Presented by ZAMZOWS.
This Day In Sports…June 18, 2000:
Tiger Woods turns the 100th U.S. Open into a one-man show, winning by 15 strokes over Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez at Pebble Beach. It’s considered the most dominant performance in golf history. Woods’ 15-shot margin shattered the U.S. Open mark of 11 set by Willie Smith in 1899 and is the largest in any major championship—surpassing the 13-stroke victory by Old Tom Morris in the 1862 British Open. Woods was also the first player in history to finish a U.S. Open at double-digits under par (he was 12-under).
Woods experienced four days that duffers can only dream of. He did not have a single three-putt green during the entire 72-hole event, one-putting 34 of the holes. Woods had the best combined score for the tournament on all par threes, and all par fours, and all par fives. He hit 70.8 percent of greens in regulation, while the field managed just 48.7 percent.
Unbelievably, Woods ran the risk of being disqualified at the end of the second round. A Pebble Beach fog bank delayed his final six holes until early Saturday morning, and caddie Steve Williams mistakenly came to the course with only one extra ball in Tiger’s bag. When Woods hooked his drive into Carmel Bay on No. 18, Williams discovered the egregious error. Had Woods lost one more ball, he would have been automatically DQd for running out of equipment. Fortunately for the history books, he finished the round without a scare.
The victory kicked off what would become known as the “Tiger Slam,” as Woods went on to win the Open Championship (British Open) and PGA Championship in 2000—and then the first major of 2001, the Masters. He’s the only golfer of the modern era to hold all four titles simultaneously. Bobby Jones got credit for a Grand Slam in 1930, but that was before the Masters existed and before the PGA Championship became a major. Two of Jones’ titles that year came in the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur. Tiger’s feat is unlikely to be matched.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
