PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | It has been 25 years since that gray Sunday when Payne Stewart painted the Carolina sky with a fist-slamming par putt on the final green to win the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
Stewart beat Phil Mickelson by a shot, but Tiger Woods – wearing more black than his customary Sunday red that day – was there, step for step, shot by shot, until his chances died with a missed 5-footer for par on the 71st hole.
A whimper compared to Stewart’s big-bang finish.
Six years later when Michael Campbell won the second U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, it seemed until the unexpected end that Woods would add his name to the list of champions at a place where almost every great player has competed across the decades.
But, like in 1999, Woods was betrayed by his putter as he finished two shots behind Campbell.
A tie for third and a solo second, a total of four shots, are how close Woods has come at Pinehurst to having more major-championship silver in his trophy case.
It is against that distant backdrop – Woods did not play in the 2014 U.S. Open because of a back injury – that the 48-year-old has returned to the “home of American golf” to try again to win the national championship. The rough at the No. 2 course has been replaced by sandy scruff, and the green complexes are magnificently provocative with their slopes and knobs that bump and roll like moguls on a ski slope.
It’s been more than half of his lifetime since Woods played in the first U.S. Open at Pinehurst, and his career achievements – notably, a record-tying 82 PGA Tour titles, including 15 major championships – may have exceeded what anyone foresaw 25 years ago.
The primary question has changed from, Will Woods do it? to, Can he do it?
Can he still coax the physical endurance, the mental discipline and whatever magic might remain in his game to contend again in a major championship?
“I feel like I have the strength to be able to do it. It’s just a matter of doing it,” Woods said Tuesday morning.
His body has been broken and rebuilt multiple times, but he relishes the coming heat and humidity because it makes it easier to get loose and stay loose, a product of age exaggerated by the lingering effects of surgeries on his back, right leg and left knee.
This year, Woods has his 15-year-old son, Charlie, with him, sharing a father-son week while also serving as an extra set of eyes on Woods’ game, particularly his putting. They’ve been here since Sunday, and they were out together early Tuesday wearing matching pink shirts while Woods played nine holes with Max Homa and Min Woo Lee.
Two other things drive home the relentlessness of time’s march, even where the seemingly indomitable Woods is concerned.
He hasn’t played the U.S. Open since the September edition at Winged Foot in 2021 and he hasn’t finished inside the top 20 in a major since his 2019 Masters win.
Despite winning three U.S. Opens among his 15 major championships, Woods is playing this week on a special exemption because he did not otherwise qualify for this U.S. Open. Jack Nicklaus played on eight exemptions, and Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson received five each. Assuming that he’s willing and able, Woods should be treated likewise.
On Tuesday evening, Woods was scheduled to receive the Bob Jones Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed by the USGA, given in recognition of spirit, character and respect for the game. It’s another reminder that Woods has reached the age at which he has more yesterdays than tomorrows when it comes to golf achievements.
It’s tempting to write off Woods this week because the numbers, golf’s ultimate measuring stick, indicate that he won’t contend. This will be just his 12th official start in the past four seasons, and he made it 72 holes in just five of those, withdrawing or missing the cut in the others.
He hasn’t played the U.S. Open since the September edition at Winged Foot in 2021 and he hasn’t finished inside the top 20 in a major since his 2019 Masters win.
This U.S. Open won’t be a birdie contest, and that plays to Woods’ advantage. He’s always been a grinder, even if it came sprinkled with sparks and glitter. In his prime, Woods excelled at saving shots around the green, and that’s the ultimate question asked by No. 2. It’s also why Woods has spent extra time getting acclimated to Pinehurst’s personality.
“The shot selections around the greens I think are more plentiful this year from either putting it to wedging it … 6- or 7-irons. I’ve used long irons and woods around the greens, and I’ve seen a number of guys do the same thing. There’s a lot of different shot selections, and the grain is going to play a big part of it,” Woods said.
“The last few days playing practice rounds – I’m guilty as well as the rest of the guys I’ve played with – we’ve putted off a lot of greens. It depends how severe the USGA wants to make this and how close they want to get us up to those sides.”
“We have a great relationship and rapport like that, and it’s a wonderful experience for both of us.” – Tiger Woods
With the rough gone and the sandscapes reinstated around No. 2 since Woods’ last U.S. Open here 19 years ago, the golf course is different, but so is Woods.
He has taken a larger leadership role with the PGA Tour, helping sculpt a potential agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to help heal the professional game’s ongoing fracture. His course design business is thriving, and he seems accepting of where he finds himself with his 50th birthday 18 months away.
Woods has Charlie watch him on the practice green, tuned in to check for certain fundamentals and call out his father when he’s not doing them. Woods also understands these are precious days with his son as another Father’s Day approaches.
“We have a great relationship and rapport like that, and it’s a wonderful experience for both of us,” Woods said.
Another chapter in Woods’ Pinehurst story awaits.