Roundtable: Can Tiger go back-to-back?

Curtis Strange remains the only player to win the U.S. Open twice in a row in the last 56 years. Our roundtable of experts offers their thoughts on whether Tiger Woods can accomplish this special feat this week at Bethpage.

By PGATOUR.COM Staff

Curtis Strange was the last golfer to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles. That was 20 years ago. In fact, Strange is the last player to go back-to-back in the last 56 years. So what's that say about defending champion Tiger Woods' chances this week at Bethpage Black? PGATOUR.COM's writers weigh in.

HELEN ROSS: You can never put anything past Tiger. We all know that. You need look no farther than last year at Torrey Pines, where he beat Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff with an all-but-shredded ACL and a pair of stress fractures in his legs.

Just six players have won consecutive U.S. Opens, though, and Strange was the first in 39 years. Even the great Jack Nicklaus, whose records Tiger covets, didn’t -- and he won the U.S. Open four times.  

That said, Tiger has successfully defended the other three majors, so why not the U.S. Open? And at a venue where he’s previously won, no less? Look at his record, though. Tiger hasn’t finished in the top 10 the year after either of his other two U.S. Open titles.

That doesn’t mean he’s not the greatest player the game has ever seen. It’s simply a testament to how deep the competition is and how capricious that game can be.

T.J. AUCLAIR: Those historical roadblocks mean absolutely nothing. Tiger is the most dominating force to ever hit the world of golf, up to and including Jack Nicklaus. Some argue that Tiger doesn’t have the competition that Nicklaus faced in his day. That might be so, but Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Geoff Ogilvy and Paul Casey -- among a host of others -- are pretty darn good if you ask me.
 
Tiger is the champion that he is not only because of the game he possesses, but also because of the aura that surrounds him. It’s intimidating and leaves much of the competition in awe whether they’re honest enough to admit it or not.
 
With that in mind, Tiger makes history. He doesn’t let it scare him away. The fact that Strange was the last to go back-to-back at the U.S. Open 20 years ago has no bearing on Tiger. In fact, if he does pull it off at Bethpage Black, there’s a great chance he’ll make it three U.S. Open wins in a row next summer at Pebble Beach, where he won by 15 shots in 2000.

STAN AWTREY: The fact that Curtis Strange was able to repeat in 1988 and 1989 is remarkable. The U.S. Open is without question the most difficult of the majors to win. To win it back-to-back is an unwordly act. And while Tiger is unworldly, I don't believe he'll win at Bethpage Black.

He did win there before, but part of that 2002 Open was played under horrific conditions and Tiger was younger and tougher than everyone else. Bethpage has since been modified and the setup won't be as penal. This alone allows more players into the mix.

Besides, I'm still not completely convinced that Tiger is completely back to being 100 percent physically nor is he putting as well as he needs to be on a U.S. Open venue (although he did OK at Muirfield Village).
 
The Best Player in the World doesn't always win. Sometimes at the U.S. Open you wait for it all week and end up with someone out of the blue in the winner's circle Sunday afternoon. That's like buying tickets to see the Police, only to find out the three guys on stage actually work for the Sheriff's Department.

MELANIE HAUSER: There wasn't a tougher son of a gun in the late '80s than Curtis Strange. I was there for both his Open wins -- and that closing 75 at Medinah in 1990 that cost him a chance at a three-peat -- and it was incredible. He won the second one with ... well, let's just say life things on his mind. Looking back, yes, it was Tiger-esque -- from the stare to the focus to the absolute belief in what he could do. In what he wanted to prove.

Twenty years later, the best in the world tees it up with yet another chance to go back-to-back -- that would be his third attempt at it if you're counting -- and I like his odds. The statement he made by winning at Murifield Village rattled the ground. And set the stage.

He blew us away last year at Torrey Pines, but with all that has happened since it seems longer ago. His show at Bethpage in 2002 was impressive -- a birdie on 18 the first day pretty much did in the field. Honestly, I think he can be the first in 20 years to repeat. He'll do it one day, why not now? His game's on cruise control, he's confident and the knee hasn't been a question in a long while. Yes, it's the Open and this major often chooses the winner. Let's put it this way -- if he doesn't do it, he'll be damn close.

CRAIG DOLCH: I stopped doubting Tiger Woods a long time ago. About the time he won his first Masters by 12 shots.

But the U.S. Open is a different animal. It's not just up to the competitor. A lot depends on the weather and how much the U.S. Golf Association stretches the envelope with its course setup. The last time the U.S. Open was played at Bethpage Black, the setup was almost comical, with tee boxes set so far back in bad weather that some players could barely reach the fairway.

Yet, just like his idol Jack Nicklaus, when Woods shows up at a U.S. Open and hears others complain, he knows that's one less person he'll have to beat.

If Woods drives the ball the way he did at the Memorial Tournament, he's a cinch to join Curtis Strange. But remember this: Strange put so much effort into winning the U.S. Open twice (as well as third try, in 1990), he never won another official PGA TOUR event.

MIKE McALLISTER: Let's face it -- if Tiger doesn't win Sunday, it won't be because of a history lesson. It'll be because the dead-aim accuracy that he displayed off the tees at the Memorial will have disappeared. Or because he's too far back going into the final round and can't make up enough ground (remember, he's never rallied from a 54-hole deficit to win a major). Or because one of the other 155 competitors has an unbelievable week and would win even if Nicklaus, Palmer, Hogan, Jones, Hagen, Player, Tom Morris (both Old and Young), Watson, Vardon, Sarazen, Snead and Trevino were joining Tiger in the field.

And if Woods does emerge victorious Sunday? Well, then I fear we're going to have a similar discussion next year: Will Tiger defy history and join Willie Anderson (1903-1905) as the only players to win three consecutive U.S. Opens?

BRIAN WACKER: This is probably the hardest major for Woods to win given how wild he can sometimes be off the tee, the depth of the field, the sometimes quirkiness of the tournament and the fact that there is graduated rough this time around at Bethpage. But it's also probably one of the better U.S. Open venues for his game. Bethpage is a big brute of a golf course and Tiger tends to fare well on those.

Bottom line: History means nothing, unless it's Tiger making his own by becoming the first player in 20 years to win back-to-back U.S. Opens, something that's more likely to happen than not.