2000 U.S. Open (golf)


The 2000 United States Open Championship was the 100th U.S. Open Championship, held June 15–18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Tiger Woods won his first U.S. Open by a record-setting fifteen strokes over runners-up Ernie Els and Miguel Ángel Jiménez – it remains the most dominating performance and victory in any major championship. As the United States Golf Association wanted to begin the millennium with a memorable tournament, Pebble Beach was moved up two years in the rotation. Notable golfers going into the tournament at large included Jack Nicklaus, playing in his final U.S. Open; Vijay Singh, the year's Masters winner; Ernie Els; and David Duval.
The defending champion, Payne Stewart, died in an aviation accident less than eight months earlier, in October 1999. His death was commemorated many times throughout the week, starting 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, for the first two rounds, of the prior year's British Open winner, U.S. Amateur winner, and U.S. Open winner.
This was the last appearance for two-time winner Curtis Strange.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3814843903311885241064184663,2884463802024065733974032085433,5586,846
Par444435344354434544353671

Source:
Previous course lengths for major championships
The 2nd hole was previously played as a par-5.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 15, 2000
Friday, June 16, 2000
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 Woods, 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.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tiger Woods65−6
2Miguel Ángel Jiménez66−5
3John Huston67−4
T4Bobby Clampett68−3
T4Hale Irwin68−3
T4Loren Roberts68−3
T7Ángel Cabrera69−2
T7Nick Faldo69−2
T7Rocco Mediate69−2
T7Hal Sutton69−2

Second round

Friday, June 16, 2000
Saturday, June 17, 2000
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. On the 6th hole, Woods fired a now famous approach to reach the par-5 in two shots, ripping an iron from deep rough over the ocean and a cypress tree and winding up within 15 feet from the hole. He would two-putt for birdie, would also birdie the 7th and 11th holes. With darkness settling in, Woods and his playing partners decided to attempt to play the 12th hole, a par 3, before halting play. Woods made the most of it, sinking a 30-foot putt for birdie and finishing his day with a large fist pump. Woods played indifferent golf after returning on Saturday and would settle for a two-under par 69. Still, with the scoring average so difficult, he increased his lead to six shots.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tiger Woods65-69=134−8
T2Thomas Bjørn70-70=140−2
T2Miguel Ángel Jiménez66-74=140−2
T4José María Olazábal70-71=141−1
T4Kirk Triplett70-71=141−1
T6John Huston67-75=142E
T6Hal Sutton69-73=142E
T6Lee Westwood71-71=142E
T9Nick Faldo69-74=143+1
T9Vijay Singh70-73=143+1

Amateurs: Wilson , Baddeley, Barnes, Gossett, Lile, McLuen.

Third round

Saturday, June 17, 2000
The 36-hole cut was 149, and only 63 players advanced to the third round. The low number 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 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 ten stroke lead was the largest 54-hole lead of a U.S. Open.
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.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tiger Woods65-69-71=205−8
2Ernie Els74-73-68=215+2
T3Pádraig Harrington73-71-72=216+3
T3Miguel Ángel Jiménez66-74-76=216+3
T5Phil Mickelson71-73-73=217+4
T5José María Olazábal70-71-76=217+4
T7John Huston67-75-76=218+5
T7Lee Westwood71-71-76=218+5
T9Michael Campbell71-77-71=219+6
T9Nick Faldo69-74-76=219+6
T9Loren Roberts68-78-73=219+6

Final round

Sunday, June 18, 2000
Tiger Woods won his third major championship in amazing fashion after a final round 67. Woods began his day by making nine consecutive pars, but he only missed one fairway and one green on his way to an outward 35. He would end his par streak with a birdie at the 10th, while his competitors faltered on the brutal poa annua greens. Woods then made three consecutive birdies at 12, 13 and 14 to move to 12-under par. After a par at 15, Woods then got up and down at both 16 and 17 for pars. He would par the final hole to finish off a bogey-free 67. At twelve strokes under par, he was the only player to finish at even par or better and 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, all achieved on par-70 courses. His 15-stroke margin of victory remains the largest in a major championship.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Tiger Woods65-69-71-67=272−12800,000
T2Miguel Ángel Jiménez66-74-76-71=287+3391,150
T2Ernie Els74-73-68-72=287+3391,150
4John Huston67-75-76-70=288+4212,779
T5Lee Westwood71-71-76-71=289+5162,526
T5Pádraig Harrington73-71-72-73=289+5162,526
7Nick Faldo69-74-76-71=290+6137,203
T8Vijay Singh70-73-80-68=291+7112,766
T8Stewart Cink77-72-72-70=291+7112,766
T8David Duval75-71-74-71=291+7112,766
T8Loren Roberts68-78-73-72=291+7112,766

Amateurs: Wilson

Scorecard

Final round
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par444435344443454435
Woods−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−9−9−10−11−12−12−12−12−12
Els+2+2+2+3+4+4+4+4+3+2+2+3+3+3+3+3+3+3
Jiménez+2+2+2+2+1EEE+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+2+3
Huston+6+7+6+5+4+4+4+4+4+4+3+4+4+4+4+4+4+4
Harrington+2+2+1+1+1E+1+2+1+2+2+3+4+4+4+4+5+5
Westwood+5+5+4+4+4+3+3+4+4+4+3+3+3+4+4+5+5+5
Faldo+6+5+5+4+4+4+4+6+6+6+6+6+5+5+5+6+6+6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:

Impact

would go on to win four majors in a row, the first player since Bobby Jones to simultaneously hold all four major championship titles, otherwise referred to as the "Tiger Slam". The year 2000 is often regarded as the pinnacle of Woods's career.
In a 2011 piece for the ESPN outlet Grantland.com, writer Bill Barnwell argued that Woods' performance at the 2000 U.S. Open was statistically the most dominant by any major championship winner since 1960. When compared to the performance of all golfers who completed four rounds in that event, Woods' score of 272 was 4.12 standard deviations better than the mean of the field he competed against—more than half a standard deviation better than the winner of any other major in that period.

Quotes