During the timespan from 2000-2001, stars such as Shaquille O'Neal, Tom Brady, and Venus Williams, dominated the sports landscape. But Tiger Woods’ achievement of winning four consecutive major professional golf titles proved to stand above the rest. Because he didn’t win them in the same calendar year, his achievement became known as The Tiger Slam, etching his name in sports history.
Author Kevin Cook profiles this achievement in his book The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played (Tiger Woods in 2000–2001). When at Sports Illustrated, Cook discussed if there was a massive buzz around Woods’ potential before he became a pro.
“ And I remember the first thing you hear about this phenom and nobody can believe how talented he is and how he just mows down the competition from such an early age. A lot of talk I would hear from other people involved in golf about this magnificent swing he had. And then you can't believe that his name is Tiger Woods. Has there ever been a better name for a golfer than Tiger Woods?” Cook said.
Once Tiger became a pro, his dominance became apparent as he racked up multiple PGA Tour victories and won multiple major championships. When the year 2000 began no one knew that Tiger was about to embark on one of the most memorable achievements in all of sports.
When thinking about picking a segment of Woods’ career to profile, the Tiger Slam stood out to Cook despite the impressive resume that Woods’ was able to put together throughout his career.
“Much of his career is pretty remarkable, but one thing that really appealed to me was that this I think it's an underrated achievement, the Tiger Slam,” Cook said. “And I think this really is golf. It's never been played better before or since. And it also was important to me that it was before any scandals. It was before any injuries. This is just pure great golf.”
Athletes often face criticism on social media but Tiger encountered his share of skepticism and pressure before he achieved the Tiger Slam.
“You got months before the Masters of 2001 comes along. All this drumbeat, there was talk that he was in a slump at that time,” Cook said. “He was exquisitely conscious of it. And I think like many great athletes, like Kobe, like Jordan, like Tiger, he preferred the challenge, even if it's set for himself.”
In the book, Cook takes readers on a journey of the Tiger Slam beginning with the the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, and features interviews with Tiger’s caddie, his coach, his rivals, and the golfers he looked up to.
The impact of Tiger Slam has left a mark on the sport that has impacted the current generation of golf stars but Cook doesn’t believe that Tiger’s feat will be achieved anytime soon.
“They're a lot closer than they were 20 or 25 years ago,” Cook said. “I would still be surprised if there’s anybody [who] comes out of nowhere as he seemed to 25 years ago to win four majors in a row. I don't think anybody is ever going to win four majors in a row in golf again.”
When picking up the book, Cook hopes readers appreciate The Tiger Slam as one of the most underrated achievements in the history of sports and gain insight into Woods securing an accomplishment that was considered impossible.
“Well first I hope they'll just enjoy the reading experience because it's dramatic and it's occasionally funny and it's thrilling to recapture what he was able to do in those times and beyond that I guess the takeaway would be this really was the best feat in sports history and if I can convince readers to at least entertain that thought then the book will have been worthwhile,” Cook said.
The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played (Tiger Woods in 2000–2001) is available now.