TIGER Woods has returned to compete at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky for a third time, with this week’s PGA Championship destined to land somewhere in the middle of where his first two ended.
In 2000, Woods authored one of his more memorable major titles when he outlasted Bob May in a final-round duel that included a three-hole playoff.
In a scene that has come to define Woods’ unwavering determination, the 15-time major champion marched behind his long putt on the first playoff hole at Valhalla, with a pointed index finger that demanded the ball go into the hole. It obliged.
When Woods tapped in his short winning putt to seal the second consecutive of an eventual four PGA Championship titles, he offered a trademark spinning fist pump.
“It was a fun week and unbelievable moment, really,” Woods said Tuesday.
Woods touched on the passing of the torch that occurred in that 2000 event as he played his first two rounds with Nicklaus, who was playing in his final PGA Championship. Nicklaus failed to make the cut.
There also was Woods’ quest for his third consecutive major title that year after winning the US Open and Open Championship.
Woods not only became the first to win three majors in a calendar year since Ben Hogan in 1953, but he would also be three-quarters through a run of four consecutive titles. He won the Masters in 2001 to make it four majors in four tries in an accomplishment that would be dubbed the “Tiger Slam.”
“Well, I just remember the pressure I felt,” Woods said of his quest to match Hogan. The summer was a whirlwind. I was playing well.”
But with the ups, there were the downs. Woods’ appearance in the 2014 PGA at Valhalla was marked by back issues as he missed the cut at 6 over par. He already had undergone one back procedure at that point and his spine was ultimately fused.
