Simply Grand

Tiger Woods completes the Slam and adds to his legend with an 8-stroke victory at the home of golf

Woods stands head and shoulders above the rest at the age of 24.

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By John Hawkins

Photo By Stephen Szurlej

July 28, 2000

St. Andrews, Scotland—His accomplishments are difficult to measure in a world that turns a quarter-inch into a mile, and when stacked subjectively against those of men who played the game long ago, or even more absurdly, compared to those who play it now. For every chapter of golf history Tiger Woods rewrites, the ink will take years to dry. Expect the fully updated version to reach bookstores by Christmas.

No athlete since Secretariat has crammed so much monumental achievement into such a brief period of time, racing to dominance at a pace that makes comparisons both totally unavoidable and relatively pointless. Woods’ latest landslide triumph, at last week’s British Open, makes him the youngest player to complete golf’s career Grand Slam, the punch line being that he won the four tournaments by an average of nine strokes per victory.

Woods has yet to win a regular PGA Tour event by more than five shots. At the major championships, he has won by eight, 12 and 15. His aggregate total of 19-under 269 at the Old Course was, in relation to par, the best ever at a major, giving him scoring records at the three biggest golf tournaments known to man. “I could have played as well as I could,” admitted Ernie Els, who shared the runner-up spot with Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, “and I still don’t think I would have gotten to 20 under.”

When it comes to the next Player of the Century, it’s fair to say we’ve got a pretty good early candidate. Woods joins Jack Nicklaus (1966), Gary Player (1965), Ben Hogan (1953) and Gene Sarazen (1935) on the list of those with a career Slam, all of whom were older than Woods, who turns 25 at the end of the year. That’s six victories in 2000, 13 in his last 23 starts and 21 in 97 career tour events. “I always had hope, because I came along in an era when there were no dominant players,” said Paul Azinger. “I’m glad I’m 40. I’m glad I’m not 25.”

At this point, Woods’ only rival is a 60-year-old man with a ceramic hip and 18 major championships. Nicklaus himself cited the competitive imbalance threatening today’s game, lauding Woods’ brilliance while admonishing the men who were thought to be his peers. “Everybody has thrown up a white flag and surrendered,” said the Golden Bear, whose latest curtain call at the British Open ended at six over par and a missed cut. “Right now, I don’t think there’s anybody contending, and if they don’t, the game’s really going to suffer. He has to have challengers for the whole thing to be right.”

Therein lies the rub. This victory was arguably more impressive than the 15-stroke gallop at last month’s U.S. Open, because Woods was pursued (to a certain extent) by a host of world-class players. Seven of the eight men immediately behind Woods in the World Ranking all stood at three under or better after 36 holes, and though Woods held a three-stroke lead at the time, there was more than enough golf left to make up the ground.

Nobody did. Only David Duval and Els made any noise—Duval whittled Woods’ lead to three strokes on Sunday with a birdie at the seventh, and at the time, there was little doubt as to who was playing the better golf. “He was four under for the day and I was still at one under,” Woods said. “If David would have continued to make birdies, things might have been different.”