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 What Woods did in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines is the stuff of legend (PHOTO: Getty Images). 10. “Better than most!” NBC Sports commentator Gary Koch made that famous call during the third round of the Players Championship in 2001. Woods hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th hole to the back of the island green and had about 60 feet for birdie. He read the double-breaker perfectly, and his ball dropped in for one of the most memorable putts of his career. It also was significant because he won the tournament by a stroke. 9. Mis-match play On paper, the opening-round showdown with No. 64 Stephen Ames at the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship seemed like a mismatch. But Ames didn’t see it that way. “Anything can happen, especially where he’s hitting the ball,” Ames quipped before the match. Woods used that provocative quote as motivation and made seven birdies on the first nine holes to dispose of Ames, 9 and 8, at La Costa in Carlsbad. 8. A higher power The 2006 season was emotional for Woods because of the death of his father, Earl, on May 3 of that year. His first event back was a missed cut at the U.S. Open, but brighter days were ahead at the British Open. Relying on precision over power, Woods won the title at Royal Liverpool by two strokes. The highlight of the week was a holed approach for eagle from 212 yards on the par-4 14th in the second round. In a rare display of heartfelt emotion, Woods cried in the arms of caddie Steve Williams after the final putt dropped. He then embraced his wife, Elin, in another touching moment. 7. Familiar pattern Woods has won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines six times, the most dominant being an eight-shot victory in 2008. The event was billed as a tune-up for the U.S. Open, but the conditions were irrelevant for Woods, who dissected the South Course with 19 birdies and only one bogey through 54 holes, enabling him to coast on Sunday to another title. The win was his 62nd on the PGA Tour, tying him for fourth on the all-time list with Arnold Palmer. 6. Best of the best In a scrapbook full of incredible shots, one stands out. It was the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine, and Woods was out early Saturday morning to finish his second round after play was suspended because of rain on Friday. On the long par-4 18th, Woods hooked his drive into a fairway bunker. He was 202 yards from the hole with trees in his line and the ball so close to the trap’s left edge that he had to alter his stance. Toss in a 20-mph crosswind, and things were looking dicey. One incredible swing later, his ball came to rest 12 feet from the hole, and he made the birdie putt. “It was probably just the most pure shot I’ve ever hit,” Woods said. 5. Another gem Still basking in the glow of victories in three consecutive majors, Woods entered the final round of the 2000 Bell Canadian Open tied with Grant Waite. The two distanced themselves from the field, and Woods had a one-shot lead on the par-5 18th but pushed his drive into a fairway bunker. Waite reached the green in two and had a chance at eagle. Faced with a 218-yard shot over water to a shallow pin with trouble all around, Woods ripped a 6-iron and the ball came out of the sand perfectly, settling 18 feet behind the pin for an up-and-down birdie and the win. “I told [Woods] after we were through, ‘You’re not supposed to do that. You’re supposed to hit at the middle of the green,’” Waite said. 4. Playoff point Woods’ aura of invincibility was in danger of being dented at the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club by Lynwood native and former junior golf combatant Bob May, who forced a playoff with his stellar play. On the first extra hole, Woods hit his approach to the middle of the green, 25 feet away. May was in trouble off the tee and had to get up and down from 70 yards to save par, which he did after pitching to within inches of the pin. But Woods answered with a birdie putt that never left the hole, a fact he made clear by walking after the ball before it reached the cup and emphatically pointing at it as it disappeared. It gave him the one-shot edge he needed to beat May in the three-hole playoff. 3. The chip It’s often forgotten that Woods bogeyed the 71st and 72nd holes of the 2005 Masters to back into a playoff with Chris DiMarco, who ultimately lost on the first extra hole. That’s because what happened immediately before those closing miscues made the tournament legendary. On the par-3 16th, Woods pulled his tee shot left of the pin and the ball settled near the collar of a collection area. To have any chance of setting up a short par putt, he had to chip well above the hole and let the slope lead the ball to the pin. It wasn’t impossible — Davis Love III holed out from a similar predicament in 1999 — and Woods pulled it off with equal aplomb, letting the ball trickle back to the hole before it eventually dropped for an earth-shattering birdie. 2. No contest Woods’ victory in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach is the most dominant individual display of golf. Ever. The 15-stroke victory broke the previous major record of 13 set by Old Tom Morris at the 1862 British Open. Woods’ 12-under-par total also smashed the previous lowest score relative to par in a U.S. Open by four strokes. This was Woods at his best, swinging within himself and still mashing the ball absurd distances, making almost every clutch par putt and often pulling off the impossible, such as his mammoth iron shot from the rough on the par-5 sixth that set up an easy birdie in the second round. 1. A leg up on the field What Woods did at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open is his most remarkable accomplishment because of what he had to overcome. Playing 91 holes on a torn ACL and a double stress fracture in his left leg, Woods pushed through the pain to take the lead through three rounds and eventually force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate. His play in the third round included some of the most memorable shots of his career — two downhill, winding eagle putts on the 13th and 18th holes, and the excuse-me chip-in for birdie on the 17th. And his nail-biting birdie putt on the 72nd hole was arguably the most clutch stroke of his career. Overcoming the charismatic Mediate added to the charm of the achievement, but the fact that Woods beat 155 of the best golfers in the world on one leg makes his victory the top moment of the first decade of the new millenium. Eli Miller is the managing editor of Southland Golf. Reach him at emiller@churmmedia.com. |
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#11 - Slamming into a tree while wife chases him
#12 - Running around on his wife for the past five years
#13 - His whole empire crumbling around him
| Comment at 12/17/2009 |
