And like everything else for him at this U.S. Open, it was no contest. Woods turned Pebble Beach into his personal playground, leaving everyone else so far behind that he might as well have been playing all alone. While the rest of the field was playing for second, Woods took aim at the record books. When the final putt fell Sunday against the spectacular scenery off Carmel Bay, Woods claimed the U.S. Open, along with the kind of records no one imagined possible. His 272 tied the lowest score ever in a U.S. Open, first set by his idol, Jack Nicklaus, in 1980 and later matched by Lee Janzen in 1993.
More history awaits next month.
Too bad for Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez that the U.S. Open didn't have a B-flight this year. They had to settle for second place, at 3-over 287, their names in the record books, but only as footnotes. This U.S. Open was really the Tiger Woods Classic. So dominant was this performance that Woods never made worse than par over his final 26 holes. He closed with a 4-under 67, the best score of the day.