When Bill Belichick, after coaching Tom Brady and his New England Patriots to an historic come-from-waaaaay-behind victory in the first-ever overtime Super Bowl game Sunday night, confirmed his spot in this week’s Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, it had us recalling another improbable rebound. This one occurred 17 years ago, not on the gridiron, but on the same links track where Coach Hoodie will put his 16 handicap to the test come Thursday.
Bill Belichick playing Pebble Beach reminds us of Tiger Woods’ miraculous 2000 comeback
No Tiger at Pebble but his 2000 comeback still shocks and awes.
That Tiger Woods — absent from the celebrity-heavy event since 2012 (when eventual winner Phil Mickelson torched him by 11 shots) — authored that long-ago rally was hardly surprising. After all, the then-world No. 1 was at the peak of his glory days and years ahead of the back problems that would force him to withdraw after the first round in Dubai last week and cast serious doubt about how many more rounds Woods has in him.
But on Throwback Thursday, let’s return to yesteryear — Y2K, to be exact — to relive Woods’ incredible resurgence from seven shots back with nine holes to play. In golf’s version of the Pats overcoming a 25-point deficit midway through the third quarter, Tiger engineered a comeback for the ages on Feb. 7, 2000.
Spotting Matt Gogel a five-stroke lead to start the final round, Woods began his revival on the par-5 15th as the 54-hole co-leader faltered with bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 and Tiger went on a tear. He eagled his approach shot from some 100 yards on 15, nearly did so again on the par-4 16th that he birdied from two feet, and ended with a birdie on the 18th for a closing 64.
Like the Falcons — whom Pats haters argue choked the game away rather than give Belichick/Brady credit for a miraculous turn-around (honestly, both factors came into play) — Woods’ opponent coughed up a few shots to put Tiger in line for the win. Gogel posted four bogeys in his final nine holes as Woods went on to prevail by two strokes.
Tiger’s sixth straight PGA Tour victory, going back to 1999, turned out to be just the beginning of a nine-win season that involved three major titles, including the U.S. Open at Pebble in June that he grabbed by a record 15 shots. That performance launched the “Tiger Slam” that culminated with his 2001 Masters win.
At 41 and hampered by back spasms after undergoing three back surgeries since March 2014, Tiger appears to be on his last legs, with no miraclulous comebacks in his future. But 39-year-old Brady (not in the field this week at Pebble) and Belichick appear far from done torturing the rest of the NFL.
Indeed, as a PGATour.com reader prognosticated, perhaps Belichick can pull a little Super Bowl LI magic out of his golf bag if he and his pro partner, Ricky Barnes, go down by 10 on Sunday and “shoot a 59 [to] come from behind to win.”
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