When it comes to the GOAT conversation in golf, there are only two acceptable options: Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. And one could undoubtedly make strong arguments for both.
That said, however, when you’re talking about the greatest single season in golf history, Nicklaus simply doesn’t have one that can compare to what Tiger did in 2000.In 21 official starts that season—13 PGA Tour events, one European Tour event, three World Golf Championships, and the four majors—Woods won nine times, finished second four times, and only finished outside the top five three times, never finishing lower than 23rd.
Ridiculous.
The crown jewel of that campaign is the fact that Tiger won the final three majors of the year, becoming just the second player in history to take a trio of majors in a single season. Ben Hogan was the first to do so in 1953.
After finishing solo fifth at the 2000 Masters, Woods won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by an absurd 15 shots, a record one would think will never be broken. He then went on to complete the career Grand Slam for the first time, winning The Open Championship at St. Andrews by eight.He completed the trifecta at the PGA Championship, surviving a memorable duel down the stretch with journeyman Bob May, ultimately winning in a playoff. Woods then, of course, went on to complete the famed “Tiger Slam” the following April with a win at the 2001 Masters, thus becoming the first ever to hold all four modern majors at the same time.
As for his six other victories in 2000, Tiger also took titles at the Mercedes Championships (now the Sentry Tournament of Champions), the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Bay Hill Invitational (now the Arnold Palmer Invitational), the Memorial, the WGC-NEC Invitational, and the Canadian Open.
His four runner-up finishes came at the Buick Invitational (now the Farmers Insurance Open), the WGC-Match Play, The Players Championship, and the Tour Championship.In his 21 official starts, Tiger earned $9,339,400, which was easily the highest single-season total in history at that point. But let’s now have a look at what that number would look like today.
Tiger Woods
Purses have obviously grown exponentially over the past 25 years, with Tiger being the main reason for that. And with the addition of the FedEx Cup and Signature Events, neither of which existed in 2000, the money up for grabs on the PGA Tour these days is bonkers.
Now, it does get a little tricky when attempting to calculate what Woods’ winnings from 2000 would be in today’s dollars, as a few of the tournaments he played back then no longer exist, most notably the World Golf Championships, the last of which was played in 2023.
