his final 18 holes, consistently dropping from 8-under par to 12-under. Woods became the first man to finish the contest under double digits, extending his lead over the field even further as he approached the final green. As Woods accelerated, those around him faltered – he was the only player in the field to finish at par or better.
Raise the trophy and set the stage for the future
When Woods lifted the US Open trophy, it was just the starting point in a run that ranks among the sport’s greatest.
Woods’ US Open victory was the first in a string of victories soon to be dubbed the “Tiger Slam.” He followed his success at Pebble Beach with wins at St. Andrews, Valhalla and Augusta the following year, eventually making him the joint holder of every major men’s championship — the first golfer in modern history to do so.
