Talk to any golfer who played against Tiger Woods, and there's likely to be at least one story about a shot so great they were sure it couldn't be made by him or anyone else.
He was just different. Better.
Woods' 2-iron hit on the par-5 10th hole at TPC Sugarloaf had Stuart Cink saying, “That's a skill set I don't have.” Padraig Harrington once saw Woods hit an 8-iron so majestically at Firestone that it went to his head and led to the Irishman making triple bogey.
Nick Price played the first two rounds with Woods at St Andrews at the 2000 British Open and felt the tournament was already over. Mark O'Meara played a practice round with him at Pebble Beach before the 2000 US Open and told his wife before the start of the championship: “Tiger is going to win.” And not only will he win, but he will explode the field.” Woods won by 15.
Over the years, so many great players could never have anything to do with Woods. And now, finally, they can.
Even Woods can't beat time. He turns 50 on Tuesday.
This is an important milestone for anyone, but golf is different because the sport can be played well after an age when athletes have long retired from other sports. Phil Mickelson won a major at age 50. Jack Nicklaus played the Masters early Sunday morning at 58 years old.
It's complicated with Woods.
He is now eligible for the 50-and-over PGA Tour Champions Tournament. He also had more surgeries than the 15 specialties he won. This is the first year he has not played a tournament, having suffered a torn Achilles tendon in March and a seventh back surgery in September.
“I'm probably going to play 25 tournaments on both tours, and I think that should cover most of the year, right?” Woods joked in the Bahamas when asked when he would turn 50.
He won the US Open just eight days before undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left knee. He won the Masters two years after undergoing lower back fusion surgery. But he was never the same after a car accident in Los Angeles in 2021. Woods has played 11 times in the past five seasons, finished in only four of those tournaments and came within 16 shots of the winner.
“Back to what point?” – Woods said. “I’d like to get back to playing golf again.”
And so this holiday is more about looking back than forward.
Ernie Els was at his most astute in 2000 at Kapalua, when he again found himself on the losing end – no one has finished second to Woods more than the Big Easy. They played the Eagles on the 18th in regulation, Birdie on the 18th in a playoff, and Woods caught it with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole. Vintage tiger.
I think he's becoming a legend.— Ernie Els on Tiger Woods in 2000.
“I think he’s becoming a legend,” Els said that day. “He is 24 years old. He'll probably be bigger than Elvis when he's 40.”
This is, of course, up for debate. Woods' influence on golf is undeniable.
The popularity skyrocketed and the prize money skyrocketed. Woods made golf look different and made it cool. And perhaps his greatest legacy is that he unwittingly developed a generation of players who wanted to be like him. Scotty Scheffler said nothing inspired him more than watching Woods' strength while out of contention at the 2020 Masters. Woods birdied 10 on the 12th hole and then made five birdies over the final six holes. He is tied for 38th place.
“Tiger was different in the way he approached every shot. It felt like the last blow he was ever going to throw,” Scheffler said. This was the only time they played together. Scheffler faces three years of being ranked No. 1 in the world, the longest period since Woods.
But it all started with this skill set unlike any other.
“He's the only guy I've ever known who consistently exceeded expectations,” Tom Lehman said. “No matter what you put on him, he found a way to exceed it.”
Only two things can stop a Tiger – injury or a bad marriage.– Dan Jenkins
Lehman remembers one moment at the Memorial on the 17th hole, a green so hard it seemed impossible to get close to it. Lehman hit the 5-iron as high and far as he could and was pleased to see it roll out 25 feet from the cup.
“He hit that punch high in the air and it fell like a parachute,” Lehman said. “Lands near the cup, bounces 2 feet and stops. I think he must have hit it with a 7 iron. I asked, “Tiger, what kind of putter was that?” He said, “It was a little 5-iron with three fingers.” He just put the fillet there.
“When I think about him, this is what I think about. Only one guy could hit the target. And he did it often.”
Woods won a career Grand Slam at age 24, the youngest ever. Before he turned 30, he had 50 worldwide wins and 10 majors.
It wasn't as easy as he could have imagined. The late Dan Jenkins once said when Woods was in top form: “Only two things can stop Tiger – injury or a bad marriage.” It turns out it was both. His path was derailed in late 2009 by revelations of multiple extramarital affairs, and the trauma continued to pile up. In 2013, he returned to No. 1 in the world and increased his PGA Tour wins to 82, tying Sam Snead.
“If he had never been injured, he would have had 25 majors and 125 wins,” Fred Parse said.
Matt Kuchar saw it differently. He felt that injuries helped build Woods' legend, especially the 2008 U.S. Open victory over Torrey Pines.
Woods played that week with torn ligaments in his left knee and two stress fractures in his left leg. What's often overlooked is that Woods didn't go 18 holes from the Masters to the first round at Torrey Pines.
“The legacy is even greater because of the injuries,” Kuchar said. “What he did at Torrey Pines, what he did at the (2019) Masters, it’s kind of Hoganesque. At some point, like most everyone, I wrote him off. And then he wins again.”
Woods is very busy off the ropes. He was appointed to the PGA Tour's policy council with no term limit in 2023 as the tour was in the midst of a battle with Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf. He now chairs the Future Competition Committee, tasked with changing the tour's model.
The next question is when and where he plays. Woods is the only player to win the U.S. Junior, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open championships. The U.S. Senior Open is played at Scioto, the Ohio course where Jack Nicklaus learned to play.
April at Augusta just isn't the same without Woods. He set a Masters record in 2024, making the cut for the 24th time in a row. How much longer? How long?
“People want to see him,” Kuchar said. “And even if he scores 76, people will still want to see him. He is unique in our sport.”
