Tiger Woods is officially over the hill.
Big Cat turned 50 on Tuesday, and we’re looking back at the major championship victories of arguably the best golfer of all-time. He has won 82 times on the PGA Tour, tied for the most victories all-time. But the 15 major championships are where Tiger made his mark, and he had plenty of memorable moments in the biggest golf tournaments in the world.
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Looking to factors such as drama, memorability, the win’s meaning and how well Woods played, we have come up with a comprehensive ranking of Woods’ major titles.
Without further ado, here is that list …
15. 2002 Masters
Tiger Woods is presented with his green jacket by Augusta National Golf Club chairman Hootie Johnson after Tiger won the 2002 Masters Tournament.
This was a comfortable 3-shot win but nothing dominant. Really, there was no drama down the stretch and Woods only shot a final-round 71. He won, but it wasn’t particularly inspiring and it was just another major title.
14. 2006 PGA Championship
This one is similar to the ’02 Masters in that Woods cruised to victory (this one by 5 shots), but the tournament was well in hand down the stretch without it being an exciting Tiger blowout. So it was pretty ho-hum and there was little in the way of meaning as this was simply Woods’ 12th major title and that’s about it. This one gets the slight edge, though, because Woods played marvelous golf all weekend.
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Tiger Woods speaks after winning the 2005 British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press)
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13. 2005 Open Championship
The theme continues here, as Woods cruised to a 5-shot win after his challengers fell off in the middle of the round. This one gets a bump because it happened at the Old Course and was part of a Woods revival in ’05 after he had seen a dip and a major drought in previous years.
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12. 2007 PGA Championship
This might’ve been at the bottom if Woods had cruised on after taking a 5-shot lead in the middle of the round. But he stumbled a bit and his challengers heated up, leaving him just one shot ahead until he drained a 12-footer for birdie at the 15th. This win ensured a third straight year with a major title.
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11. 2000 Open Championship
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After a challenge early in the final round, Woods ended up building on his 6-shot overnight lead by claiming an 8-shot win. So not a ton of drama, but this win was Woods completing the Career Grand Slam. And he did so at the Old Course. That is worth a good deal.
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10. 2002 U.S. Open
This was notable as a nice Woods-Phil Mickelson duel where the Bethpage crowds showed massive fanfare for Lefty. It would ultimately be a 3-shot win for Woods, but it was a challenge for most of the round. This triumph also marked the end of an incredible stretch in which Woods won seven of 11 majors.
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9. 2006 Open Championship
Woods got a pretty nice fight here from Chris DiMarco before coming out on top in a 2-shot triumph. It was a solid duel, and this one was also huge as it was Tiger’s first major title after the death of Earl Woods, his father. Woods broke down in tears after putting out on 18 in a rare emotional moment.
8. 1999 PGA Championship
15 Aug 1999: Tiger Woods celebrates as he makes the winning putt during the PGA Championships at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois. Mandatory Credit: Harry How /Allsport
While the Woods-Sergio Garcia rivalry never fully blossomed on the course, this tournament gave us a special tease as Woods had to hold off a furious charge from the then-19-year-old Spaniard. Woods did indeed pull through, earning a 1-shot win.
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7. 2001 Masters
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It tells you how good Woods’ major titles are that this is only No. 6. This win included a final-round duel with Mickelson and David Duval and saw Woods finish off the “Tiger Slam,” as this was his fourth consecutive major title.
6. 2000 PGA Championship
The duel with Bob May. We all remember this one and if somehow you don’t, go look it up on YouTube and you won’t be disappointed.
5. 2005 Masters
The main thing here is, of course, Woods’ miraculous chip-in at 16 where his ball hung on the lip for a second before dropping. Talk about drama! That alone would put this in the top half of Woods’ major wins, but also remember that DiMarco gave Woods a great duel that day. Even with that chip-in, Woods only eventually got into a playoff – which he won by draining a 15-footer for birdie. This was also one of his most cathartic wins, as it broke a three-year major drought.
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4. 2000 U.S. Open
Yes, the 15-shot win. The greatest performance in the history of golf. There wasn’t any drama on who would triumph, but watching the history that this domination brought gave everyone plenty of entertainment.
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3. 2008 U.S. Open
Just unbelievable drama in this one where Woods provided so many insane moments in regulation alone, including draining a 12-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole to force a playoff. Then it took the full 18-hole playoff plus a sudden-death hole to decide it. By the way, he did it all on a torn ACL and with stress fractures in his leg. This one had everything.
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2. 1997 Masters
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Woods’ first major win was his greatest because his remarkable 12-shot romp was not only an amazing coming out party, it also had so much social meaning with an African-American blitzing a field at Augusta National. In terms of the combination of everything here, it was doubtful anything would ever top this. Then it was.
1. 2019 Masters
Tiger Woods celebrates winning the 2019 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
After all of the surgeries. After all of the doubt. After most hope had faded from golf fans, Woods came out and shot 70 in the final round, coming from two behind to begin the day, to win his 15th major championship title and fifth Masters. While everyone else faded, Woods rose yet again at Augusta National. And perhaps Nick Faldo said it best following the scene on the 18th hole after the final putt dropped. “That will be the greatest scene in golf, forever, Jim Nantz.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Ranking Tiger Woods’ 15 major championship wins
