Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:26 pm EDT
Believe it or not, we're at the end of the decade. And with that in mind, Devil Ball is looking back at the greatest moments in golf over the last ten years. Today, we focus on the finest PGA Tour rounds of the 2000s.
In creating this list, we selected rounds that balanced skill with historical significance, so rounds like Ty Tryon's 2001 Q-school win that made him the youngest player ever to earn a tour card or David Gossett's 59 at the 2000 Q-School narrowly missed the cut. (You'll get your chance to weigh in on our choices below.) And, as you'd expect, most of the rounds either feature or involved one certain player. You'll never guess who.
1. Davis Love III's 64, 2003 Players Championship, final round. In miserable conditions, Love put on a golfing clinic, notching five straight birdies to kick off a round that tied the lowest by a winner in the 30-year history of the Players.
2. Tiger Woods' 63, 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, second round. In one of the most dominant major rounds of the decade, Woods fired a white-hot 63 to put himself in position to win his 13th major. He was robbed of a record 62 when his birdie putt at the 18th spun out of the cup.
3. Y.E. Yang's 70, 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine, final round. We called it the greatest upset in golf history, and with the benefit of a few weeks of perspective, that might be overselling it by one spot. (Caddy Francis Ouimet's win at the 1913 U.S. Open probably takes it.) Still, Yang was the first ever to face down Tiger in a major, and his final approach on 18 will stand as one of the best pressure shots ever.
4. Retief Goosen's 71, 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, final round. On a day when the average score was over 78, Goosen held steady and shot only one over par in difficult conditions. Phil Mickelson briefly took the lead on 16, but a double-bogey on 17 crushed his hopes, and Goosen calmly went birdie-par-par to win the Open. Remarkably, Goosen needed only 24 putts on Shinnecock's slick greens.
5. Phil Mickelson's 69, 2004 Masters, final round. In one of the most emotional moments of the decade, Phil Mickelson finally captured his elusive major with one of the finer back-nines in Masters history - five birdies over the last seven holes, including the one on the 18th to win. He didn't jump very high, but he didn't need to.
6. Tiger Woods' 64, 2000 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, final round. Rallying from seven down to take the Pro-Am and extend his winning streak to six straight tournaments, Tiger demonstrated early on his ability to rebound from adversity and terrify the field.
7. Tom Watson's 65, 2009 British Open at Turnberry, first round. What a lovely opener by the golfing legend! So nice that he could come out and shoot so well one last time! Obviously, this was a one-day miracle, and he'd fade back into the field by Friday, right? Right?
8. Tiger Woods' 65, 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, first round. Tiger Woods launched perhaps the greatest four rounds in golf history with this opening 65. He would go on to win the U.S. Open, his third major, by 15 strokes, the greatest margin of victory in any major ever.
9. Ben Curtis' 69, 2003 British Open at Royal St. Georges, final round. Playing in his very first major ever, Curtis held off all challengers to win the unlikeliest major of the decade. Thomas Bjorn gave away a three-stroke lead over the final four holes, but Curtis stayed steady enough to win.
10. Bob May's 66, 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla, final round. May gave Woods one of his toughest challenges, taking the budding icon to the very brink before falling on the final hole of a three-hole playoff. With the win, Tiger captured his third straight major of the year.
All right, your turn. What did we miss? What's your favorite individual round of the 2000s? Have your say!
Previously:
The best LPGA rounds of the decade
Devil Ball is a golf blog edited by Jay Busbee. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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83 Comments
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Yang takes it all. Who cares if Tiger wins 1000 majors...to me I will always remember the little cricket that bit the leg of a Tiger and made it run and hide(while the cricket was yet to putt out).
Who cares if Yang ends up parking cars for a living. He is my hero. Not because I have something against Tiger mind you but because America of yesterday always loved the Underdog........ Not the cartoon..........the person or team.
How ironic that our best golfer is a Buddhist and got beaten by the Yang! Yin/yang in Buddhism? Yang means light and all things white. Yang wore all white that wonderful Sunday while Tiger had on black slacks. Guess what? Yin is darkness and night.
There was amazing symbolism in that win which I have yet to read. Just look up yin yang/wikipedia and you will have a field day with Yangs victory.
Instead of holding up his bag at the end he should have grabbed Williams or Woods and hoisted them up sideways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then chucked them in the pond!!
Yang,I will always love you for saving me a summer of heartbreak when Angel knocked off Phil and Glover knocked off Phil and Clink knocked off Tom...............
My head still hurts from hitting the ceiling when Yang sunk his last putt on 18 on Sunday!
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Tiger lost his cool because Yang stayed hot. This was the first time in Tigers life he had a smiling opponent staring down his neck who didnt give a hick about all Tigers mind games that Daddy Earl taught him.
This was David against Goliath all over again. Busbee says Ouimet was larger but I disagree. Did Ouimet have an audience of millions watching and a gallery of thousands following him? No. Not much pressure back in the stone ages of golf like there is now.
And how about the money? Woods is a billionaire but little sand flea Yang most likely had under a mill to his name......... And to hit that last shot when the whole shebang would have fallen apart with a lousy Tom Watson adrenaline approach????
Naa,I have played golf since 1968 and watched almost every major since the early 60's and nothing except Jack in 86 and even Tom losing comes close...........hehehe.
I like Tiger like I like the Yankees............without em we have nothing to root against so they are a necessary evil. Off the course I really like Tiger. On the course I like to see him challenged and sometimes beaten.
The 2009 PGA was a dream...............especially after Colonel Clink gave me a major headache and nights of nightmares when he beat Fearless Fosdik with his goony,shiney bald headed blasts. It was like watching a pro wrestler stomp on a smiling,kind old man in the middle of 5th Ave.in broad daylight with a cast of thousands looking on....................
what a weird summer of golf it was. Thank God for the ending.
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1. Tiger Woods 70 - 2008 U.S. Open 3rd Round (or any round for that matter, he was on one leg).
2. Padraig Harrington's 69 - 2008 British Open Final Round. (vicious winds and a hurt wrist. but had the will to win).
1 - 24 of 83