Golf: 2000 truly year of the Tiger

Three majors put Tiger Woods in a class of his own, Herald correspondent DOUG FERGUSON reports.

Tiger Woods had one true rival in 2000 - history. In what may have been the greatest year in golf, Woods played the game as if he invented it and hit shots that will be talked about for decades.

He became the first player since Ben Hogan, in 1953, to win three straight majors and, at 24, replaced Jack Nicklaus as the youngest golfer to complete the career Grand Slam. Woods' nine PGA Tour wins were the most since Sam Snead had 11 in 1950, and his six straight victories were the most since Byron Nelson won 11 in a row in 1945.

And while Woods did not make a double eagle at the Masters as Gene Sarazen did, rarely did he fail to hit a "shot heard around the world" at a tournament.

There was the wedge he holed for eagle on the 15th at Pebble Beach when he made up seven strokes in seven holes to win his sixth straight PGA Tour event; the shot he hit in the dark that landed a foot away from the hole on the 18th at Firestone to wrap up an 11-stroke victory; and the 6-iron from 218 yards out of a fairway bunker, over the water and at a flag where no one else would aim, to win the Canadian Open.

That made Woods the first player to win the US Open, British Open and Canadian Open in the same year since Lee Trevino did it in 1971.

"He hits every shot like his life depends on it," Thomas Bjorn said at the US Open, where Woods finished at 12-under 274 and won by 15 strokes, the largest margin in a major championship since Old Tom Morris won by 13 in the 1862 British Open.

Perhaps that explains why Woods did not have a round over par after the first day of the Byron Nelson Classic in May, 47 consecutive rounds when his season ended in Spain in the second week of last month.

His scoring average of 68.17 broke the mark Nelson set in 1945 (68.33) and was 1.46 strokes better than anyone else this year, which is nearly six shots a tournament.

"The more times you're in position to win, the better your chances are at winning," Woods said. "Hopefully, next year I can duplicate if not better what I was able to do this year.

"You're not going to win every tournament. You just have to be there enough times, and the odds will be in your favour."

Woods had a big year off the course, too. He signed a deal with Nike worth at least $334.5 million over five years. He also challenged the PGA Tour over marketing rights.

"Everyone says it's been tenfold, what he's done for the PGA Tour," Fred Couples said. "I would say that it's been 10,000 fold."

The only month in which Woods did not win was April, and the Masters was the only major that kept him from making it a clean sweep.

In that respect, the year did not belong entirely to Woods.

Vijay Singh won the major not even he thought he could, conquering the slick greens of Augusta National to win the Masters by three strokes over Ernie Els, who became the first player to finish second in three straight majors.

Phil Mickelson won four times and twice stopped a streak by Woods.

In February, he halted Woods' tour-winning streak at six by holding him off in the Buick Invitational. Last month, Mickelson came from behind to win the Tour Championship and become the first player in 20 tournaments to win an event in which Woods had at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

If there was anyone close to a rival for Woods, it was on the Ladies PGA Tour.

Karrie Webb, the 25-year-old Australian, won her first four events and then took the first major, the Nabisco Championship, by a record 10 strokes. Webb finished with seven victories, enough points for the Hall of Fame. It was the kind of year that led LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw to say: "Tiger is the Karrie Webb of the PGA Tour."

On the Senior Tour, Larry Nelson won six times and finished first on the money list with more than $US2.7 million ($6.1 million).

In Europe, Lee Westwood ended the remarkable reign of Colin Montgomerie by winning six times to claim the Order of Merit in a close battle against good friend Darren Clarke.

And it was the end of the road for Nicklaus, who played all four majors for the last time. He missed the cut in the last three majors, but played with Woods for the first time at the PGA Championship.

It was a ceremonial passing of the baton, although Nicklaus pointed out: "I think it's been handed over long before this."

Woods started the season with an eagle-birdie-birdie finish to beat Els in a playoff in Hawaii. In seven events, he won five times, set five records and won three majors.

No tournament sized up his year quite like the US Open. All along the back nine of Pebble Beach, Woods was playing only for himself and his place in history. In a championship that bills itself as the ultimate test, Woods never shot worse than par over his final 26 holes, unheard of in a US Open.

He found the final piece of the Grand Slam at the home of golf, St Andrews, where his 19-under 269 was a record for majors in relation to par. And he made it a Grand Slam of major scoring records by finishing at 18-under 270 in the PGA, where he beat Bob May in a three-hole playoff at Valhalla.

As amazing as Woods' year was, he could get even better.

"He's a legend in the making," Els said in Hawaii. "He's 24. He's probably going to be bigger than Elvis when he's in his 40s."