Drive into history
By BOB HARIG
Published July 18, 2005
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Any other Sunday of the year, it is a public park, where the people of St. Andrews amble across the 100-yard fairway that serves both the first and 18th holes of the Old Course.
On this day, Tiger Woods turned the hallowed ground into his own personal playground, waltzing over the Swilcan Bridge to the cheers of thousands, then striding up the 18th hole in what was both a victory march and a history-making occasion at the 134th Open Championship.
Most golfers can only imagine such a scenario, but Woods has lived it and breathed it twice, hoisting the Claret Jug at the place where golf began, and doing it in dominating fashion.
"It's a dream come true to win at the home of golf," Woods said after claiming a five-stroke victory over Scotland's Colin Montgomerie. "This is as good as it gets for the Open Championship to be here and to come out on top here.
"All players that want to win the Open Championship, automatically you go right to St. Andrews. This is it. This is as good as it gets. And to have won it twice and complete my career Grand Slam twice, it doesn't get any sweeter than that."
Two days after Jack Nicklaus said an emotional goodbye to major championship golf, Woods took another step toward the Golden Bear's record of 18 victories in major events with his 10th. He joined Nicklaus and Walter Hagen (11) as the only players to reach double digits in professional majors.
Woods also joined Nicklaus as the only players to win each of the four major championships - the career Grand Slam - twice, a feat Nicklaus accomplished three times.
The margin of victory was his largest in a major since Woods won the 2000 Open here by eight shots.
"He knows as well as everyone else does that he's on his way to Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 and a record that we said nobody would ever come close (to), would never be broken," Montgomerie said. "And he's halfway now. Who knows? It will be very interesting over the next few years to see what happens."
If not for a few unkind yards of North Carolina real estate, Woods could very well be holding all three major championships this year.
He won the Masters in a sudden-death playoff against Chris DiMarco, then rallied last month at the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, N.C., on the final day, only to bogey the 16th and 17th holes to fall two shots short of Michael Campbell.
"That's just the way it goes," Woods said. "I just didn't have a very good putting week. It happened at the wrong time.
"If you finish 80th in putting, you shouldn't be in contention to win the U.S. Open. I was right there with the chance with a few holes to go. If you putt well, then obviously you win by a lot."
Although Woods appeared vulnerable during Saturday's third round at St. Andrews, he was never behind after the first nine holes of the tournament.
Woods' final-round 70 put him at 274, 14 under par. Montgomerie and Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal tried to keep things interesting, both hanging within a shot for a time.
But when Woods birdied the 12th hole, he had a three-shot advantage and never looked back.
Montgomerie, 42, the favorite of the Scottish crowd, finished with par 72 for second place, his highest finish in a major since he was runnerup to Ernie Els at the 1997 U.S. Open. Olazabal, the two time-Masters champion, shot 74 to tie for third with Fred Couples, who closed with 68-280.
Vijay Singh, Campbell, Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen shot par or worse during the final round and tied for fifth at 281, seven shots back.
"He hasn't shown his best stuff until today," said Hank Haney, Woods' swing coach who, along with Woods, endured plenty of second-guessing a year ago when the world's No.1-ranked player was winning just once on the PGA Tour and going through a majors victory drought that reached 10.
"He didn't miss a shot. Even the shots where it looked like he might have missed, he was trying to hit it there."
Woods resisted the urge to take a poke at his critics, smiling widely when the question came up and saying simply that finishing 1-2-1 in the majors is all that needs to be said.
He has won four times this year on the PGA Tour and his earnings of more than $1.26-million pushed him to No.1 on the money list. He also won for the 10th time when holding or sharing the third-round lead at a major.
But the numbers that really matter are the ones compared to Nicklaus, who achieved his 10th major title in 1972 at age 32 in his 11th year as a pro. Woods is 29 and did it in his ninth year.
"It's pretty cool," Woods said. "I've gone one past halfway. Jack's got 18, now I have 10. I tell you what ... when I first started playing the tour, I didn't think I'd have this many majors before the age of 30. There's no way. No one ever has. Usually the golden years are in your 30s for a golfer. Hopefully that will be the case."
While addressing the crowd at the victory ceremony overlooking the first and 18th holes, Woods thanked the fans for their support and acknowledged Nicklaus.
"We got a treat to see the greatest champion who ever lived walk down that fairway on Friday, Jack Nicklaus," Woods said to loud cheers.
On Sunday, Woods covered the same ground on his way to victory, headed in the same direction.