RANKED: Tiger Woods’ 15 major wins

We rank and rate Tiger Woods’ 15 Major wins to determine which was the greatest of his career.

We rank and rate Tiger Woods’ 15 Major wins to determine which was the greatest of his career.

With the 2025 US Open underway at Oakmont, it got us thinking back to Tiger Woods’ incredible victory in the event 25 years ago. The 2000 US Open saw Tiger smoke the field in incomparable fashion, finishing 12-under-par while second place was a whopping 15 [FIFTEEN] shots behind.

But how does that Pebble Beach domination compare to Tiger’s other 14 major wins? Was his incredible and unexpected comeback win at the 2019 Masters even greater? Or his record-shattering first major win at Augusta in 1997? What about the often-overlooked 2007 PGA Championship?

To answer that question and come up with a definitive ranking, we took five key factors into account and scored them out of 10 – giving each of Tiger’s major wins a total mark out of 50.

Scoring System (Out of 50):

• Winning Margin (WM): How comprehensively Tiger beat the field.
• Level of Play (LP): Quality of Tiger’s game that week.
• Drama (D): Entertainment and tension factor.
• Historical Significance (HS): Impact on golf history.
• Record Breaking (RB): If Tiger shattered any performance or scoring records.

So, with the formula set, let’s get into ranking Tiger Woods’ 15 major wins, from worst (I’d love to have a “worst” major win) to best.

15. 2002 Masters

This was, at the time, your patented Tiger Woods major championship victory. After lurking just off the lead for two days, Woods suddenly found himself tied for the lead with Retief Goosen and a handful of strokes ahead of arch rivals Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, and Phil Mickelson with a round to play.

As often happened in those days, however, the rest of the field completely disintegrated in his presence and Woods played steady percentage golf to enjoy a comfortable yet entirely predictable three-stroke victory.

WM: 4 | LP: 6 | D: 4 | HS: 1 | RB: 1 | Total: 16/50

14. 2006 PGA Championship

Another win, another record – this time becoming the first man ever to win the PGA Championship twice at the same venue (Medinah). He was pushed hard for the victory, though – at least for a while.

Tied with Englishman Luke Donald, who was searching for his first major championship victory, Woods cruised to a final round 68 while his playing partner crumbled to a 74. Woods ended up winning by five shots from 2003 champion Shaun Micheel.

WM: 6 | LP: 6 | D: 5 | HS: 2 | RB: 3 | Total: 22/50 

13. 2005 Masters

Unusually, Woods arrived in Augusta for his 11th Masters winless in his 10 previous major championships. It was – not for the last time – a streak that was becoming a bit of an issue. And this was hard work, especially after an opening 74 left him seven shots behind leader Chris DiMarco.

Still six back at halfway, Woods made what was to prove (eventually) the killer thrust on day three, a 65 that bequeathed a three-shot edge going into the final round. And he needed every bit of that lead. After that chip on the 16th, bogeys on 17 and 18 dropped Tiger into a play-off with DiMarco, where a birdie at the first extra hole sealed a hard-fought win.

WM: 1 | LP: 7 | D: 8 | HS: 4 | RB: 3 | Total: 23/50 

12. 2007 PGA Championship

It was one of the few things Tiger Woods had never done in any Major Championship: shoot 63. But he ticked that off his to-do list on day two at a stifling Southern Hills in Tulsa.

In fact, he could hardly have come closer to becoming the first man to shoot 62 in a major. Just when it seemed to be heading for the bottom of the cup, his putt on the last green somehow lipped out.

No matter. In the end, Woods was a comfortable winner. Ahead by two shots at the halfway mark, he did what he always seemed to do in such situations – fairways and greens – and was never caught.

WM: 3 | LP: 9 | D: 5 | HS: 5 | RB: 4 | Total: 26/50 

11. 2002 US Open

The middle of Woods’ three “national Opens”, as his compatriots refer to it, was his second major title of the year and set in motion talk of another – this time even more historic – “Tiger Slam”.

That wasn’t to be, courtesy of the Scottish weather at Muirfield and Ernie Els a month later, but the three-under-par aggregate Woods shot at Bethpage was impressive enough.

Over what he called the “narrowest US Open course I’ve ever played,” he was the only man in red figures after 72 holes, three shots clear of perennial runner-up Phil Mickelson.

WM: 4 | LP: 8 | D: 7 | HS: 5 | RB: 5 | Total: 29/50 

10. 2005 Open Championship

Back at St Andrews, Woods yet again underlined his dominance on golf’s ultimate strategic venue with a five-stroke victory over Colin Montgomerie.

Perhaps just as significantly, it marked Jack Nicklaus’ last appearance in the game’s oldest event. On the course where he had twice won previously, the Golden Bear went out on a typically high note with a 15-foot birdie on the final green.

That day was Jack’s, but yet again the week belonged to Woods. “If ever a course was built for him, this is it,” sighed Monty.

WM: 5 | LP: 8 | D: 7 | HS: 6 | RB: 5 | Total: 31/50 

9. 1999 PGA Championship

Perhaps most memorable for the shot Sergio Garcia played from the foot of a tree with his eyes shut – closely followed by a run, skip, and jump up Medinah’s 16th fairway – this was Woods’ second major victory. And one of the narrowest.

Knowing he needed two pars to win, the then 23-year-old made a clutch eight-footer on the penultimate hole, then two-putted from distance on the final green to edge out the even-younger Spaniard by a single shot.

It was billed as the beginning of a long and hard-fought rivalry, but in the years since, Woods has added 13 more majors to Garcia’s one.

WM: 2 | LP: 8 | D: 9 | HS: 8 | RB: 5 | Total: 32/50 

8. 2000 PGA Championship

While Woods routinely saw off big-name challengers, he sometimes had trouble beating less-likely individuals. This was one such case.

In an epic duel that spilled over into a three-hole play-off, Bob May shot 66 around Valhalla three days in a row and still found himself beaten. Typically, Woods made vital putts, most notably a sliding five-footer on the 72nd to join the playoff.

“This was my most exciting major from a player’s standpoint,” said Woods. “Usually you can just kind of cruise in with pars and win. That wasn’t going to be the case today.” No indeed.

WM: 1 | LP: 8 | D: 10 | HS: 7 | RB: 7 | Total: 33/50

7. 2001 Masters

By itself, this was just another major victory for Woods. But his second win at Augusta National – this time by two shots from David Duval – had a much wider significance.

For two months at least, Woods would hold all four Grand Slam titles, a feat comparable only with Bobby Jones’ annexing of the previous version back in 1930. The only caveat this time, of course, was that the so-called “Tiger Slam” was not accomplished in a calendar year.

No matter. No one had ever achieved the feat before and no one has managed to do it again since.

WM: 3 | LP: 7 | D: 5 | HS: 10 | RB: 10 | Total: 35/50 

6. 2019 Masters

Tiger’s most recent and, perhaps, most unexpected victory.

Tiger’s 15th major win was never supposed to happen. Not after the scandals, the surgeries, the mugshot. Not after a decade of doubt and a fused spine that left him learning how to walk, sit, and swing again. But against all odds, it did – and at Augusta, the cathedral of his career.

At 43, Tiger outlasted a leaderboard full of stars in their prime – Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Francesco Molinari, Xander Schauffele – and closed with the kind of strategic, steady brilliance that had defined his early years. It was the first time he’d ever won a major coming from behind on Sunday. Fittingly, he did it with smarts and precision rather than raw power.

He was 13 under par for the week and shot a two-under-par 70 on the final day. Not awful, clearly. But also far from spectacular.

But there is more to golf – especially at the elite level – than mere statistics. And for those who knew what they were looking at, Tiger’s play over the closing 18 holes was something of a masterclass.

As other, high-profile contenders around him faltered, the 15-time major champion went serenely about his business, hitting the shots required, all the way from first to last. Not once did he get impatient. Not once did he hit the wrong shot at the wrong time.

The moment on the 18th green, hugging Charlie in almost the exact spot Earl embraced him in ’97, was pure sporting poetry.

A victory for resilience, for legacy, and for the millions who never stopped believing. In terms of emotional impact and historical weight, this one is right up there with anything he’s ever done.

WM: 2 | LP: 8 | D: 9 | HS: 10 | RB: 7 | Total:  36/50 

5. 2006 Open Championship

This was a clinic. On a burned yellow Hoylake course, Woods used his driver once in 72 holes en route to a two-shot victory over fellow American Chris DiMarco.

The now three-time Open champion hit long iron after long iron from both tee and fairway. For links golf devotees, it was a throwback to when the game at the highest level was played more on the ground than in the air.

This was also Woods’ most openly emotional victory. Only a few weeks after the death of his father, Earl, he burst into tears and fell into caddie Steve Williams’ arms after holing the winning putt.

WM: 3 | LP: 10 | D: 7 | HS: 9 | RB: 8 | Total: 37/50 

4. 2000 Open Championship

Only three weeks after his 15-shot US Open victory at Pebble Beach, Woods underlined his superiority with an eight-shot win at St Andrews. In doing so, he completed the career Grand Slam, becoming the youngest and only fifth man ever to do so.

Perhaps almost as remarkably, he did not find one of the countless bunkers. His 269 aggregate was the lowest-ever Open score at golf’s most famous venue.

There was time, too, for a touch of symbolism. As Woods waited to begin his second round, Jack Nicklaus (who missed the cut by six shots) was putting out on the adjacent 18th green. A symbolic changing of the guard.

WM: 8 | LP: 10 | D: 1 | HS: 10 | RB: 10 | Total: 39/50 

3. 2008 US Open

No one has ever won a major playing on one leg. But the then 32-year-old Tiger Woods came close at Torrey Pines when he claimed his third US Open in what would be his last appearance of 2008. Even a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and stress fractures in his left tibia weren’t enough to prevent the greatest golfer of his generation from annexing his 14th major title.

Truly, it was epic stuff on what was supposed to be the final round, the highlight surely the bumpy 10-foot putt Woods holed on the 72nd green to force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate. But even that wasn’t enough to decide the winner. Tied on 71, the pair went one more extra hole before Woods prevailed with an anti-climactic par.

“This is probably the greatest tournament I ever had,” said the champion. “But I’m glad I’m done. I really don’t feel like playing any more.”

And he didn’t. Not in 2008 anyway. Two days later, Woods underwent reconstructive surgery on his left knee. Even despite 2019’s incredible Masters triumph, some might say he hasn’t quite been the same man – or golfer – since.

WM: 1 | LP: 10 | D: 10 | HS: 10 | RB: 9 | Total: 40/50

2. 1997 Masters

In the beginning, there was an inexperienced young pro who, playing with defending champion Nick Faldo, was four-over through nine. By the end, golf had, at 21, the youngest-ever Masters winner and a new black superstar.

In cruising to a 12-shot win, Tiger Woods reduced Augusta National to little more than pitch-and-putt, routinely hitting short iron second shots into even the par 5s. Records tumbled. Woods’ aggregate of 270 was a Masters low.

His nine-stroke 54-hole lead was the biggest ever. And he played the last three rounds in a record 16-under par (66-65-69).

WM: 9 | LP: 10 | D: 2 | HS: 10 | RB: 10 | Total: 41/50 

1. 2000 US Open

This was as close as professional golf has come to seeing total domination. The only man under par for 72 holes – and the first-ever to record a double-digit under-par winning score at a US Open – Tiger claimed the 100th US Open title by 15 shots.

Other records tumbled too. This was the largest winning margin ever in a major. And Woods became the first golfer ever to win the United States Junior, Amateur, and Open Championships.

The tributes were many and fulsome, but future US Open winner, Michael Campbell, perhaps put it best: “The man is a freak of nature, worlds apart from us in every way.”

WM: 10 | LP: 10 | D: 2 | HS: 10 | RB: 10 | Total:  42/50 

So there it is. One legend. Fifteen majors. Whether it was the record margins, the historic milestones, the comeback magic, or the raw, limping brilliance, Tiger gave golf fans countless moments they’ll never forget. And, who knows? Maybe there’s still more to come.

• When will Tiger Woods play next?

• Tiger Woods delivers stinging response to Colin Montgomerie after retirement comments