In imaginary battles with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods modestly conceded that the outcome was "usually neck and neck". But none of these legendary figures of the game ever came near to the astonishing dominance which the world number one achieved here at Pebble Beach yesterday, when he won the 100th US Open by a record, 15-stroke margin from Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ernie Els in a tie for second place.
To describe it as a record-breaking effort is to grossly understate the extent of his achievement. In the process, Woods moved alongside Nicklaus as having won three major titles by the age of 24, though the Bear remains supreme with 18 titles to his credit.
Meanwhile, as four Europeans claimed places on the leaderboard, Padraig Harrington performed wonderfully well in finishing in a share of fifth place for prize money of $162,526 and a place in history.
He surpassed the share of seventh place by Greenore's Peter O'Hare in 1924, which was the lowest previous finish by an Irishman in this, the blue riband of American golf.
But the day, indeed the entire weekend belonged to the irrepressible Woods. Records tumbled in his wake. With a six-stroke lead after 36 holes, he surpassed a mark that had stood for 93 years; by opening up a 10-stroke lead after 54 holes, he surpassed the seven-stroke achievement of Jim Barnes in 1921 and his winning margin was four strokes wider than the record of Scotland's Willie Smith in 1899.
He also smashed the sub-par target of eight under, set by Jack Nicklaus in 1980 at Baltusrol and equalled by Lee Janzen at the same venue in 1993. But an 18foot birdie putt which slipped past the 72nd hole, meant he had to settle for equalling the record aggregate of 272, by Janzen and the Bear.
Indeed the formidable shadow of Nicklaus also looms large in another area. In terms of one-venue dominance, the Bear followed a victory in the then Crosby Tournament in 1972 with victory in the US Open. And he retained the Crosby the following year, all in the space of 53 weeks at Pebble Beach.
But it would be churlish to diminish the achievement of Woods by such asides. "It's hard to put into words, the thought of joining Arnie, Jack, Watson, Hogan, all those guys," he said. "To be coming up 18 and knowing that I only have to stay alive to be there with them."
He went on: "I came here to win, but things don't always work out that way. I played really well today, in fact all week and the key was that I made all the big par putts.
"I also had a sense of calm, reminiscent of Augusta '97. Even in the stormy conditions of Saturday, I always felt comfortable."
Indeed Saturday's amazing 71 was the round which did most to separate Woods from his rivals. And he knew it. It was achieved despite a triple-bogey seven at the third which seemed to throw the most slender of lifelines to the remainder of the field.
Just as quickly, however, their hopes were crushed as he successfully battled 30 m.p.h winds sweeping off the Pacific. It was a day when Jim Furyk shot a miserable 84, Hal Sutton slumped to an 82 and the reigning Masters champion, Vijay Singh, shot 80.
So Darren Clarke was in good company when shooting a third round of 83. "I'm embarrassed by the way I played on Saturday," he said after completing a final round of 72 for a 17-over-par aggregate of 301.
"I played very poorly and my score reflected that.
"It was nice to play better today when the conditions were much better." As the conqueror of Woods in the Andersen Consulting Matchplay at La Costa in February, he added: "He can be beaten, but this week he's playing a different game from the rest of us."
Apart from his undoubted golfing skills, which seem set to make him the ultimate player, Woods displayed remarkable maturity in his handling of a 10-stroke lead. Though it was highly unlikely that his rivals would birdie all the birdie holes and par all the bogey ones, he wasn't prepared to take risks.
So it was that while his opponents were following birdies with bogeys, he shot nine conservative pars on the outward journey to reach the turn in 35. The only time he was under pressure in that stretch was at the long sixth where a pushed second shot found heavy rough greenside.
He was still in trouble when an overzealous recovery flew through the green into the opposite rough. But just as he had done all weekend, he pitched to five feet past the pin and sank the putt for an extremely resourceful par.
It was only when his playing partner, Els, had failed repeatedly to make a worthwhile move, that Woods decided to cut loose. Only great players can produce birdies on demand and he proceeded to do it on the 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th, to get to the magical figure of 12 under par, which remains the stuff of nightmares for Gil Morgan, who tumbled from that mark in 1992 at this venue.
Woods then defended the score through his expertise as the finest reader of greens the game has seen in many years. And he went on to play a glorious bunker recovery to within a few inches of the hole at the short 17th.
Every shot was there, in the most impressive victory march imaginable. Indeed we may never again see a performance of such majesty, except from this genius, who will almost certainly continue to set standards with which none of us are familiar.
