Preview: Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open
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Tiger Woods' victory in 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach
With one more win, Tiger Woods will tie Sam Snead for most career PGA TOUR victories at 82. Each time Tiger tees it up, we’ll take a look at his chances for that particular week. Here’s a CHASING 82 preview entering this week’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
RECENT FORM
Woods’ most recent start came two weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. He never contended, but he did produce a backdoor top-10 result with a final-round 5-under 67 at Muirfield Village. The T-9 was his fourth top 10 of the season.
Woods said he entered Sunday wanting to see something positive and “I was able to accomplish that.” He was pleased with his play off the tee but had a couple of loose iron shots that contributed to his two double bogeys during the week. “Just need to clean up the rounds,” he said.
Still, it was a far better performance than his previous start, a missed cut at the PGA Championship. That was his first start after his Masters win, and the rust showed. With a decent showing at Muirfield Village, rust won’t be an issue this week at Pebble Beach.
“The PGA moving to May was very different,” Woods said. “And now it's basically our normal schedule going forward.”
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Woods is making his 21st start in the U.S. Open. He’s won three times – 2000 at Pebble Beach when he won by a record 15 shots; 2002 at Bethpage Black; and 2008 at Torrey Pines when he essentially won on one good leg. In addition to his three wins, he also has finished second twice and third once. His most recent start was last year at Shinnecock Hills when he missed the cut for the third time in his U.S. Open career (and second straight time).
HISTORY AT PEBBLE BEACH
1997 – After turning pro the previous fall, Woods makes his first appearance at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He finishes tied for second after shooting 63-64 on his two weekend rounds at Pebble Beach. His amateur partner that week was actor Kevin Costner.
1998 – With his father Earl as his amateur partner at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Woods never made it to Pebble Beach. He played his first two rounds on the other courses in the rotation, but bad weather forced the tournament to delay the finish by several months, and Woods was among several players who opted to withdraw.
1999 – A third-round 78 (one birdie, seven bogeys) at Pebble Beach left Woods tied for 53rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in a tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather. His amateur partner was baseball star Ken Griffey Jr.
2000 – Woods trailed Matt Gogel by seven shots with seven holes to play during the Monday finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am but played that last stretch in 5 under (including a hole-out eagle from 105 yards at the par-4 15th) while Gogel played it in 4 over. Woods’ final-round 64 gave him a two-shot win – it was his sixth consecutive win on the PGA TOUR going back to the previous season. His amateur partner was his former Stanford teammate Jerry Chang, who would be his partner for his next few starts in the event.
2000 – Four months after his AT&T win, Woods won again at Pebble Beach, this time in record-setting fashion at the U.S. Open. Shooting 65-69-71-67, Woods finishes at 12 under to win his first U.S. Open by 15 strokes over Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez. It was the first win of four consecutive majors in what would be his Tiger Slam
2001 – Back at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as defending champ, Woods opened with a 66 at Spyglass Hill, followed by a 73 at Poppy Hills. His weekend rounds of 65-73 at Pebble Beach left him tied for 13th, eight shots behind winner Davis Love III.
2002 – Woods shot 71-68 on the weekend of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to finish tied for 12th, eight shots behind Gogel.
2010 – At the U.S. Open, Woods shot 74-72 in the first 36 holes but shot a 66 that Saturday to move into contention. But a final-round 75 left him tied for tied for fourth, four shots behind winner Graeme McDowell.
2012 – Making his first AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am start in 10 years, Woods was solo third entering the final round. That left him paired with long-time rival Phil Mickelson, who was tied for fourth. Woods shot a 75 that Sunday to finish T-15 while Mickelson shot a 64 to claim the tournament by two shots. Tiger’s amateur partner that week was then-Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.
TEE TIMES
Tiger will tee off Thursday at 5:09 p.m. ET off the first tee and 11:24 a.m. ET off the 10th tee on Friday’s second round. His playing partners are Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
TIGER WOODS (on his practice round at Pebble Beach a few weeks ago): “The greens are -- I forgot, I haven't played there in a number of years, I forgot how small the complexes are. Add a little firmness and speed to them, they get really tight. But seeing some of the new greens that they had redone, taking a look at the new pins was nice to see. So come next week, when I start concentrating and focusing on Pebble Beach, it will be nice to have those images.”
RICKIE FOWLER (on Tiger’s 2000 U.S. Open win): “Obviously it was pretty dominant. Very impressive week. I don't remember watching it a whole lot. I was a little young, Tiger is getting a little older now. We make sure he's aware of that, too. We share the same trainer so it's OK. No, obviously him kind of '99, early 2000s is probably some of the most impressive and dominant golf I think anyone's really ever seen.”
BRANDEL CHAMBLEE, Golf Channel (on Tiger): “As it relates to victory, you start to look at what type of player Pebble Beach has divined out. It’s divined out players with the most control who were scramblers. There’s nobody in the top-10 in the world that plays with more control than Tiger Woods does. He still has the scrambling skills that we saw on display last year. The big question is – as moss sort of creeps up his limbs as he gets a little older – can he putt as well as he used to on poa annua? His putting is not quite what it was. That is the only question mark I see with Tiger this week.”