How does Jordan Spieth's year compare to Tiger Woods' record-breaking 2000?

Jordan Spieth won the first two majors of the year and narrowly failed to make it three, but how does his performance in 2015 stack up to the record-breaking Tiger Woods campaign of 2000?

Masters

Woods arrived at Augusta on the back of three wins and three runner-up placings in seven starts, but he endured a torrid first round as he posted a 75 including two double-bogeys. He struggled again on day two and looked in danger of missing the cut - a 72 getting him into the weekend with nothing to spare, and nine shots behind leader David Duval. Woods rallied with a best-of-the-day 68 on Saturday, but a six-shot deficit was too much to make up as he could only match the final-round 69 of impressive victor Vijay Singh.

Things didn't go to plan for Tiger in the 2000 Masters

Spieth set the pulses racing with a stunning, opening 64 that was a remarkable three shots better than anybody else, and the young Texan followed up one superb round with another as a flawless 66 extended his lead to five shots. His 36-hole score of 130 set a new Masters record, tied the major championship best, and his five-stroke lead also equalled the tournament record. Spieth set a new Masters benchmark for the 54-hole score at 200, and another 70 on the final-day completed a four-shot win and matched Woods' 1997 Masters record of 18 under par, although he missed a five-foot par putt on the last to miss out on the outright best. The first wire-to-wire winner since Ray Floyd in 1976 also became the first player in Masters history to reach 19 under when he birdied 15, while his 28 birdies over the week set another record, beating Phil Mickelson's previous mark by three.

Spieth slips on the Green Jacket after his record-breaking Masters win

US Open

Woods produced arguably the finest performance of his career at Pebble Beach, blitzing the field by a remarkable 15 shots and breaking several records in the process. He was in a class of his own throughout the tournament, opening with rounds of 65 and 69 to open up a six-shot lead at the halfway stage. Despite an early triple-bogey in round three, Woods salvaged a 71 in brutal conditions - only Ernie Els broke par - and set a new 54-hole record with his 10-shot lead. The final round was a procession as Woods closed with a flawless 67 to finish on 12 under - the first double-digit winning score in US Open history. His aggregate of 272 tied the tournament record, which was previously set on par-70 courses, and his 15-shot win remains a major championship benchmark that may never be surpassed.

Woods was in a class of his own at Pebble Beach, winning by a remarkable 15 shots

Spieth found himself tied for the lead at the halfway stage at Chambers Bay after rounds of 68 and 67 got him to five under with Patrick Reed, who faded on day three as Spieth's steady 71 retained a share at the top with Jason Day, Branden Grace and Dustin Johnson. Spieth suddenly found himself three clear of the field after a birdie at 16, but he opened the door when he double-bogeyed the next. He hit the par-five 18th in two and two-putted for birdie, but Johnson birdied 17 and knocked his second to 12 feet at the last. Johnson's putt for the win scuttled four feet past, and he missed the return to gift Spieth his second straight major.

Spieth lifts the US Open trophy following Dustin Johnson's last hole mishap

Open Championship

More records tumbled as Woods became the fifth player in history, and the youngest, to complete the career grand slam of all four majors - appropriately at the Home of Golf. A second round 66 earned him a three-shot lead at halfway and he never looked like buckling over the weekend. A 67 on Saturday doubled his lead, and a rock-solid closing 69 completed a comprehensive eight-shot victory. His winning score of 19 under remains a record for any major championship.

Tiger Woods moved half way towards the 'Tiger Slam' with an emphatic eight-shot win at St Andrews

The one that got away from Spieth this year as he finished just a shot out of the eventual three-man play-off at St Andrews, won by Zach Johnson. Spieth began with a confident 67, but he struggled to combat the blustery conditions during a second round that took two days to complete and returned a 72 that left him five behind leader Dustin Johnson. But he bounced back with a sparkling 66 that got him within one of the lead heading to the last day, and a birdie at 16 lifted him into a share of the lead. However, he failed to save par from 10 feet at the treacherous Road Hole and was unable to find the birdie he needed at the last to get into the play-off.

Spieth battled the elements at the Old Course and came up one short of a place in a play-off

PGA Championship

Woods made it three majors in a row, but unlike his dominant performances in the previous two, he was pushed all the way by American journeyman Bob May before prevailing in a play-off at Valhalla. Woods and Scott Dunlap jostled for the lead over the first two rounds, with the holder earning a one-shot halfway advantage after adding a 67 to his opening 66. Woods remained one clear after a third round 70 as May surged into contention with a second straight 66, and he made it three on the bounce to pile the pressure on the favourite. But Woods got up and down from sand at the last to tie, and a birdie and two pars in the three-hole play-off proved enough to retain his crown.

Tiger Woods held off a valiant challenge from Bob May at Valhalla

Another near-miss for Spieth, who replaced Rory McIlroy as world No 1 despite falling short in his bid to become only the third player in the modern era to win three majors in a calendar year. An uncharacteristically average day with the putter saw Spieth open with a 71, before moving up the leaderboard with a much-improved 67. Spieth went in to the weekend five shots off the pace, but birdied six of his final eight holes to close a bogey-free 65 and move within two of Day. Playing in the final pairing, Spieth was unable to gain any serious ground on the Australian as Day closed out a convincing three-shot victory. 

Spieth couldn't prevent Jason Day claim a maiden major title.

Tiger Woods misses out at Wyndham Championship

Davis Love becomes the third oldest winner in PGA history after fourth round of 64

The wheels came off Tiger Woods’ Wyndham Championship challenge in the final round at Greenboro

Davis Love shot a superb final-round six-under 64 to become the third oldest winner in PGA Tour history at the Wyndham Championship.

The 51-year-old finished on 17 under par — one shot clear of Jason Gore — to win the event for the third time as Tiger Woods’ challenge fell away after a triple-bogey seven at the 11th hole.

The former world number one also bogeyed the next but recovered with four birdies to card a level-par round of 70 and finished four shots adrift of Love on 13 under.

Love, however, did not make the best of starts as he bogeyed the opening hole but responded to that disappointment in the best possible fashion with birdies at the next three holes.

He then sunk an eagle three at the par-five fifth before following up with yet another birdie.

He dropped his second shot of the day the seventh to turn in 31 and an eagle at the 15th was enough to keep him out in front.

Woods, who failed to qualify for the FedExCup play-offs with his tied for 10th-place finish, made a solid start, turning in a level-par 35 after one bogey and a birdie.

But disaster then struck with that triple bogey at 11th and another dropped shot at the next and, although he turned things around, the damage had already been done.

Overnight leader Gore birdied the fourth before dropped shots at the 13th and 14th appeared to end his bid for victory but an eagle at the 15th gave him hope.

He had a long putt for birdie on the 18th to force a play-off but could not convert the opportunity and Davis held on for victory.

“Any victory now is going to be really sweet when you’re over 50,” Love told pgatour.com.

He trails only Sam Snead, who won his last Greensboro title when aged 52 in 1965, and Art Wall on the PGA Tour’s age list.

“To have your name thrown out there with Sam Snead at any point is incredible,” Love added. “For some reason, this tournament has been good to guys in my age group.”

Woods, meanwhile, had appeared poised to challenge on Sunday morning but ultimately his round of 70 meant he fell well outside of the cut-off point of 125 he needed to reach to qualify for the FedExCup play-offs.

“I gave myself a chance, and I had all the opportunity in the world today to do it,” Woods said. “I didn’t get it done.

“I just wasn’t able to get any kind of roll early. I had my chances to get it going. I just never did.”

Tiger Woods deserves Firestone exemption, says Jordan Spieth

Tiger Woods and Firestone go together like, well, Tiger and Torrey, or Tiger and Bay Hill, but the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational show will go on without the 8-time winner for just the 2nd time in Woods’ career.

Tiger Woods has lifted eight of his 79 PGA Tour trophies at Firestone Country Club, which makes his absence from this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational unfathomable to David Feherty.

"Tiger not at Firestone … it’s like a nativity scene without one of the wise men," the golf analyst and wit told Dave Shedloski earlier this week from the site of the final tuneup for the PGA Championship.

Feherty, who believes Woods made progress in his T18 finish last week at the Quicken Loans National (his best close since a T17 at Augusta), was not the only golf watcher to rue the lack of the former world No. 1 at a course he has dominated throughout the years. In fact, Tiger pal and a Bridgestone favorite, Jason Day, pretty much lobbied for WGC organizers to present Woods with a lifetime achievement award for his other-worldly performances on the Akron track.

"You win the bloody tournament eight times, you probably should," Day said on Tuesday about Woods earning his way in through some sort of special exemption for players who have won an event so many times.

"It's kind of weird to not see him playing the events that we're usually used to seeing him playing. This is one of those events that he plays well and wins a lot here," Day observed. "Eight times, it's just amazing to even think about. Some guys are just hoping for one WGC win, let alone eight times at one venue."

Second-ranked Jordan Spieth, the winner of two grand slam events this season, echoed Day's sentiments.

"I’m surprised, given WGC has more impact on world ranking, has more impact on FedEx Cup, has more impact in general, that there isn’t some form of a category like there is for majors," Spieth said on Wednesday from Firestone. "Not even just that it’s this one specifically, but if you win a certain amount of them or whatever -- I mean, I don’t know how they’d do it, but I think that it is a bit surprising."

Woods, himself, did not quite know what to make of the predicament that left him on the outside looking in at those teeing it up this week in Ohio.

"I'm not playing Reno [Barracuda Championship] this week or Bridgestone, which is kind of interesting because I've won Bridgestone, what, eight times and I'm not eligible. I didn't qualify," he said during Monday’s media day promoting next month’s Deutsche Bank Championship. "You get into those big events by winning golf tournaments. Fortunately enough, I've won the PGA a few times and I'm going to be able to play in that event."

But not the Bridgestone, thanks to his plummeting from the top of the world rankings to his current 262nd place. Thursday’s start to the contest will mark just the second time in his career that Woods will have missed the Firestone tilt, after injury kept him out of the competition in 2008.

And while Woods noted that there was no complex formula to getting into the DBC and the other three FedEx Cup playoff games ("Just win" at Whistling Straits), doing so on a course that has been his stomping grounds over the years has not been the easiest of feats of late.

Woods has won at Torrey Pines and Bay Hill eight times each as well, and has earned seven titles at Doral. Even such personal playgrounds, though, have not been kind to the 14-time major champion recently as he struggles to regain a semblance of his old form.

Here’s how Tiger has fared in the past two years at three venues he had previously conquered:

Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance Open)

• 2014 — first 54-hole missed cut of his career
• 2015 — Withdrawal

Bay Hill (Arnold Palmer Invitational)

• 2014 — Did not play
• 2015 — DNP

Doral (WGC-Cadillac Championship)

• 2014 — T25
• 2015 — DNP

Despite his illustrious history at Firestone, recent results illustrate that no one knows how Tiger would have done this week, but Feherty, for one, will miss watching him bid for a record ninth victory.

"It’s extraordinary to watch him at his best, and it’s equally extraordinary when he’s at the bottom," Feherty said. "He never does anything more than about 8,000 percent."

This week, as Day tees it up with Rickie Fowler in the first two rounds at Firestone, and Jordan Spieth tries to topple an injured Rory McIlroy from his No. 1 world ranking throne, Woods will likely be giving 8,000 percent to honing his eye-foot coordination with daughter Sam and son Charlie.

"All I do these days is play soccer with my kids," Tiger said last week. "That’s all I do, run, run, run around playing soccer."