Tiger Woods: Examining His Playing History at Bethpage Black

2002 U.S. Open

Thats Tiger in 2009. No matter how hard I looked, i couldn’t find a picture of him at Bethpage Black in 2002.

Heading into Bethpage Black in 2002, many people were talking about the uniqueness of the course. It was a public course, and one that you could get on and play if you waited long enough. Like sleeping in a car, for example.

The experts thought that players would be lucky to break even for the tournament. They were right. No mortals finished under par for the tournament. Just a Tiger.

Tiger Woods was one of only six players to break even during the first round, as he held first place by himself after firing off a three-under 68 on Day One. Sergio Garcia was in second place by himself, one shot behind Tiger. That wouldn’t last for long.

Sergio would shoot +4 on Day Two, falling all the way back to… a tie for third place. When they said the course would be tough, they weren’t lying. Padraig Harrington had gone 70-68, and was the only golfer besides Tiger under par after two rounds. Tiger? He came out and shot 68 as well, holding a three shot lead.

In fact, Tiger was one of only four people to shoot under par on Day Two. That’s how tough it was to score at Bethpage Black. Through Two rounds, there were ten rounds total under par. Tiger Woods was responsible for two of them.

Sergio tried to come back during the third round, firing off a 67. This got him into second place all by himself. Tiger shot even, and in doing so increased his lead to four strokes. It looked all sown up for him, as Tiger doesn’t give away leads in tournaments.

Through 13 holes in the final round, Tiger sat at -5, three strokes ahead of Phil Mickelson. There was an opportunity for Phil to put pressure on Tiger, but they both ended up bogeying the 16th, keeping a three stroke cushion.

A bogey by Phil left Tiger walking to the final hole with a four stroke lead. He would bogey there, and win by three.