Talk to any golfer who has played against Tiger Woods and there is sure to be at least one story about one shot so great that they were sure neither they nor anyone else could make it.
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 with him in practice at Pebble Beach before the 2000 US Open and told his wife before the start of the championship: “Tiger is going to win. And he's not only going to win, he's going to blow up 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,” 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 punch. It was like the last punch he was ever going to throw,” Scheffler said. This was the only time they played together. Scheffler now 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.”
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 shot 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 a 7-iron. I said, 'Tiger, what kind of club was that?' He said, 'It was a little 5-iron with three fingers.' He just filleted it in there.”
“When I think about him, that's what I think about. Only one guy could hit the target. And he did it a lot.”
