Thursday, June 20,
2002
Tiger Woods chasing,
making history
By Bill Nichols
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS -- Until Tiger
Woods came along, the Grand Slam seemed too daunting a task. The
feat of winning pro golf's four major championships has gone virtually
unchallenged.
With his U.S. Open
win Sunday, Woods became only the fifth player to capture the
first two professional majors of the season. To complete the true
Grand Slam, he needs victories at the British Open on July 18-21
and the PGA Championship on Aug. 15-18.
So how did the others
fare in their bids for a single-season sweep of the majors?
Craig Wood's quest
was stopped by a world war.
Ben Hogan's first
attempt ended when he didn't enter the 1951 British Open. Two
years later, he finished one leg short of golf's Holy Grail because
the PGA Championship conflicted with the British Open.
Arnold Palmer and
Jack Nicklaus each fell one stroke short at the British Open.
In 1941, Wood won
his first major at the Masters, beating Roanoke's Byron Nelson
by three shots. Two months later, at the U.S. Open at Colonial
Country Club in Fort Worth, Wood almost withdrew because of back
pain after shooting a 75 during the first round.
Reportedly urged
to keep playing by Tommy Armour, Wood wore a brace the rest of
the way, eventually beating Denny Shute by three strokes.
But Wood never got
the chance to add the third leg of the Slam. The British Open
was not played because of World War II.
Hogan twice won the
first two majors. But having never played the British Open, which
he was openly criticized for, he didn't even enter the event after
winning the Masters and U.S. Open in 1951. He didn't enter the
PGA Championship, either. It was two years after his horrific
car accident, which severely injured his legs. He had decided
early in the year to skip the gruelling PGA, which was match play
at the time.
In 1953, Hogan won
the Masters and U.S. Open by a combined 11 strokes.
Persuaded that the
British Open would complete his legend, he traveled to Scotland
a couple weeks early to get acquainted with links golf. He then
won the only British Open he ever played by four shots to capture
the career Grand Slam.
In 1960, Palmer won
the Masters and U.S. Open, then arrived at St. Andrews hoping
to match Hogan's feat.
This time, there
was no date clash between the British Open and the PGA Championship,
so there was anticipation that Palmer could capture the Grand
Slam.
But despite shooting
a final-round 68, Palmer finished second at the British, losing
by one stroke to Australia's Kel Nagle.
Nicklaus in 1972
was the last player to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same
season, beating Bruce Crampton by three strokes in both.
At the British Open
at Muirfield, Nicklaus trailed Lee Trevino and Tony Jacklin by
six shots after three rounds. Although Nicklaus made a Sunday
charge with a 66, Trevino chipped in on the 71st hole and beat
Nicklaus by one stroke.
Only 26 and just
midway through his sixth full season, Woods has eight major titles
in 22 professional starts. Nicklaus, who holds the record of 18,
won his eighth in his 35th major.
Woods has won four
straight majors, but not in the same year. He captured the U.S.
Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000, then the 2001
Masters.
Thirty years since
Nicklaus' bid for the third leg at Muirfield, Woods will try to
do what Nicklaus could not on the same course. It seems an appropriate
place for Woods, who loves chasing the legends, to climb one step
closer to uncharted territory.
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