2000 U.S. Open Golf Championship
Encyclopedia
The 2000 United States Open Championship was the 100th U.S. Open Championship
of golf
, and was won by Tiger Woods in a historic rout. It was played from Thursday, June 15 through Sunday, June 18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links
. As the United States Golf Association wanted to begin the millennium with a memorable tournament, Pebble Beach was moved up several years in the rotation and hosted the 2000 U.S. Open. Notable golfers going into the tournament at large included Jack Nicklaus
, playing in his final U.S. Open, Vijay Singh
, the year's Masters Tournament winner, as well as Ernie Els
, and David Duval
. The defending champion, Payne Stewart
, died in a plane crash
in October of the previous year. His death was commemorated many times throughout the week, beginning with a group of players simultaneously teeing off from the 18th fairway into the Pacific in a twist on the 21-gun salute
. Sergio García
wore Stewart's trademark navy plus fours
in Stewart's honor in the first round.. Nicklaus was asked to take Stewart's spot in the traditional grouping of the prior year's British Open
winner, U.S. Amateur winner, and U.S. Open winner.
, with an early starting time, fired a six-under 65 to take the first round lead. 75 golfers were unable to complete their rounds due to fog and finished Friday morning.
Amateurs: Wilson (+4), Baddeley
(+11), Barnes
(+11), Gossett
(+13), Lile (+14), McLuen (+16).
Ernie Els
shot the low round of the day with a 68, the only round under par all day, to put him into second place.
won his third major championship in amazing fashion after a final round 67. At minus-12, he became the first player in the 106-year history of the U.S. Open to finish at double-digits under par. His aggregate 272 tied what was then the lowest score ever in a U.S. Open set by Jack Nicklaus
, Lee Janzen
and Jim Furyk
. His 15 stroke margin of victory remains the largest margin of victory in a major championship. After nine pars in the front nine, Woods birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine. Woods's 67 was the low round of the day.
Amateurs: Wilson (+20).
Full final leaderboard
, otherwise referred to as the "Tiger Slam". The year 2000 is often regarded as the pinnacle on Woods's career, though Woods himself denies this.
, commenting on Tiger Woods's 10 stroke advantage at the beginning of the final round.
"If you were building the complete golfer, you'd build Tiger Woods." - Mark O'Meara
, on Tiger Woods
"We've been talking about him for two years, I guess we'll be talking about him for the next 20. When he's on, we don't have much of a chance." - Ernie Els
, on Tiger Woods
"Records are great, but you don't really pay attention to that. The only thing I know is I got the trophy sitting right next to me." - Tiger Woods
, on his dominating performance.
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, and was won by Tiger Woods in a historic rout. It was played from Thursday, June 15 through Sunday, June 18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links is a golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, on the west coast of the United States.Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean,...
. As the United States Golf Association wanted to begin the millennium with a memorable tournament, Pebble Beach was moved up several years in the rotation and hosted the 2000 U.S. Open. Notable golfers going into the tournament at large included Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
, playing in his final U.S. Open, Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
, the year's Masters Tournament winner, as well as Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
, and David Duval
David Duval
David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:...
. The defending champion, Payne Stewart
Payne Stewart
William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42....
, died in a plane crash
1999 South Dakota Learjet crash
On October 25, 1999, a chartered Learjet 35 was scheduled to fly from Orlando, Florida to Dallas, Texas. Early in the flight the aircraft, which was cruising at altitude on autopilot, gradually lost cabin pressure. As a result, all on board were incapacitated due to hypoxia— a lack of oxygen...
in October of the previous year. His death was commemorated many times throughout the week, beginning with a group of players simultaneously teeing off from the 18th fairway into the Pacific in a twist on the 21-gun salute
21-gun salute
Gun salutes are the firing of cannons or firearms as a military or naval honor.The custom stems from naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent, to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent...
. Sergio García
Sergio García
Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings...
wore Stewart's trademark navy plus fours
Plus fours
Plus fours are breeches or trousers that extend 4 inches below the knee...
in Stewart's honor in the first round.. Nicklaus was asked to take Stewart's spot in the traditional grouping of the prior year's British Open
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
winner, U.S. Amateur winner, and U.S. Open winner.
First round (Thursday and Friday morning)
Players who started early took advantage of the calm conditions before dense fog came in. The second hole proved difficult for many golfers. USGA officials changed the hole from a par-5 to a par-4. Tiger WoodsTiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
, with an early starting time, fired a six-under 65 to take the first round lead. 75 golfers were unable to complete their rounds due to fog and finished Friday morning.
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
65 | -6 | |
| 2 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez Miguel Angel Jiménez Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 18 times on the European Tour.-Early years:... |
66 | -5 | |
| 3 | John Huston | 67 | -4 | |
| T4 | Bobby Clampett Bobby Clampett Robert Daniel Clampett, Jr. is a television golf analyst, golf course architect, writer, and professional golfer, who played on the PGA Tour from 1980 to 1995. Clampett began playing on the Champions Tour in April 2010.... |
68 | -3 | |
| Hale Irwin Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin is an American professional golfer. He is one of the few players in history to have won three U.S. Opens and was one of the world's leading golfers for much of the 1970s and 1980s. He has also developed a career as a golf course architect.Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri, but was... |
||||
| Loren Roberts Loren Roberts Loren Lloyd Roberts is an American professional golfer.-Early life:Roberts was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High School and Cal Poly-SLO... |
||||
| T7 | Ángel Cabrera Angel Cabrera Ángel Cabrera is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as "El Pato" in Spanish or in English as "The duck" for his waddling gait. He is a former U.S. Open champion and Masters champion. He is the first Argentine to win either... |
69 | -2 | |
| Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
||||
| Rocco Mediate Rocco Mediate Rocco Anthony Mediate is an American professional golfer with multiple PGA Tour wins.-Early years:Mediate was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. According to the Golf Channel, he is the son of a barber and has Italian ancestral heritage. Mediate attended Florida Southern... |
||||
| Hal Sutton Hal Sutton Hal Evan Sutton is an American professional golfer.Sutton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A promising golfer at the Centenary College of Louisiana, he was named Golf Magazines 1980 College Player of the Year... |
Second round (Friday and Saturday morning)
Weather conditions made the course extremely difficult for scoring. Tiger Woods, however, seemed almost impervious to the conditions and continued to make birdies to stretch his lead, including a 30 foot birdie putt on the 12th. On the 6th hole, Woods fired his famous approach to reach the par-5 in two shots, ripping an iron from deep rough over the ocean and a cypress tree and landing within 15 feet from the hole. He also birdied the 7th and 11th holes.| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
65-69=134 | -8 | |
| T2 | Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn is a professional golfer from Denmark who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won thirteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1999 he also became the first Dane to qualify for a European Ryder Cup team... |
70-70=140 | -2 | |
| Miguel Ángel Jiménez Miguel Angel Jiménez Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 18 times on the European Tour.-Early years:... |
66-74=140 | |||
| T4 | José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:... |
70-71=141 | -1 | |
| Kirk Triplett Kirk Triplett Kirk Alan Triplett is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.Triplett was born in Moses Lake, Washington, and grew up in Pullman. He graduated from Pullman High School in 1980 and accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Nevada in Reno,... |
70-71=141 | |||
| T6 | John Huston | 67-75=142 | E | |
| Hal Sutton Hal Sutton Hal Evan Sutton is an American professional golfer.Sutton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A promising golfer at the Centenary College of Louisiana, he was named Golf Magazines 1980 College Player of the Year... |
69-73=142 | |||
| Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
71-71=142 | |||
| T9 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
69-74=143 | +1 | |
| Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
70-73=143 |
Amateurs: Wilson (+4), Baddeley
Aaron Baddeley
Aaron John Baddeley is an American-Australian professional golfer. He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA and now plays on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, has joint U.S. and Australian citizenship and was raised in Australia from the age of two...
(+11), Barnes
Ricky Barnes
Richard Kyle Barnes is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Barnes was born in Stockton, California. He played college golf at the University of Arizona...
(+11), Gossett
David Gossett
David Spencer Gossett is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.Gossett was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father introduced him to the game of golf and he competed in his first tournament at age 10. He went to Germantown High School in Germantown, Tennessee...
(+13), Lile (+14), McLuen (+16).
Third round (Saturday)
63 players made the cut Friday night, low for the U.S. Open. This was attributed to the fact that the cut is the top 60 players and ties, plus anyone within 10 strokes of the leader. Only 17 players were within 10 strokes of Tiger Woods. Conditions on Saturday were brutal for scoring, with the wind blowing hard and the rough difficult to manage. Woods, after finishing his 2nd round 69, made a triple bogey on the third hole but multiple birdies eventually put him back at even par for the round. Woods drained a 15 foot putt on the 9th hole, the most difficult on the course, and finished at even par for the day with a 71. His 10 stroke lead is the largest 54 hole lead of a U.S. Open.Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
shot the low round of the day with a 68, the only round under par all day, to put him into second place.
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
65-69-71=205 | -8 | |
| 2 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
74-73-68=215 | +2 | |
| T3 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
73-71-72=216 | +3 | |
| Miguel Ángel Jiménez Miguel Angel Jiménez Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 18 times on the European Tour.-Early years:... |
66-74-76=216 | |||
| T5 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
71-73-73=217 | +4 | |
| José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:... |
70-71-76=217 | |||
| T7 | John Huston | 67-75-76=218 | +5 | |
| Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
71-71-76=218 | |||
| T9 | Michael Campbell | 71-77-71=219 | +6 | |
| Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
69-74-76=219 | |||
| Loren Roberts Loren Roberts Loren Lloyd Roberts is an American professional golfer.-Early life:Roberts was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High School and Cal Poly-SLO... |
68-78-73=219 |
Final round (Sunday)
Tiger WoodsTiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
won his third major championship in amazing fashion after a final round 67. At minus-12, he became the first player in the 106-year history of the U.S. Open to finish at double-digits under par. His aggregate 272 tied what was then the lowest score ever in a U.S. Open set by Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
, Lee Janzen
Lee Janzen
Lee McLeod Janzen is an American golfer who is best known for twice winning the U.S. Open, in 1993 and 1998.-Early years and amateur career:...
and Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk
James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing...
. His 15 stroke margin of victory remains the largest margin of victory in a major championship. After nine pars in the front nine, Woods birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine. Woods's 67 was the low round of the day.
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
65-69-71-67=272 | -12 | $800,000 | |
| T2 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
74-73-68-72=287 | +3 | $391,150 | |
| Miguel Ángel Jiménez Miguel Angel Jiménez Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 18 times on the European Tour.-Early years:... |
66-74-76-71=287 | ||||
| 4 | John Huston | 67-75-76-70=288 | +4 | $212,779 | |
| T5 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
73-71-72-73=289 | +5 | $162,526 | |
| Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
71-71-76-71=289 | ||||
| 7 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
69-74-76-71=290 | +6 | $137,203 | |
| T8 | Stewart Cink Stewart Cink Stewart Ernest Cink is an American professional golfer who won the 2009 Open Championship. He has spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 2004 to 2009.-Early years and education:... |
77-72-72-70=291 | +7 | $112,766 | |
| David Duval David Duval David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:... |
75-71-74-71=291 | ||||
| Loren Roberts Loren Roberts Loren Lloyd Roberts is an American professional golfer.-Early life:Roberts was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High School and Cal Poly-SLO... |
68-78-73-72=291 | ||||
| Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
70-73-80-68=291 |
Amateurs: Wilson (+20).
Full final leaderboard
Impact
Tiger Woods would go on to win four majors in a row, the first player since Bobby Jones to simultaneously hold all four major championship titlesGrand Slam (golf)
The Grand Slam in golf is winning all the golf's major championships in the same calendar year.-The Men's Grand Slam:The Grand Slam in men's golf is an unofficial concept, having changed over time. In the modern era, The Grand Slam is generally considered to be winning all four of golf's major...
, otherwise referred to as the "Tiger Slam". The year 2000 is often regarded as the pinnacle on Woods's career, though Woods himself denies this.
Quotes
Before we went out, I knew I had no chance - Ernie ElsErnie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
, commenting on Tiger Woods's 10 stroke advantage at the beginning of the final round.
"If you were building the complete golfer, you'd build Tiger Woods." - Mark O'Meara
Mark O'Meara
Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s...
, on Tiger Woods
"We've been talking about him for two years, I guess we'll be talking about him for the next 20. When he's on, we don't have much of a chance." - Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
, on Tiger Woods
"Records are great, but you don't really pay attention to that. The only thing I know is I got the trophy sitting right next to me." - Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
, on his dominating performance.