Never has the passing of a torch been as fleeting as it was epic as in the 2000 PGA Championship.
One of golf’s grandest events returns today, and if a youngster pops up to tee off alongside a legend, there will be echoes of the incredible scenes 25 years ago.
The event featured the iconic record winner Jack Nicklaus taking to the course for the final time, and he was joined by none other than Tiger Woods.
Woods is now widely considered as the greatest to ever do it, but even two-and-a-half centuries later, the scenes as he lined up with Nicklaus serve as a reminder as to why his status is still up for debate.
“The 1999 PGA Champion, from Windermere, Florida, Tiger Woods,” the announcer said, with Woods used to being introduced last as the best player on the course.
However, on this occasion there was one more name to go.
“Next on the tee, the 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1980 PGA Champion, from North Palm Beach, Florida, Jack Nicklaus.”
The moment sent shivers down the spines of those in attendance, with the aforementioned phrase ‘passing of the torch’ never more fitting.
It would be one of the only times Woods was upstaged in his career when it came to achievements, with the then-24-year-old already accelerating past many of the game’s icons.
Woods had four majors by this point, and had won the last two, and was a defending champion of the PGA Championship.
So to be there for Nicklaus’ farewell was as fitting as could be.
The pair were out with 1998 winner Vijay Singh and got to watch the 60-year-old miss the cut by just a single shot.
