Tiger Woods: Why the Tiger Slam Is More Impressive Than the Grand Slam

Tiger Woods is the reason we have the term “Tiger Slam.” I happen to think the Tiger Slam is more impressive than the calendar Grand Slam.

A golf Grand Slam is considered the term to be used when a golfer wins all four Major Championships in a calendar year. It has never been done in the modern era. Bobby Jones is the only golfer ever to accomplish this feat although it looked a bit different back then. Jones accomplished this back in 1930 by winning The Open Championship, US Open, US Amateur, and British Amateur. He held all of those in the same calendar year. This brings us to Tiger Woods.

The term Tiger Slam was coined after he held all four Major Championships at one time, but instead of being in the same calendar year, it filtered into another year. In 2000, Woods would take home the US Open title, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. When the 2001 Masters came around he won that too which made him the first in the modern era to hold all four Major titles at the same time.

Since they weren’t in the same calendar year, that is when the term Tiger Slam was born.

I think the Tiger Slam is more impressive than the Grand Slam. Any athlete or avid sports fan would agree that momentum is a real thing and can carry a player or team to stretches of greatness. Getting the Grand Slam would require a huge amount of momentum through the entire PGA season with no real break if everything runs smooth.

The Tiger Slam is like having all of the momentum, and then having a huge break and having the ability to just pick up where you left off which doesn’t happen often in sports. Tiger did that after an entire offseason and then came back in 2001 with all of that pressure to hold all four titles and took home that green jacket to complete the now-famous Tiger Slam.

Holding momentum through an offseason as an individual on the PGA Tour is what makes the Tiger Slam more impressive to me than the calendar Grand Slam.

Let’s send you to the 18th green with this cherry on top. The Career Grand Slam is winning all four Majors at least one time by the end of your playing days. Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen who was the first to win the modern-era career slam, Ben Hogan, and Tiger Woods all hold the Career Grand Slam. The kicker here is that Tiger Woods has enough Major titles to have THREE Career Grand Slams! The most impressive, three Career Grand Slams, and the Tiger Slam is at the top of the leaderboard in history.