Monday, July 24, 2000
Woods makes history at St.
Andrews
By Hunki Yun
The Orlando Sentinel
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland—Aptly named,
the Old Course at St. Andrews is over 500 years old. Tiger Woods
has been around for the past 24.
But the oldest course in the world has never
seen a performance like the one Woods exhibited during the 129th
British Open.
Over four days during the oldest championship
in golf, the course that has been the standard for greatness for
centuries gave way to Woods, who has arguably set the standard
of greatness for the next century. He shot 3-under 69 in the final
round for a 72-hole total of 19-under 269 to win by eight shots
over Ernie Els and Thomas Bjorn.
Woods made history with the win, as he appears
to do nearly every time he plays a major championship. He became
just the fifth player ever to win the career Grand Slam, adding
to earlier wins in the 1997 Masters, the 1999 PGA Championship
and the 2000 U.S. Open, and completing a sweep of golf's four
major championships.
The others are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan,
Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.
The last player to achieve the feat was
Nicklaus, largely acknowledged to be the best player in history,
who won the 1966 British Open to complete his Slam at the ripe
old age of 26.
In addition to being the youngest, Woods
is the only one to do so at St. Andrews, a town and a course that
is the home of golf.
The 18th green of the Old Course literally
sits in town, surrounded by buildings, some of which have been
around for nearly as long as the course. It is one of the most
majestic settings in sport, and Woods was able to make the walk
toward the green with the outcome secure.
Cheered every step of the hole's 357 yards,
Woods took time to revel in the moment.
“It really is hard to put into words
the emotions and the feelings going through me and the thoughts
that are running through my head,” Woods said. “And
to have an opportunity to complete the Slam and St. Andrews, where
golf all started, I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Nicklaus, the greatest player ever and the
man to whom Woods is most often compared, made the same walk up
18 two days before in possibly his final British Open.
Following in his footsteps literally and
figuratively, Woods is after Nicklaus' records, especially his
18 major championships, previously thought unbreakable. For Woods,
who now has four, those marks are still years away. But many believe
Woods is better.
“He is the chosen one,” said Mark
Calcavecchia, who finished 14 strokes behind Woods. “He is
the best player who has played the game and he is only 24. Jack
Nicklaus was the greatest of all time and when it is all said
and done he still might have the greatest record of all time.
“But if Jack was in his prime today
I don't think he could keep up with Tiger.”
Woods' excellence and stature transcend
not only his era, but also his entire sport. Following the retirement
of basketball star Michael Jordan, Woods stands as the dominant
sports figure of the time.
In just his fifth season, Woods is as far
above the competition as anybody ever has been in the history
of the game, yet he is not lacking the motivation for even more
championships.
“So far, I've had a wonderful young
career,” he said. “Hopefully I can continue to have
the success I have had. I am going to keep trying to get better
and we will see what happens.”
(c) 2000, The Orlando Sentinel
(Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/. On America
Online, use keyword: OSO.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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