There was something of a passing of the torch moment at the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla, with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus playing the first two rounds together.
Jack Nicklaus made his final appearance in the PGA Championship in 2000. No one has won the event on more occasions than the Golden Bear, who has five titles to his name.
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Tiger Woods is one victory behind. The PGA Championship became the first major that he won twice, with Woods going into the 2000 event as the defending champion.
He reached the halfway stage with a one shot lead. Meanwhile, Nicklaus endured an agonising finish, as he missed the cut by one shot.
The three players Tiger Woods picked for his dream foursome during the 2000 PGA Championship
The veteran needed an eagle on the last hole to make the weekend.
Unfortunately, his third shot on the par five missed by fractions and he had to settle for birdie. It was still a remarkable achievement for the 60-year-old.
As reported by the New York Times, Woods was asked about playing with Nicklaus and which two players from history he would pick to complete a dream foursome. His response was emphatic.
“[Ben] Hogan and [Bobby] Jones,” he said quickly.
Why Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan would have been at the forefront of Tiger Woods’ mind at the 2000 PGA Championship
Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones are two of the most influential golfers of all-time.
Jones was the game’s greatest amateur and he was crucial in creating The Masters. Meanwhile, Hogan transformed how many think about the golf swing.
What they achieved felt particularly significant given where Woods was in the 2000 season.
Jones is the only male golfer to win the Grand Slam, having won the US Open, The Open Championship, the US Amateur and the British Amateur in 1930.
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Hogan was robbed of potentially replicating that achievement in 1953. He won The Masters, the US Open, and The Open Championship.
However, he could not compete in that year’s PGA Championship because it clashed with The Open. That proved to be Hogan’s only appearance in the major held across the pond.
Woods ended up winning his third major in a row at Valhalla in 2000, with Bob May taking him to a playoff.
And when he won The Masters in 2001, Woods had completed the Tiger Slam.
Certainly, it would be hard to have any complaints if the four men made up golf’s Mount Rushmore.
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