Bob May: The man who almost tamed Tiger at Valhalla

Bob May and Tiger Woods embrace after their battle at Valhalla in 2000

In 2000 at Valhalla, Bob May went head-to-head with Tiger Woods in a thrilling PGA Championship. Here, he tells Today’s Golfer how the day unfolded.

It’s hard to say that I went into the US PGA Championship in 2000 bursting with confidence, but I had been playing well. In fact, I flew straight from the British Masters, where I had been defending the title I won in 1999. When I got to Valhalla, I found it suited my eye and my tendency to draw the ball. It was also my type of course because you had to hit a variety of shots. I don’t like one-dimensional, bomb-everything-with-the-driver golf. At Valhalla, you had to focus on positioning off the tee to set up the best approach shots into the greens. It demands a little bit of everything.

I shot a level-par 72 on the first day – a good, solid opening round. Over the next couple of days, I gradually got more comfortable on the course and the putts started dropping. I shot a 66 in the second round and felt that I left a couple of shots out on the course. I was feeling good, but I also knew there was still a lot of golf to be played. After another 66 in the third round, I was right there in the hunt and found myself paired with Tiger Woods on the final day.

Of course, I was nervous on the first tee on Sunday afternoon, but I bet Tiger was, too. He didn’t show it though. He launched a massive drive down the 1st fairway. There was a tree at 276 yards on the left of the fairway and to start with I thought he’d pulled his drive because his ball was heading right for it. Then I realized he was actually looking to go over the tree. His ball kept rising and rising. Mine finished at the base of the tree. That simply confirmed what I already knew – that we’d be playing two completely different golf courses that day! My course was going to be longer and, some might say, more difficult than Tiger’s. But I’ve always been a good ball-striker and in a head-to-head situation, I certainly didn’t see it as a disadvantage that I was having to hit my irons into most of the holes first.

I was adamant I wasn’t going to get intimidated by Tiger’s power game, but there are some shots he hit that I remember like yesterday. He hit a towering 2-iron from about 260 yards on the 10th hole that was so high it was just ridiculous. It hit the top of a bunker and rolled back in, but he got it up and down for birdie. His drive on 17 in regulation play was just enormous. He hit it so hard, and the ball almost disappeared at its peak. I only saw it again when it landed way down the fairway.

It wasn’t really a two-man event until after the 12th hole. That was when Tiger and I started to separate ourselves from the rest of the field. Not that I was aware of it at the time. One of the most satisfying things for me that day was that while all this drama was taking place, I was completely and blissfully unaware of what was happening. I think Tiger was the same way. We were both in our own zones and oblivious to what was going on around us.

Even though he was following me into the hole with birdies of his own, I never once wanted Tiger to miss his putts. I was brought up never to root against your opponent. You don’t want to win because of another player’s failure – you want to win when they’re playing their best. Unfortunately, I gave Tiger a one-shot head start going into the final day and you just can’t do that.

I never looked at the scoreboard on the Sunday until the 18th hole, after I ran my first putt by the hole. I knew I would have a slick putt coming back downhill and I wanted to know how aggressive I could be. It was only then that I saw Tiger and I had split the field.

When we finished on 18, I didn’t actually realize it was a three-hole playoff. I don’t think Tiger expected it either because it was the first year we switched from sudden death. We were both expecting to go back to 18, but when they actually told us we were going to the 16th hole, it threw me off. At that point I had to start rethinking my strategy because I was two holes ahead of myself – and there wasn’t a whole lot of time to regroup.

I didn’t hit a good tee shot on 16 and had to lay up. But I almost made the chip. Tiger hit a good shot in there and made his famous putt – the one he ran after. On the 17th, we made two basic up-and-down pars. Then, on 18, he pulled his drive and I did the same thing. I think it was fatigue starting to set in. It wasn’t the best three holes from either of us, but I played those holes in even par and he played them one-under.

When you come that close and don’t win, you’re obviously dejected that you weren’t able to seal the deal. When Jim Nantz and Ken Venturi said it was the greatest thing ever, I said, “Come on guys, it wasn’t like Nicklaus and Watson at Turnberry or Nicklaus and Aoki at the US Open.” They were like, “It was way better than that!”

Although I didn’t win, it was the best experience of my career. In a way, I’ve been fortunate in that when I did play my best golf, it was against the best player in the world.

The unlikely Korean who finally burst Tiger’s Major bubble

Tiger’s victory over Bob May continued his feat of winning every Major he’d led after 54 holes. Perhaps it was no surprise that the man who would end that streak was a South Korean – a country where self-discipline and mental fortitude are in the DNA. What was surprising was that it was Y.E. Yang, rather than his more famous compatriot K.J. Choi.

Yang was 110th in the World Ranking when he stared Tiger down in the 2009 PGA Championship and got the World No.1 to blink. He did what no one had done before in coming from two shots back in the final round to win by three. Tiger had always found the big shots when it mattered, but this time Yang did a Tiger. At the 14th, the then-37-year-old holed a bunker shot for eagle. That put him one ahead – a lead he kept as he made his way down the 72nd fairway.

Under the most intense pressure, Yang curled a terrific hybrid around a tree to a pin he should never have been aiming at, to within eight feet. He sank the putt while Tiger bogeyed, broke into a huge smile, and then – in one of the more unusual sporting celebrations ever seen – lifted his golf bag above his head.

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About the author

Michael Catling
Features Editor

Michael Catling is Today’s Golfer‘s Features Editor and an award-winning journalist who specializes in golf’s Majors and Tours, including DP World, PGA, LPGA, and LIV.

Michael joined Today’s Golfer in 2016 and has traveled the world to attend the game’s biggest events and secure exclusive interviews with dozens of Major champions, including Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, and Justin Thomas.

Michael uses a Ping G driver, Ping G 3-wood, Ping G Crossover 3-iron, Ping G Series irons (4-PW), Ping Glide wedges (52º, 56º, 60º), TaylorMade MySpider Tour Putter, and Srixon AD333 golf ball.