For so much of Tiger Woods’ career, Steve Williams had the best seat in the house, with the New Zealander on the bag for 13 of his major titles.
Many will deem Tiger Woods to be the greatest golfer who ever lived. Had it not been for injuries, the 49-year-old may well have overtaken Jack Nicklaus‘ record of 18 major titles. Meanwhile, Woods’ impact on the game of golf cannot be overstated.
And some will argue that the Tiger Slam between 2000 and 2001 was the greatest achievement the sport has seen. Woods held all four major titles at one time after winning the Masters in 2001.
It is hard to argue with those who believe that Woods’ performance at the 2000 US Open was the greatest display of all-time. Woods finished on 12 under par, 15 shots clear of second place. It remains the largest winning margin in major championship history.
The tournament where Tiger Woods played better than the 2000 US Open
But perhaps there was a tournament where Woods was even better. Speaking to Dom Harvey in 2024, Williams outlined how determined Woods was to improve further as soon as he had won at Pebble Beach.
“He said, ‘I’m going to play even better at the British Open at St Andrews. I want you to get your arse over there as quick as you can, I want you to note every blade of grass on that course’. That’s exactly what he said to me,” he said.
“So instead of going away and having some kind of celebration, it was like okay, I just had to get my head round. I was going back to New Zealand supposedly for a few weeks, I thought I’ve got to get over to St Andrews a week earlier than I probably was going to because he’s telling me he’s going to play better. And he did.
“Amazingly, the next major, that was The Open Championship, he played better than he did at Pebble. That was the pinnacle of the 13 years of caddying for Tiger, that’s the tournament he played the best at. It was just remarkable.”
How Tiger Woods clinched the 2000 US Open
Woods would only win by eight in Scotland. However, the victory was hugely significant. He lifted the Claret Jug for the first time, which meant that he had completed the career grand slam.
Meanwhile, he set the new record for the lowest score to par in major championship history on 19 under par. The record would stand for 15 years.
Thomas Bjorn would post four under par rounds that week at St Andrews, and still finish eight shots adrift of Woods.
That meant that he ended up finishing 22 shots clear of second across the US Open and The Open that year. With that, there is a genuine claim to be made that it was the best spell of golf which has ever been played.
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