Wednesday, November 29, 2000
A lifetime of magic in 10 months for Tiger
Woods
By Hunki Yun
Orlando Sentinel
(KRT)
ORLANDO, Fla. — After stops in Atlanta, Spain, England, Thailand
and Hawaii over the past month, Tiger Woods is hosting the Williams
World Challenge this week at Sherwood Country Club, just outside
Los Angeles.
Given his duties and recent schedule, Woods has had little time
to reflect on his accomplishments this year. When he does talk
about his year, he downplays his achievements so much that they
sound commonplace.
“I've played well,” Woods said at the American Express
Championship, the last PGA Tour event of the year. “Ultimately,
what you have to do is put yourself in a position to win. This
year I was able to do that.
“I think that's something that I'm very proud of this year;
I was able to put myself in contention on the back nine in most
of the events I teed it up in.”
With Woods keeping mum on how great his season was, others are
doing it for him.
The conclusion here is that Woods has had the greatest season
in the history of golf.
Nine wins on the PGA Tour, 10 worldwide. Three major championships,
and $9,188,321 in earnings on the PGA Tour. A streak of six consecutive
tour wins.
By themselves, the numbers compare favorably against the other
great campaigns in golf history.
In 1930, Bobby Jones won his Grand Slam, consisting of the U.S.
and British Opens and Amateurs. During Ben Hogan's 1953 season,
he won three majors and five of the six tournaments he entered.
And in 1945, Byron Nelson won 18 events, including 11 in a row.
What elevates Woods' season is that a win wasn't simply a win.
He won in many different ways, each more spectacularly than the
last, it seemed, while setting scoring records in the process.
In addition, his senses of timing, drama and occasion couldn't
be better if they had been scripted. And each victory, especially
in the majors, allowed him to match or exceed incredible expectations
while carrying historic significance.
The U.S. Open showcased the completeness of his game and his clear
superiority over the rest of golf—in every facet.
His record-setting, 15-stroke romp at the Pebble Beach (Calif.)
Golf Links was the greatest single-tournament performance in the
history of major-championship golf.
Although the outcome was apparent by the middle of the second
round, Woods was grinding throughout as if the tournament were
tied with one hole remaining.
His attitude showed much the majors mean to him, which is everything.
The British Open was his second consecutive major win, and it
allowed him to become just the fifth player to win the career
Grand Slam and the youngest. All at St. Andrews, the home of golf,
a perfect setting for four rounds that less resembled a golf tournament
than a coronation march.
After blowouts at the U.S. and British Opens, Woods then took
part in one of the most dramatic final rounds ever by matching
Bob May shot for shot over the back nine of Valhalla Golf Club
in Louisville, Ky., and winning in a playoff.
And that's not even counting the season's other major highlights:
the streak at the beginning of the year, the seven-shot comeback
at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am punctuated by the
holed wedge for eagle on the 15th hole, the 8-iron in the darkness
at the NEC Invitational for a birdie among the flash bulbs, the
218-yard 6-iron from sand over water to close out the Canadian
Open.
There were other shots and tournaments that would have been memorable
for any other player, but didn't make the cut for Woods' stratospheric
standards for greatness.
In short, Woods packed a lifetime of career-defining moments into
a 10-month period, so much so that everyone expected near miracles
on every shot.
The ultimate sign of Woods' status came during the final round
of the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where he arrived at East
Lake Golf Club's 235-yard 18th hole two shots behind leader and
eventual winner Phil Mickelson.
On one of the most difficult par 3s on tour, the announcers were
not ruling out a tying hole-in-one for Woods. And they were serious.
The scene was just one example of how Woods has made the sport
fun for golfers and non-golfers alike.
He even injected a bit of controversy and invited attacks against
his polished image by speaking out against the PGA Tour in a late-season
interview.
There was little missing from a 2000 season in which Woods took
golf on an incredible journey, one that is not likely to be repeated
ever again.
With Woods, though, it's hard to say “never.”
(c) 2000, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.
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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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