What Tiger Woods did at the Tour Championship in 2007 which left Steve Stricker stunned

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The 2007 season was a significant one in the history of the PGA Tour, with the introduction of the FedEx Cup – which was won by Tiger Woods.

The FedEx Cup saw playoffs introduced to the PGA Tour calendar for the first time. It was fitting therefore, that it was Tiger Woods who emerged victorious and won the $10 million prize in its inaugural season.

Woods went into the Tour Championship having won the BMW Championship, the penultimate playoff event. Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson had won the first two playoff tournaments.

But Woods quickly shut the door on his rivals at East Lake. The 31-year-old shot 64, 63, 64 over the first three rounds in Atlanta to take a commanding lead into Sunday.

What Tiger Woods did at the 2007 Tour Championship which amazed Steve Stricker

It was Mark Calcavecchia who found himself in second place heading into the final round, with the 1989 Open Championship winner rolling back the years to put a little pressure on his good friend. Calcavecchia was three shots back with 18 holes to play.

However, Woods posted a 66 on Sunday to get across the line and win by eight shots. It is the largest winning margin in the history of the Tour Championship.

It had been Stricker who played with Woods over the first two days at East Lake. And following his countryman’s victory, Stricker outlined just where he thought Woods had really separated himself from the chasing pack that week.

“Yeah, I wish Phil or I could have been up there and challenged Tiger a little more, but he’s playing really good. I played with him the first two days here, and he drove it good for the most part and got it on the greens, and he’s putting incredibly. I’ve never seen anybody putt as good as he does. And when he does hit a foul ball, he’s so strong out of the rough that he can muscle it up on the green. Just when you think he’s going to make a bogey or something, he ends up holing out of the bunker or making a 30 or 40-footer, whatever. He’s just tough,” he said.

“You know, hats off to him. He’s a great player.”

The largest winning margins of Tiger Woods’ career

Not only did 2007 see the most emphatic Tour Championship victory in the event’s history, but it was also one of the biggest wins of Woods’ career.

Of course, two of Woods’ most iconic victories came at the 1997 Masters and the US Open three years later when he won by 12 and 15 shots respectively.

But there were only two other tournaments where Woods won by more than eight shots in his career.

The previous record at the Tour Championship was six shots, with Tom Lehman winning by that margin in 1996 before Bart Bryant did the same nine years later.

Interestingly, it was Woods who finished second to Bryant in 2005. So it would not be a surprise if that gave Woods a little extra motivation as he closed in on his remarkable victory in 2007.

Having said that, the prospect of winning $10 million probably ensured that finding motivation was not going to be any sort of problem for Woods.