PORTRUSH, NI. After winning the US Open by a record margin of 15 shots at Pebble Beach in June of 2000 the next goal for Tiger Woods was to capture his first Open Championship. And there would be no more fitting venue for that to happen than at St. Andrews and the beloved Old Course.
Remarkably, 25 years have passed since Woods solidified himself to a status of international acclaim. Hoisting the famed Claret Jug and becoming the youngest career Grand Slam golfer at the age of 24.
The win reinforced the victory at Pebble Beach and turned Woods into the feared TIGER — a golfer who thoroughly mirrored his namesake, seeking out any prey and vanquishing them with no mercy.
The eight-shot winning margin at St. Andrews placed him with Jack Nicklaus as the only golfers to have won at both Pebble Beach and the Old Course in the respective Open Championships.
The title would also mean membership into the career Grand Slam club – an elite fraternity of only a handful of golfers (six now) and with Woods becoming the youngest member (24) to have achieved that distinct achievement.
In addition, Woods would become just the sixth golfer to have won the US Open and The Open in the same year joining the likes of Bob Jones (1926 and 1930), Gene Sarazen (1932), Ben Hogan (1953), Lee Trevino (1971) and Tom Watson (1982).
Woods first played in golf’s oldest major as an amateur in 1995 when The Open was last played at the Old Course. While he made the 36-hole cut his T68 finish reflected only the beginnings of developing a full arsenal of top tier shot making he would soon display with regular consistency.
The importance in winning at St. Andrews was known to Woods based on comments others had stated who had won there. None more so than Nicklaus who won twice at the famed venue in 1970 and 1978.
“If you’re going to be a player people will remember, you have to win the Open at St. Andrews, said Nicklaus. “St Andrews is what the game really means. Almost all the great golfers have played the Old Course, and the course has always demanded strong golf. I wanted to be a part of St. Andrews. I wanted to win on the Old Course.”
Similar feelings were echoed by 1984 Open Champion Seve Ballesteros. “Victory anywhere is always sweet, but to win at St. Andrews is so special it rises above everything else.”
Tiger’s 72-hole score of 269 (-19) also bested the previous scoring mark set by Nick Faldo when the Englishman won the Open in 1990. The under-par mark was also the lowest ever scored in a major championship until Jason Day bested that with a -20 total in winning the 2015 PGA Championship.
The win was remarkable in that Woods would not find any of the numerous bunkers that dot the landscape at the Old Course.
The win at St. Andrews was only the halfway mark as Tiger would claim the PGA Championship in August that same year at Valhalla in an epic playoff tussle with Bob May. Woods would join Ben Hogan as the only men to have won three majors in a calendar year.
Eight months later he would add the Masters title and become the first golfer to hold all four of the professional major championship at the same time – now called the “Tiger Slam.”
Woods would emulate Nicklaus (1970 and 1978) winning multiple Opens at St. Andrews with victory in 2005.
In the years to follow when asked about his favorite course in the world there was no hesitation on Tiger’s answer — St. Andrews.
Remarkably, a quarter of a century has passed since Woods’ eye-opening accomplishment.
Woods is no longer competitive for major championships and his days competing may likely be limited to playing in Champions Tour events when he turns 50 at the end of this year.
But when Tiger was in peak form his hunting skills were laser-like – fellow golfers were nothing more than prey about to be swallowed.
The eye of the Tiger.
Yes indeed.
