Strokes Of Genius

In an awesome display of U.S. Open dominance, Tiger Woods sets a standard of excellence no one--even himself--may ever match

The outcome long settled, Woods savored his record 15-record margin on the final green.

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By John Strege

Photo By Rusty Jarret

June 23, 2000

Pebble Beach, Calif.—The unplayable lie gave way to the unassailable truth here, delivering the 100th United States Open from an ignominious imprimatur. Ultimately, the lethal rough and marble greens colluded only to transform this milestone Open into a series of victory laps around the venerable Pebble Beach GL.

The truth is that the golf world has never seen the likes of Tiger Woods, that when talent is the only measure, history's greatest player is not the esteemed grandfather tearfully taking his final Open bows last week.

Jack Nicklaus' greatness is defined by his 18 professional major championships. Woods won his third here, but the manner in which he did was a reminder that in sport, the mantle of greatest is only on loan.

On two of Nicklaus' favorite stages, Augusta National and the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the indomitable Woods has given command performances that exceeded the best that Nicklaus ever had to offer. Woods won the Masters by a record 12 strokes in 1997 and he won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 strokes. His score of 12-under-par 272 marked the first time an Open champion has ever reached the wire in double figures in red.

Woods illuminated the notion that nothing is forever by delivering the most dominating performance in the history of this royal and ancient game. For apparent reasons, a few of those whose records fell were unavailable for comment, Old Tom Morris among them.

Presumably, he would have said that records are made to be broken, though after 138 years, Old Tom was resting in peace, comfortable that the record he took to the grave with him would remain there. In 1862, Morris won the British Open by 13 strokes, until now the largest margin of victory in a major championship. The old U.S. Open record for margin of victory, 11 strokes by Willie Smith, had stood since 1899.

‘The only thing that can stop Tiger from winning is Tiger.’—Jesper Parnevik

Even in his own wildest dreams as a youth in Cypress, Calif., Woods was incapable of conjuring a landslide victory in the Open. "I was usually playing against Jack and Arnold and Hogan and those guys, and usually it was neck and neck," he said.

In those days, he was placing himself in gilded company that he now is attempting to leave behind. To do so requires that he pass the test of time. Talent alone won't permit Woods to overtake Nicklaus in the inevitable comparisons of players across generations. This is a not a sprint, won by a sudden burst of dominance, but a marathon.

At the very least, Woods, 24, has been keeping pace, matching Nicklaus stride for stride, even trumping him in places. At 24, Nicklaus and Woods each had won three major championships, requiring only a claret jug to complete a full complement of grand slam regalia. By his 25th birthday, Nicklaus had won 12 times on the PGA Tour. Woods' 25th birthday remains six months off, yet he already has 20 victories, including five this year.

The list that he had taped to his wall as a child, featuring Nicklaus' achievements, has been a blueprint he has followed in constructing a foundation for his own legacy. The bulk of the work still lies ahead, which Woods intuitively understands. "I'm going to try to get better," he said, without expounding on those areas of his game that still have room for fine-tuning.

"Johnny Miller came up to me on the 16th fairway last Wednesday," Woods' friend, Mark O'Meara, said. " 'So, how is the kid playing?' he asked me.

"I told him, 'Johnny, I've played on the tour for 20 years now and Tiger is the best player I have ever seen. He doesn't have the best record yet, but he's already the greatest player of all time.'