On the phone that evening was his father, Earl Woods, who had been watching from home and felt like he had already seen so much of it.
“In every tournament,” Earl said, “he will hit shots that people will talk about for 30 years.”
Woods turns 50 on Tuesday, a milestone in his life and just a number in a sport that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. It makes him eligible for the PGA Tour Champions if he cares. That is yet to be determined. But his father was right. Woods was 20 when he turned pro and hit shots that are still talked about to this day.
Where to start?
One way to look back on his career is to look at the important shots he made with all fourteen clubs in the bag, including two that were only seen by those with him.
Director
Power was Woods’ hallmark when he turned pro. One shot that might have captured that was his drive on the par-5 15th at the 1997 Masters, when he shot 30 on the back nine of the opening round to get back into contention. It was a drive of 349 meters. He still had a pitching wedge on the green.
Davis Love III was also a power player. He remembers pounding one at No. 15 that day, waiting for his playing partners to hit back from much further away. “I’m waiting to hit my 9-iron in and the crossing guard says, ‘Tiger Woods hit a wedge there,’” Love said.
With a little help from his peers and a lot of firsthand knowledge, here’s a look at 50 of the biggest moments in Tiger Woods’ legendary playing career.
3-wood
Woods reworked his swing with Butch Harmon, adding precision to power. The best example was the par-5 14th at St. Andrews in the 2000 Open Championship, which Woods later often referred to as his 2-inch draw.
2-iron
Woods faced a late challenge from Phil Mickelson during the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black. Mickelson had pulled within two shots when Woods placed a 2 iron on the green of the 554-yard 13th hole to set up a two-putt birdie. Mickelson got no closer the rest of the way.
3-iron
Woods considers this one of the best shots he has ever made. He was in a fairway bunker on the par-4 18th at Hazeltine in the 2002 PGA Championship, 202 yards from the hole. The ball was under his feet. He barely had enough room to stand without his legs brushing the side of the bunker. He had to clear the lip, clear a stand of trees 72 yards away and head to the back of the green in 35 mph gusts. He hit a 3-iron into 12 feet for bird. “Best shot I’ve ever seen him make,” caddy Steve Williams said. Ernie Els said the same thing without saying anything. He looked at two reporters, widened his eyes and shook his head.
4-iron
This took place on Wednesday, the final practice round for the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, which Woods eventually won by 15 shots. Paul Goydos played in the group. Best to let him take it from here, starting on the par-3 12th, where Goydos hit the best 4-iron of his life, which bounced off a green like he was on a trampoline.
“Tiger takes this shot over the moon, flies into the bunker and stops so far,” Goydos said, holding his hands five feet apart. “I said, ‘What hit you there?’ He said, ‘4 iron.’ So we get to 18 and I drove it down the left side, had about 233 forward and hit 3-wood. Tiger hit the ball a little further to the right and he was about five yards in front of me.
“He hits this shot – WHOOOSH! – like a rocket. I said, ‘What did you hit?’ He said, ‘4 iron.’ And I said, ‘Guys, this tournament is over.’ Because if you can hit a 4 iron 195 yards in the air and 225 yards in the air whenever you want, this tournament is OVER.
Woods won by 15, still a major championship record.
5-iron
Woods had gone eight PGA Tour events without winning – one magazine floated the idea of a “slump” – when he found himself tied for the lead at Bay Hill’s 18th hole. He pulled his tee shot which hit a spectator and left him trampled in the grass. He hit iron 5 to 15 feet for the winning birdie. He did that a lot at Bay Hill.
6-iron
Woods had already won the US Open and The Open in 2000. He had a one-stroke lead in the final round of the Canadian Open over Grant Waite, who had already found the green on the par-5 18th. Woods was 218 yards away in a bunker when he hit a 6-iron out of the sand, over the water and to about 20 feet for a two-putt birdie.
Waite said when it was over, “The guy pulls out a 6-iron, fires at the flag, with the tournament on the line. He said, ‘The shot was on.’ I think it was.”
Woods, who turns 50 on Tuesday, has accomplished some incredible things in his historic career. Here is a list of 50 of his most impressive.
7-iron
Woods was 202 yards away in a deep, rugged right side of the fairway on the par-5 sixth hole at Pebble Beach in the second round of the 2000 U.S. Open. Most players pitched back to the fairway rather than going over a corner of the ocean and up a steep hill. Woods hit a 7-iron on the edge of the green.
That prompted NBC’s Roger Maltbie to utter a line that summed up the state of golf when he said, “It’s just not a fair fight.”
8-iron
Eleven years removed from his last major title and recovered from four back surgeries that nearly ended his career, Woods had a one-shot lead in the 2019 Masters on Sunday when he hit an 8-iron at the par-3 16th which hit the ridge and almost went in. He stayed a few feet away for a tap-a-kick that all but sealed his stunning comeback and fifth green jacket.
9-iron
Perhaps the best example of the pure magic Woods brought to the game was his debut at the rowdy Phoenix Open in 1997. The showcase is Saturday on the par-3 16th hole where thousands of spectators are looking for a reason to erupt. Woods gave them one 9-iron that landed just short of the cup and rolled in for a hole-in-onecausing a shower of beer spray to come down from the crowd.
Pitching wedge
Woods was seven shots behind when he played the back nine in the final round of the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. When he failed to make birdie on the par-5 14th, his chances seemed over. But from 97 yards into the fairway at No. 15, he hit a pitching wedge to take away some of the spin on the rain-softened greens. He landed near the cup and turned sideways into the hole for the eagleleading to his biggest comeback in a tournament.
Sand wedge
This was the club Woods often used to warm up, and to start his range session ahead of the final round of the 2005 Open at St. Andrews, he hit the 100-yard board four times in a row – not just the board, the right “0” on the board, four in a row. Williams said swing coach Hank Haney whispered to him, “The first time he gets within 100 yards, you might want to tell him to aim away from the flag.” Williams thought he was joking.
The first opportunity was No. 6. Woods had 98 yards to the hole and he jumped off the pin in one bound and bounced back off the greenforcing him to go to par.
Lobe wedge
One of his most memorable shots came in the final round of the 2005 Masters, when he held a one-stroke lead over Chris DiMarco and had gone well off the green on the par-3 16th. Woods used a lob wedge to chip away from the flag and up the rampand then saw him trickle back to the cup, where he stood near the hole for a full second before dropping down for birdie.
Goldfinch
Out of a long list of possibilities, this is best left to Woods. He said the Six feet he made for birdie on the final hole of the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla was the pressure he had once felt during a putt. At stake was a chance to win his third straight major in one year. “I don’t think that really falls into your lap that often,” Woods said in 2013.
The putt put him in a three-hole playoff with Bob May, and Woods had the upper hand. Nearly eight months later, he won the Masters, becoming the only player to hold all four majors simultaneously.
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