Using his hat to fight back tears, Woods began to show slight cracks in his usually stoic facade as his momentous achievement sank.
Meanwhile, a relieved and ecstatic Earl and Kultida Woods waited to hug their son as he left Augusta National’s iconic 18th green.
And so was born the “Tiger Slam”.
While not the more traditional ‘grand slam’ in golf – holding all titles in the same calendar year – the ‘tiger slam’ consisted of winning the last three majors in 2000, then the Masters. in 2001.
Yet for the young man from California, none of this seemed to matter.
“I think this is the greatest achievement I have ever experienced in any sport.”
Blowing the competition
In June 2000, Woods was already a big winner twice.
In 1997, he became the youngest Masters champion for his first major victory, finishing 12 strokes ahead of Tom Kite – the margin of victory is still the biggest in tournament history – before securing his second victory at the PGA Championship. in 1999.
He appeared to be the most famous person on the planet and couldn’t go anywhere on the course without a crowd of fans or photographers documenting his every move.
“His father had really been racist on a more intimate scale than Tiger,” Benedict told CNN Sport. “Earl Woods has known racism at every stage of his life.… And he was trained by his father on racism. And for his father, I think the racial implications of Tiger’s accomplishments were very important.
“All [the media] focused on the racial angle of what Tiger was doing. When there is so much saturation coverage, it’s impossible to ignore it, especially when you’re in the center of it.
“But I think part of what makes his feat out of the world is that he did it amid all of these other external pressures that none of the other golfers he competed with did. had to face. “
Not that you noticed that Woods seemed to be under undue pressure. He dominated from start to finish at the 2000 US Open, securing a remarkable 15-stroke victory, the biggest margin of victory in a major championship in golf history.
Woods looked at ease on the notoriously difficult Pebble Beach course as his performance sent an ominous message to his rivals.
New York Post sports columnist Mark Cannizzaro describes Woods’ dominance over the rest of the US Open field as “absurd” and “unimaginable.”
“It was really one of those golf tournaments where it seemed like everyone on the course was playing on a different golf course than Tiger’s,” Cannizzaro said.
A month later, at the Open Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland, Woods showed he really plays at a different level than everyone else, winning by eight strokes to win back-to-back majors.
“There’s a point where he’s got so much momentum and he’s almost like a steamroller with a club. It’s almost like you’re not really watching a competition between golfers,” recalls Benedict.
“You look at Tiger against almost nature, because there is nobody, in these particular tournaments, there was nobody else who was even in the same orbit that he was in.”
Forced to fight
With two majors in his pocket, Woods traveled to Valhalla Golf Club in Ky. For the 2000 PGA Championship as speculation intensified as to whether a golfer could hold all four majors at the same time and achieve. the unthinkable.
After two tournaments where he faced little competition, Woods had a much more severe test in Valhalla from an unlikely source: PGA Tour player Bob May.
May, who had previously only played in four majors, stayed with Woods hole-for-hole over the course of the four days. In fact, after all four rounds, May left Woods with a tough, downhill putt to take him to the playoffs.
However, reflecting on the tournament afterward, May said he “never thought [Woods] was going to miss it. ”
Woods indeed drilled the putt to send the tournament to the three-hole playoffs.
With the crowd celebrating his every move, it looked like Woods’ victory was destined. And he won, along the way, giving us one of the most memorable “Tiger Slam” moments, running and showing a rolling ball before the putt enters the hole.
It’s a win that allowed Woods to show another side of his game, which added another layer of awesomeness – if possible – to the “Tiger Slam” for Benedict.
“He showed that if he ran away like that or if he was in a competition where there is actually another golfer who is neck and neck with him which adds tremendous pressure and the stakes seem high. higher and the margin of error becomes much smaller to be able to survive and win, he always does.
“In my mind there is a lot more pressure on him than on the golfer challenging him because nobody expects the challenger to beat him, whereas everyone expects Tiger to do that. . “
Fly or fall
With eight months between the PGA Championship and the Masters in April of the following year, Woods had ample time to consider the possibility of holding all four majors at once.
Despite the pressure, Woods felt more comfortable heading into the event in 2001, according to Cannizzaro.
After an opening day where he finished five headshots, Woods has gradually moved up the standings.
At the end of the second round, he was two heads off. At the end of the third lap, he was leading the pack with a shot.
Despite a late charge from American golfer David Duval, Woods – decked out in his now famous red shirt and black pants – was able to make history by winning his second Green Jacket and finishing the “Tiger Slam”.
Whether you’re watching TV or listening to the radio, Woods rolling in that birdie-winning putt on Augusta National’s 18th green was one of those “I remember where I was when I watched” moments.
“I think everyone enjoyed that they were watching something unprecedented, something that they might never see again – especially in the modern age, for someone to be so dominant, for string together as many championships in a row, ”said Benedict.
“Tiger was the greatest golfer we have ever seen.”
Pressure
At the start of Benedict’s biography on Woods, he and his co-author Armen Keteyian compare Woods to William Shakespeare, in the sense that the golfer is a “once in history” individual – an individual we will probably never see again. .
During that incredible 12 month period of playing golf at a level we had never seen before, the pressure was “extra baggage that the superstar is carrying that others cannot see,” says Benedict, who adds that Woods has developed his own mindset to cope and allow him to play his own game.
“When you are this exceptional it is difficult even for your fellow competitors to appreciate and understand the mentality that these few bring to their sport,” says Benedict.
“Tiger is different from everyone, like LeBron [James] is different from everyone. Face other great athletes, but there are the biggest and then there are the big ones.
“When you’re the best, and Tiger was the greatest to ever play the game, he’s in a place where it’s truly impossible for anyone to fully appreciate the mental aspect of their approach to the sport.”
As with LeBron James, Tom Brady or Michael Jordan, Woods’ desire to win never seemed satisfied and he “was always thinking of the next one,” according to Benedict.
He went on to win two majors in 2002 and nine more in total, including his memorable Masters comeback victory in 2019.
“How do you generate the will to stay on top of the mountain? After you’ve conquered the mountain and you own it, how are you hungry enough that you now want to shoot everyone who goes up to try and be next? on the mountain? ”asks Benoît.
“There are very, very few athletes who have the drive and the ability to do it. The history and annals of the sport are littered with great athletes who achieve championship status and are then overtaken by the next person. There are very, very few that have dominated. For years like Tiger. “
