20 years ago: Tiger Woods' second PGA win at Medinah showed his evolution

Tiger Woods celebrates with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the 88th PGA Championship at the Medinah Country Club on Aug. 20, 2006, in Medinah, Illinois.

During the final round, Woods added a precise 60‑yard bunker shot with an open‑faced 8‑iron at No. 14 and a bold 255‑yard fairway‑wood to the green at No. 7 after pitching out earlier in the hole.

Woods began that Sunday tied with Luke Donald and two shots ahead of Mike Weir, but the outcome was rarely in doubt. The challengers behind him faded after three low‑scoring days on a soft Medinah course that encouraged birdies. Donald and Weir, who had shot 66 and 65 on Saturday, slipped backward with rounds of 74 and 73.

Shaun Micheel, the 2003 PGA champion, finished 13 under par, five shots behind Woods, to lead the rest of the field. It was Micheel’s first top‑10 finish of the season, but the tournament lacked the drama of Medinah’s 1999 edition, when Sergio Garcia’s late charge electrified the closing holes.

By the turn on Sunday, Woods held a four‑shot lead and faced no serious threat. As the field fell away, he pulled further clear, enjoying the finish and closing at 18‑under‑par 270. The victory tied his own PGA Championship record for lowest score and marked the fifth time he had won a major by at least five shots.

Tiger Woods lines up a putt on the 15th hole during the final round of the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club.

The margin came despite Woods saying afterward that he didn’t strike the ball particularly well in the final round.

“Tiger has a unique ability to play well when he thinks he’s not playing well,” Micheel said. “His ‘B’ game is better than most guys’ ‘A’ games.”

Asked when he believed the tournament was effectively over, Chris DiMarco responded without hesitation: “Saturday night.”

“You would think going to the first tee that he would feel the pressure because everybody is expecting him to win, and it’s the opposite,” said DiMarco, second to Woods in two majors. “The guy playing with him feels the most pressure ... (Woods) looks more comfortable leading on the back nine of a major than playing the first hole of a tournament, and that’s pretty scary. It’s unbelievable he can feel that comfortable.”

The result marked another abrupt turn in a season already full of shifts. Early‑summer talk of a potential Mickelson sweep ended at Winged Foot, and following Woods’ wins at Hoylake and Medinah, speculation shifted toward another possible Tiger Slam. With a fifth Masters title the following April and Oakmont looming the next June, the idea no longer seemed far‑fetched.

Luke Donald shakes hands with Tiger Woods before teeing off on the first hole during the final round of the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club.

Woods’ win at Medinah was his third straight victory and was his fourth top‑two finish after returning from the U.S. Open following the death of his father, Earl, in May of 2006. Woods said Earl’s influence was especially present on the greens Sunday, where he putted with remarkable confidence and precision.

Give the game’s most powerful and mentally resilient player a hot putter, and history often followed.

Woods told swing coach Hank Haney on Saturday, “You’ve never seen me putt good.” By Sunday, that claim no longer applied. Woods needed just 27 putts in the final round, highlighted by 40‑foot birdie putts at Nos. 6 and 8, and several key par saves during a closing 4‑under 68.

“Today was one of those special days on the greens,” Woods said after the win. “I just felt like if I got the ball on the green, I could handle it from there.”

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson wait to tee off on the first hole during the second round of the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club.

The numbers underscored the performance. Woods shot all four rounds in the 60s — 69‑68‑65‑68 — for just the second time in a major. He became the fifth golfer to win at least three PGA Championships and improved to 12‑for‑12 when leading or co‑leading a major after 54 holes. He also broke a tie with Walter Hagen for second on the all‑time major wins list.

With 40 majors played as a professional at this point, Woods continued to narrow the gap on Jack Nicklaus, who won just nine in his first 40 appearances. What was once a question of whether Woods would catch him had shifted to when — though Woods remained cautious. As Jeff Rude noted in a column after the Medinah win, "based on his 30 percent success rate in Grand Slam events, Woods is on pace to tie Nicklaus at the 2011 PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club."

“It’s still a long way away,” Woods said. “It’s not something that could happen next year.”

Even though he managed just three more majors, including the PGA in 2007, Woods proved at Medinah that when Sunday pressure arrived, he didn’t survive it — he thrived in it. And that, more than anything, remained the dividing line between him and everyone else.

Golfweek alumni Jeff Babineau and Jeff Rude contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Tiger Woods' 2006 PGA Championship victory at Medinah