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Change my mind: The summer of ’06 was Tiger’s best ever
The 2006 season was a tale of severe ups and downs for Tiger Woods. It started as a lot of seasons do for him, with a win at Torrey Pines and another at Doral. All things as we would expect from TW in the first run of the season.
Then, life happened in a brutal way that would affect all of us severely: on May 3, 2006, his father passed away. Earl Woods was not only Tiger’s dad but his best friend, most trusted confidant, and Tiger’s security blanket. The passing itself was not a sudden shock per se but regardless it was a hit to the heart and soul of a young man who was on the verge of becoming a father himself.
Leading up to his passing, Tiger had top 25s at Bay Hill and The Players and a T3 at Augusta. Not bad by any measure, but in comparison to the rest of his year, a downtick. Looking back it’s to be expected, and by normal human measures, his play was pretty solid.
In the aftermath of Earl’s passing, Tiger had his first missed cut in a major at the U.S. Open. Not shocking at all, considering how tough the course played and the long layoff leading in for TW. It would be like not swinging a bat for two months and your first at-bat is against Randy Johnson. I don’t care who you are, but the odds are stacked against you in a major way.
It’s at this point that Tiger started a run that I believe was the greatest of his career, maybe even in history.
The Cialis Western Open was his first tournament back, roughly a month after his missed cut at the U.S. Open. It was simply a warmup for TW with a T2 and some signs that his ball-striking was rounding into form.
It was at the 2006 Open Championship that every part of Tiger’s game rounded into form. Some say his performance at Royal Liverpool was his best ball-striking performance ever.
This is what his coach at the time Hank Haney had to say:
“Many consider that the best ball-striking tournament of Tiger’s career but given the fact that he didn’t hit woods I probably wouldn’t go that far but he was nearly flawless with the irons, he hit all the shots, high and low, left to right and right to left.”
The win at The Open that year was monumental even beyond the ball striking. The moment the final putt dropped for a five-stroke victory Tiger Woods, the man who had been a stoic brick house since day one, broke down in tears. Exhausted physically and emotionally, Woods melted into caddie Steve Willams’ shoulder and let it all go. It was a beautiful moment.
The five tournaments after the open were a display of play that I think will go unmatched…ever.
Just look at the results: These are consecutive starts mind you. Keep in mind that winning any tournament is exhausting, two in a row, Herculean…What is six in a row? Not of this planet. And four of them were against the best fields in the world.
If you do the math, he was a combined 109 under par for a tournament average of 18 under. Also, keep in mind that this run included two majors and two WGC championships. Just one of those wins designates a great year. Tiger had four in the span of six weeks.
His final tallies were
Staggering performance, given the fact that he missed a good portion of the year dealing with the death of his father, which changes people in so many ways.
I’ll get pushback on this, especially from those who say the 2000 run was the pinnacle, but I disagree.
But of course, I’m a reasonable man. So I say: Bring it on. Change my mind.
With the second major of 2026 now behind us, the PGA Tour arrives in Texas for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
GolfWRX Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, is on site at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, and he’s already captured several WITBs and a look at some new colorways of just-spotted L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putters.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #3
WITB Albums
- Brennan Little (Gary Woodland’s caddy) – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adam Svensson – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Martin Laird – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Lee Hodges – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Aaron Wise – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Dylan Wu – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- AJ Ewart – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- New Graphite Design Tour AD shafts – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putters (new colors) – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Aaron Rai upset the odds to win his first major championship on Sunday at Aronimink, firing a final round of 5-under par to see off his competitors and claim the winner’s check for $3,690,000.
Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley were the best of the chasing pack, with both men sharing runner-up spot which was good enough for each to receive a check for $1,804,000.
With a total prize purse of $20.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 PGA Championship.
Players who missed the PGA Championship cut each received $4,300 each.
1: Aaron Rai, $3,690,000
T2 : Jon Rahm, $1,804,000
T2 : Alex Smalley, $1,804,000
T4: Justin Thomas, $843,866
T4: Ludvig Aberg, $843,866
T4: Matti Schmid, $843,866
T7: Cameron Smith, $637,050
T7: Rory McIlroy, $637,050
T7: Xander Schauffele, $637,050
T10: Kurt Kitayama, $496,707
T10: Chris Gotterup, $496,707
T10: Justin Rose, $496,707
T10: Patrick Reed, $496,707
T14: Matt Fitzpatrick, $364,762
T14: Scottie Scheffler, $364,762
T14: Max Greyserman, $364,762
T14: Ben Griffin, $364,762
T18: Maverick McNealy, $229,128
T18: Jordan Spieth, $229,128
T18: Stephan Jaeger, $229,128
T18: Padraigh Harrington, $229,128
T18: David Puig, $229,128
T18: Harris English, $229,128
T18: Min Woo Lee, $229,128
T18: Joaquin Niemann, $229,128
T26: Nick Taylor, $125,523
T26: Alex Noren, $125,523
T26: Cameron Young, $125,523
T26: Andrew Novak, $125,523
T-26: Daniel Hiller, $125,523
T26: Tom Hoge, $125,523
T26: Sam Burns, $125,523
T26: Hideki Matsuyama, $125,523
T26: Bud Cauley, $125,523
T35: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, $78,805
T35: Patrick Cantlay, $78,805
T35: Ryo Hisatsune, $78,805
T35: Daniel Berger, $78,805
T35: Ryan Fox, $78,805
T35: Haotong Li, $78,805
T35: Aldrich Potgieter, $78,805
T35: Si Woo Kim, $78,805
T35: Martin Kaymer, $78,805
T44: Chris Kirk, $53,743
T44: Matt Wallace, $53,743
T44: Shane Lowry, $53,743
T44: Jhonattan Vegas, $53,743
T44: Denny McCarthy, $53,743
T44: Chandler Blachet, $53,743
T44: Taylor Pendrith, $53,743
T44: Dustin Johnson, $53,743
T44: Nicolai Hojgaard, $53,743
T44: Michael Kim, $53,743
T44: Kristoffer Reitan, $53,743
T55: Collin Morikawa, $34,186
T55: Corey Conners, $34,186
T55: Andrew Putnam, $34,186
T55: Brooks Koepka, $34,186
T55: Mikael Lindberg, $34,186
T60: Sami Valimaki, $29,218
T60: Sahith Theegala, $29,218
T60: Rico Hoey, $29,218
T60: Rickie Fowler, $29,218
T60: Brian Harman, $29,218
T65: Casey Jarvis, $26,900
T65: Jason Day, $26,900
T65: Rasmus Hojgaard, $26,900
T65: Keith Mitchell, $26,900
T65: Sam Stevens, $26,900
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Phil the groundhog
Mar 25, 2020 at 1:48 pm
2008!
only 6 starts; 4 wins; US open won; 2nd in the Masters; won WGC matchplay. worst place: 5th.
DJ
Mar 25, 2020 at 10:52 am
2000 was better – 3 majors (winning by 15 at Pebble and by 8 at St. Andrews – 2 iconic spots to get your first US & British Opens). Wins 3 in a row with the PGA Championship and the WGC-NEC (back to back weeks), and the Canadian Open. He won at Pebble again in the AT&T, wins at Arnie’s and Jack’s with Bay Hill and The Memorial. 17 top 10’s in 20 starts with 9 of them being wins.
Nick
Mar 25, 2020 at 9:48 am
Upon reviewing this I would say 2006 was better than 2000 because everyone was playing the same equipment. Remember in 2000 he was one of the few playing a solid-core golf ball. In 2006, everyone was playing a solid-core golf ball, so no one had a huge advantage.
Jarhead
Mar 24, 2020 at 11:39 pm
I remember thinking it was amazing just coming back to win once after losing is father. That is a hard thing to get over.
Alex
Mar 24, 2020 at 9:16 pm
2000 and not even close. Pebble, St Andrews; Valhalla, 5th at Augusta, 2 in a row after pga, scoring records, scorched earth the field twice at 2 iconic venues, only guy to break par at pebble and wins by 15? Unequivocally better than anyone at anytime that’s ever played game. Nicklaus and Jones didn’t just absolutely embarrass the rest of the sport like that.
Benny
Mar 24, 2020 at 6:52 pm
This is awesome and also never knew it went down like this. Love reading about it and thinking back. Any chance we can see a WITB?
Thanks GolfWrx
Larry Long
Mar 24, 2020 at 6:52 pm
How was Phil’s 2006 scoring? He won 2005 PGA, the Bell South by 13 strokes, theMasters, 2nd at US Open. If 2006 was Tiger’s best ever, Phil was right there and beat him in many big events.
Russ
Mar 25, 2020 at 3:27 am
Stop it, Phil has had a nice career but his resume doesn’t stack up at all. Nice try though!
Rory
Mar 25, 2020 at 9:40 am
Article is not debating best career – its debating best stretch over a limited run.
Sonny
Mar 25, 2020 at 4:17 pm
@Rory best stretch and you bring are bringing Phils name into the equation? He has never won 2 events in a row never mind 2 majors Lol….And you are comparing that to 6 wins a a row which include 2 majors. Geez have a word!
Daniel Sanders
Mar 25, 2020 at 5:14 pm
Sonny you’re stepping on your toes, the 05 PGA and 06 Masters were two majors in a row. US Open he should have won would have been 3 in a row. Bellsouth and Masters were two in a . Phil hits 3 iron off tee and wins ‘06 US Open and we don’t talk about Tiger’s 2006.
Pelling
Mar 25, 2020 at 9:34 am
Phil’s 2006 was great until the 72nd hole at Winged Foot! Hahaha.
moses
Mar 24, 2020 at 4:34 pm
Wow. Never saw it from that perspective before. Winning 6 in a row that includes 2 majors plus 2WGCs is astounding.
Sonny
Mar 24, 2020 at 4:28 pm
Could you do 2008 season as the best start of the year:?