There are 78 different stories in Scottsdale this week. Here are a few of the interesting ones.
The final stage of the 2023 PGA Tour Champions Qualifying Tournament is this week at TPC Scottsdale.
The Champions course will host 78 players in four rounds concluding on Friday. The field includes a major champion and an NCAA champion.
In all, five players will earn their 2023 tour cards and be fully exempt into the 16 open, full-field PGA Tour Champions events (which do not include the majors).
Those who finish in spots six through 30 and ties are eligible to apply for PGA Tour Champions Associate Membership, which allows them the chance to enter 2023 event qualifiers.
There are 78 different stories in Scottsdale this week. Here are a few of the interesting ones.
In 2000, Tiger Woods tussled with journeyman Bob May with the Wanamaker Trophy on the line. A birdie putt to force a playoff tops the list.
One of the most iconic clubs in golf’s history is a 35.25-inch, chrome-finished Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter with a single dot on the top line and two distinct red dots, one on the front, the other on the back.
“Yep, it’s been pretty good to me,” Tiger Woods said of the putter he calls “Scotty.”
“Seriously, it’s been a special club.”
What is the best putt Woods has ever made in his career?
1. 18th hole, Valhalla Golf Club
Final round of the 2000 PGA Championship
Having set records en route to trampling the field in the U.S. Open and British Open, Woods was seeking a third consecutive major triumph as Glory’s Last Shot would play out on the Kentucky bluegrass.
But there would be no waltz to the Wanamaker Trophy as Woods tussled with journeyman Bob May on a steamy Sunday. Woods trailed by 2 early in the final round but played the final 12 holes in 7-under-par to force a playoff with May. His final birdie in regulation came at the 542-yard, par-5 18th where Woods faced a downhill, knee-knocking 7-footer to get into a playoff. He gently putted the ball, watched it disappear and then nearly fist-pumped the earth in celebration.
Why does this putt rank No. 1? Because Woods says so.
“Considering the circumstance, the pressure, the putt that was so, so, so fast, and the break, that was the one,” he said when asked to name the best putt of his career. “Dead center.”
Woods and May finished five shots clear of the field at 18 under and set off for a three-hole playoff. Woods produced another memorable putt on the first playoff hole when he walked briskly after his 20-footer for birdie and delivered a finger-wagging celebration as the ball fell into the hole. Woods nursed that 1-shot advantage to victory with two pars.
Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship in 2000.
He had won his third major in nine weeks. Eight months later, he completed the Tiger Slam with a win in the Masters. Woods also became the first to win back-to-back PGAs since the tournament moved to stroke play in 1958. He achieved the feat again in 2006-07. Brooks Koepka (2018-19) is the only other player to accomplish the rarity.
None of that would have happened without making the 7-footer on 18.
“I was going for three majors in a row there,” Woods furthered explained why this was the best putt of his career. “Ben Hogan won three in a row and I’ve done it. That’s it. We’re the only ones to win three professional majors in a row.
“And it was the circumstance, the pressure, how well Bob and I played. It was a hell of a shootout and it came in a major. We were matching each other with birdies in a major. That putt on 18, everything on the line, gave me a chance to win. Yeah, that was the one.”
Catch up on the entire top ten list of Tiger’s best putts here: 10-9-8 | 7-6-5 | 4-3-2.
