Tiger Woods' father said Woods will hit shots people talk about for 30 years. Earl was right

Tiger Woods had just won the Canadian Open in 2000 with a shot no one can forget, a 6-iron out of a fairway bunker on the par-5 18th at Glen Abbey that went over the water, right at the flag and settled on the fringe 20 feet away to secure victory.

On the phone that evening was his father, Earl Woods, who had watched from home and felt like he had seen so much of it before.

“In every tournament,” Earl said, “he'll hit shots that people will be talking about for 30 years.”

Woods turns 50 on Tuesday, a milestone in life and just a number in a sport that can be played for a lifetime. It makes him eligible for the PGA Tour Champions if he cares. That's to be determined. But his father was right. Woods was 20 when he turned pro and hit shots that are still talked about to this day.

Where to start?

One way to look back at his career is to consider significant shots he hit with all 14 clubs in the bag, including two of them only seen by those who were with him.

Power was the hallmark of Woods when he turned pro. One shot that would have captured that was his drive on the par-5 15th at the 1997 Masters, when he shot 30 on the back nine of the opening round to get back in contention. It was a 349-yard drive. He had pitching wedge left to the green.

Davis Love III also was a power player. He recalls pounding one that day on No. 15, and he was waiting for his playing partners to hit from much further back. “I'm waiting to hit my 9-iron in and the crossing guard goes, ‘Tiger Woods hit a wedge in there,’” Love said.

Woods retooled his swing with Butch Harmon and added precision to the power. The best example was the par-5 14th at St. Andrews in the 2000 British Open, which Woods often referred to later as his 2-inch draw.

Woods faced a late challenge from Phil Mickelson in the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. Mickelson had pulled within two shots when Woods laced a 2-iron onto the green of the 554-yard 13th hole to set up a two-putt birdie. Mickelson got no closer the rest of the way.

Woods considers this among the best shots he ever hit. He was in a fairway bunker on the par-4 18th at Hazeltine in the 2002 PGA Championship, 202 yards from the hole. The ball was below his feet. He barely had enough room to stand without his legs brushing against the side of the bunker. He had to clear the lip, clear a cluster of trees 72 yards away and get to the back of the green into 35 mph gusts. He hit 3-iron into 12 feet for birdie. “The best shot I’ve ever seen him hit,” caddie Steve Williams said. Ernie Els said as much without saying anything. He looked over at two reporters, widened his eyes and shook his head.

This took place Wednesday, the final practice round for the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach that Woods went on to win by 15 shots. Paul Goydos played in the group. It's best to let him take it from here, starting on the par-3 12th where Goydos hit the best 4-iron of his life that bounced off a green as if on a trampoline.

“Tiger hits this shot over the moon, flies the bunker and stops this far,” Goydos said, holding his hands 5 feet apart. “I said, ‘What did you hit there?’ He said, ‘4-iron.’ So we get to 18 and I drove it down the left side, had about 233 to the front and hit 3-wood. Tiger hit the ball a little farther right and he was about 5 yards ahead of me.

“He hits this shot — WHOOOSH! — like a rocket. I said, ‘What did you hit?’ He said, ‘4-iron.’ And I said, ‘Boys, this tournament is over.’ Because if you can hit a 4-iron 195 yards in the air and 225 yards in the air when you want, this tournament is OVER.”

Woods won by 15, still a major championship record.

Woods had gone eight PGA Tour events without winning — one magazine raised the idea of a “slump” — when he came to the 18th hole at Bay Hill tied for the lead. He pulled his tee shot that hit a spectator and left him a trampled lie in the grass. He hit 5-iron to 15 feet tor the winning birdie. He did that a lot at Bay Hill.

Woods already had won the U.S. Open and British Open in 2000. He had a one-shot lead in final round of the Canadian Open over Grant Waite, who already had found the green on the par-5 18th. Woods was 218 yards away in a bunker when he hit 6-iron out of the sand, over the water and to about 20 feet for a two-putt birdie.

Waite said when it was over, “The guy takes out a 6-iron, fires at the flag, with the tournament on the line. He said, ‘The shot was on.’ I guess it was.”

Woods was 202 yards away in deep rough right of the fairway on the par-5 sixth hole at Pebble Beach in the second round of the 2000 U.S. Open. Most players pitch back to the fairway instead of going over a corner of the ocean up a steep hill. Woods hit 7-iron onto the edge of the green.

That prompted Roger Maltbie of NBC to utter a phrase that summed up the state of golf at the time when he said, “It's just not a fair fight.”

Eleven years removed from his last major title, and recovered from four back surgeries that nearly ended his career, Woods had a one-shot lead Sunday in the 2019 Masters when he hit an 8-iron into the par-3 16th that caught the ridge and nearly went in. It settled a few feet away for a tap-in birdie that all but sealed his stunning comeback to win a fifth green jacket.

Perhaps the best example of the sheer magic Woods brought to the game was his debut in the rowdy Phoenix Open in 1997. The showcase is Saturday on the par-3 16th hole where thousands of spectators are looking for any reason to erupt. Woods gave them a 9-iron that landed just short of the cup and rolled in for a hole-in-one, bringing down a shower of beer spray from the crowd.

Woods was seven shots behind as he played the back nine in the final round of the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. When he failed to birdie the par-5 14th, his chances looked to be over. But from 97 yards in the fairway on No. 15, he hit pitching wedge to take off some of the spin on the rain-softened greens. It landed near the cup and spun sideways into the hole for eagle, sparking his greatest comeback in a tournament.

This was the club Woods often used to warm up, and to start his range session ahead of the final round at the 2005 British Open at St. Andrews, he hit the 100-yard sign four straight times — not just the sign, the right “0” on the sign, four in a row. Williams said swing coach Hank Haney whispered to him, “The first time he gets inside 100 yards, you might want to tell to aim away from the flag.” Williams thought he was joking.

The first occasion was No. 6. Woods had 98 yards to the hole and it one-hopped off the pin and bounced back off the green, forcing him to scramble for par.

Among his most memorable shots came in the final round at the 2005 Masters when he was clinging to a one-shot lead over Chris DiMarco and had gone long of the green on the par-3 16th. Woods used lob wedge to chip away from the flag and up the slope, and then watched it trickle back down toward the cup where it paused a full second at the hole before dropping for birdie.

From a long list of possibilities, best to turn this over to Woods. He said the 6-footer he made for birdie on the final hole of the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla was the most pressure he had ever felt over a putt. At stake was a chance to win his third straight major in one year. “I don't think that really falls in your lap every often,” Woods said in 2013.

The putt got him into a three-hole playoff with Bob May, and Woods prevailed. Nearly eight months later, he won the Masters to become the only player to hold all four majors at the same time.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

FILE - Tiger Woods hugs his his father Earl, as his mother, Kultida, looks on, after winning the 1997 Masters with a record-breaking 18-under-par at the Augusta National Golf Club, in Augusta, Ga., Sunday, April 13, 1997. (AP Photo/Dave Martin )

FILE - Tiger Woods celebrates making birdie on the last of regulation play to tie Bob May at 18-under-par and force a playoff at the PGA Championship, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2000, at the Valhalla Golf Club, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods hits his second shot on the 18th hole from a fairway bunker during completion of his second round of the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska Minn., Saturday, Aug. 17, 2002. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)

FILE - Tiger Woods celebrates with his caddie Steve Williams, right, after his chip-in birdie on 16th hole during the 2005 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club, in Augusta, Ga., Sunday, April 10, 2005. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Oct. 6, 1978 — At age 2, makes an appearance on “The Mike Douglas Show” on daytime television and hits a driver with Bob Hope watching.

July 28, 1991 — Wins the first of three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles by beating Brad Zwetschke in 19 holes at Bay Hill.

Aug. 28, 1994 — Wins the first of three straight U.S. Amateurs by making a key putt on the 17th hole of the TPC Sawgrass in a 2-up victory over Trip Kuehne.

Nov. 30, 1994 — As a freshman at Stanford, Woods gets mugged in the parking lot behind his dormitory on his way home from dinner. He is robbed of a gold watch and bracelet and struck in the jaw.

Aug. 25, 1996 — Woods rallies from 5 down after the morning session to defeat Steve Scott in 38 holes at Pumpkin Ridge and become the first player in history to win three straight U.S. Amateurs.

Aug. 27, 1996 — Turns pro at the Greater Milwaukee Open by sending a statement to the tournament office that said, “This is to confirm that as of now, I am a professional golfer.”

Oct. 6, 1996 — Wins the first of his 82 titles on the PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational in a playoff over Davis Love III.

April 13, 1997 — Wins the first of his 15 major championships at the Masters. He opens with a 40 on the front nine Thursday and plays 22-under par over the final 63 holes to win by 12 shots and set or tie 27 tournament records.

June 15, 1997 — Reaches No. 1 in the world for the first time just 290 days after turning pro.

June 18, 2000 — Completes the most dominant performance in 140 years of majors by winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots. He becomes the only player to win the U.S. Junior Amateur, the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open.

July 23, 2000 — Wins the British Open at St. Andrews to become at age 24 the youngest player with the career Grand Slam.

April 8, 2001 — Wins the Masters to become the only player in history to hold all four major titles at the same time.

May 13, 2005 — Misses the cut at the Byron Nelson Classic, ending his record streak of 142 consecutive PGA Tour events over seven years making the cut.

June 12, 2005 — Returns to No. 1 in the world and starts 281 consecutive weeks at the top, the longest stretch since the Official World Golf Ranking began in 1986.

Dec. 30, 2005 — Turns 30. He has 42 PGA Tour wins and 10 majors.

June 16, 2006 — Misses the cut at the U.S. Open in his first tournament back since his father died. It's his first missed cut in a major as a pro.

Aug. 20, 2006 — Wins the PGA Championship at Medinah to become the the only player in history to win multiple majors in consecutive years.

June 16, 2008 — Wins his third U.S. Open title in a 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines while competing with torn knee ligaments and two stress fractures in his left leg.

June 24, 2008 — Has reconstructive surgery on his left knee and misses the rest of the year.

Nov. 27, 2009 — Florida Highway Patrol sends a report that Woods has been seriously injured in a car accident. He is treated and released, the first news item that led to revelations he had been in multiple extramarital affairs that ultimately led to his wife divorcing him.

April 10, 2010 — Having not competed for 146 days, Woods returns from the scandal in his personal life and opens with a 68 at the Masters. He finishes tied for fourth.

March 24, 2013 — He wins at Bay Hill and for the 11th and final time returns to No. 1 in the world and stays there for one year and two months.

April 1, 2014 — He has the first of what would be seven surgeries on his lower back, causing him to miss the Masters for the first time since he was a senior in high school.

Dec. 30, 2015 — Turns 40. He has 79 PGA Tour titles and 14 majors.

May 30, 2017 — He is arrested and briefly jailed in Jupiter, Florida, on suspicion of DUI. Police find him asleep behind the wheel of his car in the early morning with the engine running. He attributes it to a bad combination of pain medication.

April 14, 2019 — Wins the Masters for the fifth time, his first major title in nearly 11 years because of injuries.

Oct. 28, 2019 — Wins the Zozo Championship in Japan for his 82nd career PGA Tour title, tying the record held by Sam Snead.

Feb, 23, 2021: Crashes his SUV in Los Angeles going 85 mph in a 45 mph zone and breaks bones in the upper and lower sections of his right leg.

April 12, 2024: Sets a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive 36-hole cut.

March 11, 2025 — Has surgery for a ruptured left Achilles tendon. With back surgery in the fall, it becomes his first year as a pro he did not play a single tournament.

Dec. 30, 2025 — Turns 50. He has 82 PGA Tour titles and 15 majors.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

FILE - In this aerial image take from video provided by KABC-TV, a vehicle rest on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods along a road in the Rancho Palos Verdes suburb of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (KABC-TV via AP, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods wears his green jacket holding the winning trophy after the final round for the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods holds onto his knee as he comes out of a bunker on the fourth hole during the third round of the US Open championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course, in San Diego, Tuesday June 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods kisses the winner's trophy after capturing the 100th U.S. Open Golf Championship at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, June 18, 2000. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

FILE - Tiger Woods answers questions at a news conference following play in the pro-am at the Greater Milwaukee Open Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996, at the Brown Deer Golf Course, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Peter Zuzga, File)