Perhaps Tiger Woods‘s most lethal mindset was that he played against the field and not against history. That is what sets him and Jack Nicklaus apart from the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Vijay Singh. There is no question that Woods and Nicklaus could have broken many records in golf. But on the course, their main target was to win against the field, and that too convincingly enough.
PGA Tour’s latest documentary shows that Tiger Woods had six wins of 8 strokes or more. His iconic 1997 Masters win is definitely one of them. But many forget that he also shot 12-under par 272 in the 2000 U.S. Open to win by 15 strokes. The GOAT followed that up with an 8-stroke Open Championship win a month and 5 days later. That year, Woods finished with three majors and completed the Tiger Slam in April 2001. The only man to hold all 4 majors at the same time. Yet, his goal was always to focus on what was happening on the course.
In the documentary titled ‘Tiger Woods’ BEST season in golf: The full story’, a PGA TOUR Original on YouTube, other golfers shared their experience of what it was like playing alongside the 82x PGA Tour winner. In one particular segment, they were talking about the 2000 Open Championship. Finishing at T4 in the tournament, David Toms mentioned what made Woods so special. “It was always his ability on long iron shots to stop a ball by the hole. A good shot for me on some holes would be 25-30 feet (from the cup). Whereas a good shot for him was 5 or 6 feet (from the hole).” Woods’s accuracy often shocked his peers and fans alike. In 2000, he had a 75.15% of hitting the greens in regulation. The 15x major winner also had the best scoring average of 67.794. For context, Scheffler had a scoring average of 68.645 in 2024. He also had the 8th-best average score on par 3s last year, as compared to Woods, who was 1st in 3, 4, and 5 pars.
The narrator explained how Woods always had a strong hold on any championship he went for. In the 2005 Open Championship, he had a 6-stroke lead after 54 holes. The Jupiter local converted it into an 8-stroke deficit in the final round. Adam Scott, who was in his rookie year in 2000, tried to imitate the approach. Sharing his experience as a 20-year-old watching Woods play, he said, “He had a 4-iron on a par 3, and I saw that. So I went back and got the 4-iron. I had a 5-iron. And I hit my 4-iron straight over the green cause I was just fooled into it by Tiger. He really was intimidating.” While not paired together, Scott, who was making his major debut, must have had Woods in the group ahead of him. Having already seen him win 3 majors by then, the Australian must have already been a fan of the 82x PGA Tour winner.
Finishing 6th in the tournament, Fred Couples was also amazed by what a young Tiger Woods showcased at the Old Course in St. Andrews. He also learned a valuable lesson in that tournament. Couples said, “If you’re smart enough, you just let him win all those tournaments by great play. Not by you thinking you’re better.” Admitting defeat to Woods in his prime was a logical thing to do back in those years. However, some golfers like Phil Mickelson refused to learn the lesson. Being a great player himself, Lefty actually found success going against Couples’ advice. Mickelson kept on fighting back against Woods and won 21 PGA Tour titles during the latter’s prime from 2000-2008.
Last in the lineup was Lee Janzen, who probably had one too many losing battles against Woods. Speaking from his time playing against the GOAT, he said, “It was just very discouraging to get beaten by that many shots and know that there was no answer for it. I never felt that in a golf tournament before.” Despite having played with the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Janzen’s recognition of Woods’s abilities is perfectly defined by how the former lost the motivation to compete in the tournament just after watching Woods play in the first couple of rounds. The 2x U.S. Open winner missed the cut, finishing 3 over par at the end of two rounds.
via Getty
The manner in which Tiger Woods dominated the field at St. Andrews is the perfect representation of how great he was in the sport. That also reflected in his last major win in the 2019 Masters Tournament. Despite not being as dominant, he remained consistent throughout the event to overcome the odds in the end. Let’s see how things went for Mr. T back then.
Tiger Woods’s dominant run in the 2019 Masters Tournament
It had been 11 years since he won a major. No, we’re not talking about Rory McIlroy’s triumph in 2025. Tiger Woods had also not won a major title since 2008. He was determined to break the streak as he stepped onto Augusta National after a T5 finish in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play a couple of weeks earlier. Woods started off in 10th place after the first round. He consistently climbed the ladder in the next 36 holes.
In the final round, the GOAT only needed to finish with a 2-under par 70 to beat Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson by one stroke. That helped him get his 5th Green Jacket and another major title in his cabinet. Woods had the second most birdies across the 72 holes, even when his body wasn’t able to perform as well as it used to 11 years ago. It would be impossible for anyone to beat such determination, whether it was during his prime or even in 2019. Wouldn’t you agree?
