Tiger Woods during the final round of the 2023 PNC Championship. | Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
In honor of Tiger Woods’ 48th birthday on Dec. 30, SB Nation’s Playing Through ranked his five best seasons all-time.
Tiger Woods has had an incredible career. He has won 15 major championships, triumphed 82 times on the PGA Tour, and won professionally 110 times overall.
Consequently, Woods is regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He has the resume to make that case, although Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors during his illustrious career.
Nevertheless, in honor of Woods’ 48th birthday on Dec. 30, Playing Through decided to rank the best five seasons from his remarkable career:
5. 2008
Getty Images
Tiger Woods reacts to his birdie make on the 72nd hole at the 2008 U.S. Open.
Tournaments Won: 5
Majors Won: U.S. Open
The beginning of his 2008 season was nothing short of amazing.
He began the year at Torrey Pines in late January and won the Buick Invitational for a sixth time.
Two weeks later, he arrived at the Dubai Desert Classic and showed the world why he was the best. He won that event, too—one of the marquee events on the DP World Tour.
Then, in a completely different format, Woods won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. He crushed Stewart Cink 8 & 7 in the final round for his third straight title.
But he was not done.
At Bay Hill in March, Woods famously sank a 25-foot birdie putt to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It would mark his fifth straight victory.
Woods then finished runner-up to Trevor Immelman at the 2008 Masters.
After his trip to Augusta National, Woods announced he needed surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left knee. But he wanted to win the U.S. Open, which was scheduled to be held at Torrey Pines for the first time that June.
Alas, Woods arrived in Southern California with a torn ACL and a stress fracture—and won. In perhaps the greatest U.S. Open ever, Woods holed a 12-footer on 18 to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate. He won the title the next day.
He spent the rest of the year recuperating his leg, thus foregoing the rest of the season.
4. 2005
Getty Images
Tiger Woods and his caddie Steve Williams celebrate after he chipped in on the 16th hole at the Masters.
Tournaments Won: 7
Majors Won: Masters, Open Championship
The 2005 Masters tournament marked Woods’ return to major championship lore. His third victory at Augusta National was his first major triumph in almost three years, which, at the time, seemed like an eternity for him.
This tournament is best remembered by his second shot on the par-3 16th hole, which trickled down the slope and just fell in the hole for a birdie.
“In your life! Have you ever seen anything like that!?” Verne Lundquist, veteran CBS Sports announcer, famously exclaimed after this shot.
Woods went on to defeat Chris DiMarco in a playoff.
He also won The Open at St. Andrews later that year by five strokes. Woods has called The Old Course his favorite in the world, as he triumphed there for a second time.
On top of his two major victories, Woods won four other times on the PGA Tour, three of which came on courses he has historically dominated: Torrey Pines, Doral in Miami, and Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
Then, in October, Woods won a World Golf Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, defeating John Daly in a playoff. He then won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan the following month.
The former Stanford Cardinal also recorded 13 top-10 finishes in 2005, which included a solo second finish at the U.S. Open. Pinehurst No. 2 hosted that year and will do so again in 2024.
3. 2002
Getty Images
Tiger Woods emerged victorious at Bethpage Black, site of the 2002 U.S. Open.
Tournaments Won: 6
Majors Won: Masters, U.S. Open
Another year, another set of major championships.
Tiger won the Masters for a second consecutive year in 2002, thus becoming the first player since Nick Faldo in 1989 and 1990 to win back-to-back green jackets.
He easily won at Augusta National, cruising to a three-shot victory over Retief Goosen.
Later that year, he won at Bethpage Black by three shots over Phil Mickelson, thus giving the left-hander another runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. Woods, incredibly, was the only player under par.
But in between the Masters and the U.S. Open, Woods took a trip across the pond to Germany, where the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe awaited him. He went on to defeat Colin Montgomerie in a playoff at the Gut Kaden Golf Club.
Woods began the year with back-to-back made cuts. He did not fare well at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship but bounced back with a solo second at Doral.
Two weeks later, he finally emerged victorious at Bay Hill.
He went on to win again later that year at the Buick Open in August, a tournament held the week before the PGA Championship.
Then, Woods finished one stroke behind Rich Beem at Hazeltine in the season’s final major.
But he would emerge victorious again in 2002, at the WGC-American Express Championship in Ireland. Woods finished at 25-under par to finish one stroke ahead of Retief Goosen.
2. 2006
Photo by John Walton/Getty Images
Tiger Woods lifts the Claret Jug after winning the 135th Open Championship.
Tournaments Won: 9
Majors Won: The Open, PGA Championship
Only one word can describe Tiger’s 2006 season: dominant.
He began the season by defeating José María Olazábal and Nathan Green in a playoff at Torrey Pines.
One week later, he flew across 13 time zones to Dubai, where he defeated Ernie Els in a playoff at the Dubai Desert Classic. Jet lag did not affect Woods then.
He emerged victorious again at Doral, notching his third professional victory in as many months.
But after finishing in a tie for third at the Masters, Woods took a hiatus from golf due to his father’s deteriorating health.
Earl Woods, the man who taught his son the game and who served as his mentor, passed away on May 6, 2006, at the age of 74.
His son did not make a start anywhere until mid-June. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, marking his first missed cut at a major as a professional.
But he stormed back with a vengeance at Royal Liverpool, relying on his brilliant iron play to strategically avoid all of Hoylake’s pot bunkers. He went on to win The Open for a second straight year. After the final putt dropped, he buried his head into his caddy Steve Williams’ arms, pouring out waves of emotions, knowing that this was his first major win without his father there.
Woods went on to win five more times that year, including the PGA Championship at Medinah.
1. 2000
John G. Mabanglo/Getty Images
Tiger Woods putts during the final round of the 2000 U.S. Open.
Tournaments Won: 10
Majors Won: U.S. Open, The Open, PGA Championship
Woods’ performance in 2000 was the most remarkable season in golf history.
He started by winning the Tournament of Champions in Maui, then the AT&T Pebble Peach Pro-Am, which served as a harbinger of things to come.
In March, Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first time at Bay Hill. He would go on to win Arnie’s event seven more times, with his last victory there coming in 2013.
He then finished fifth at the Masters, won by Vijay Singh. That would mark the only major Woods did not win in 2000.
But before his historic performance at the U.S. Open, Woods won again—this time at Jack’s Place. He won the Memorial Tournament for a second straight year.
Following his win in Ohio, Woods went back to Pebble Beach, where he put on a performance for the ages. He won by 15 strokes—the most dominant performance in major championship history. Tiger finished at 12-under. His next closest pursuers, Ernie Els and Miguel Ángel Jiménez, finished at 3-over.
“I can’t say I foresaw him winning by 15,” veteran NBC announcer Roger Maltbie told Golfweek in 2019.
“It was probably the greatest performance in a major championship of all time.”
Tiger did not stop there.
He dominated St. Andrews en route to winning his first Claret Jug. He won golf’s oldest major by eight strokes that July, with Els again finishing runner-up.
Less than a month later, Woods won the PGA Championship at Valhalla. But this time, he needed to win in thrilling fashion. He finished the final 12 holes in 7-under to force a playoff with Bob May, which was nothing short of epic. But Woods emerged victorious, thus becoming the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one calendar year.
And yet, he was not done.
He went on to win at Firestone the following week by 11 strokes. Then, he won the Canadian Open in September.
To finish the season, Woods captured the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, where his mother hails from.
There is no doubt that golf will never see a performance like this ever again.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
