The U.S. Open’s 10 greatest players: career rating
By Bill Felber
10. Tiger Woods, -0.56 (1997-2020)
If you did this same calculation for Woods in 2013, he would rank fourth, only a fraction out of third place. At that point, he had 17 appearances as a pro, with three victories, four other top fives, and only two finishes outside the top 20.
The ensuing seasons have not been kind to Woods’ reputation. Since the 2013 event, injuries have limited him to just four appearances, three of them missed cuts, and nothing inside the top 30. His recovery from injuries sustained in a car crash will force him this year to miss a fifth Open just since 2011.
We justly remember Woods for his stunning performance at the 2000 Open at Pebble Beach, when he dominated the field as no player has ever dominated a Major field. We remember him for his win on a broken leg at Torrey Pines in 2008.
Since then, however, his career Open record is, for lack of a better term, below average. His 2009 and 2010 finishes, tied for sixth and fourth, were far and away his best. But the sum of the standard deviations of of all of Woods’ Open performances since 2009 is +4.81.
It is those weak performances that have sabotaged Woods’ career record in the U.S. Open.