Thriving early and in brutal weather conditions, Tiger Woods won the 2002 U.S. Open by outdistancing the field in the first two rounds and then withstanding a late charge from rivals Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.

For a fleeting moment, Woods actually appeared human - even vulnerable - as he sought to close out a victory at Bethpage State Park's Black Course, despite a comfortable four-stroke lead going into last Sunday.

Struggling with his short game, Woods bogeyed the final round's first two holes, missing a two-and-a-half foot putt on No. 2. That shocking development gave his closest pursuers a ray of hope, and Garcia and Mickelson capitalized by drawing within two strokes.

"When he started out with a couple of bogeys, I felt it would be a day that he would be catchable with a couple of birdies and a good, solid round," said Mickelson, who trailed Woods by five strokes on the final day.

But Woods, who shot the lowest first-round score at 3-under par and improved to 5-under while playing in a persistent second-round rainstorm, simply had too big of a cushion. This comfy lead helped him maintain a positive attitude even after the pair of bogeys.

"I kept telling myself going to the third hole, I'm not playing bad. I hit good shots on the first two holes; I just hit poor putts," said Woods. "I said, 'You know, get the mistakes out of your system, just continue playing well.'" And he did, eventually birdieing the seventh and 13th, which sealed the tournament.

Mickelson, who trailed Woods by as many as 10 strokes, often played aggressively as he caught up, refusing to play it safe on the back nine's difficult holes. But it was too late. In reality, Mickelson was done in by his three bogeys on the first five holes of round three, plus a momentum-killing double bogey on 15 in round one, when his uphill putt for par rolled right back down the course's most perilous green.

Woods ended up the only golfer to finish the tournament below par, scoring a 67-68-70-72-277 to go 3-under on the par-70 course. He reached 74% of the greens in regulation, ranking number one in that statistic. Mickelson (70-73-67-70-280) finished second, three strokes behind the leader, and even for the tournament. Jeff Maggert came in third at 2-over par.

Woods' victory earned him his second U.S. Open championship and his eighth Major title. With the British Open and PGA Championship remaining, he is halfway to becoming the first golfer to win the Grand Slam of golf in a single calendar year.

Coming into the Open, Woods had never lost a Major that he led after the second round. But in those situations, his game usually improved as the tournament progressed. This time, the overall field performed better over the final two days, while Woods fell back to the pack, providing fans with a little intrigue on the last day of competition.

Woods' first round was highlighted by several outstanding putts, including an 18-footer on 13 and a 20-footer on 18 for two of his five birdies. Clutch putts on seven and 17 helped him save some key pars as well. "I think a good par save is always better than a birdie," said Woods. "You feel so much better not losing a shot. And I made a couple out there that I had to make."

On Friday, Woods defied the lousy weather, which nearly saturated the course and hindered most of the other golfers. "It played so long," said Woods of the course that day. "The rain was really coming down hardest on seven. I absolutely killed a drive, and just ripped a 3-iron to get there, and just got it on the green. In the beginning of the week, when it was hot and humid, it was just a 3-wood and a 7- or 6-iron in there."

Woods was off his game on Saturday, especially struggling with inaccurate drives. "Because of that, I fired away from a lot of the flags. Just dump it on the green and try to make a 20, 30-footer - that's how I play," said Woods.

It wasn't until hole 15 that Woods finally birdied, and it couldn't have come at a better time. It stabilized his round and gave Woods breathing room from his closest competitor at the time, Padraig Harrington. He then birdied 17 to finish even for the round, with a four-stroke lead heading into Sunday.

Friday's wet and wild weather generated not only lots of umbrella sales, but also the tournament's biggest controversy. Frustrated over a bad second round, Garcia criticized the United States Golf Association for not suspending play in the afternoon. "If Tiger Woods had been out there, I think it would have been called," he said.

He claimed that players with early tee times, including Woods, had an unfair advantage, and even intimated that the USGA is more accommodating to golf's star player. "If you get the luck of getting the good side of the draw, like somebody seems to do in these kind of tournaments, and you're the best player in the world and you make a lot of putts, everything works," he said.

Garcia later left a note in Woods' locker to apologize, easing tensions between the two golfers who, at 22 and 26 respectively, comprised the youngest final pairing in Open history.

Typically beloved by fans for his youthful exuberance, Garcia also clashed with the vocal New York crowd. Upset over fans who yelled remarks as he prepared to swing, Garcia rudely gestured to the crowd during his poor second round, consequently souring his relationship with some of the spectators.

He would often try to wait out the noise, standing over the ball and waggling for very long periods of time, greatly slowing up the pace. After a +4 fourth round, he finished three-over, in fourth place.

On the other hand, Mickelson - clearly the crowd's darling - embraced the spectators, who were as passionate and loud a group as any golfer could recall. They even treated Mickelson to multiple renditions of Happy Birthday on Sunday, when he turned 32.

"The people of New York gave me one of the most incredible experiences that I've had in this game of golf. It's been wonderful," said Mickelson.

"The enthusiasm they showed the entire week is second to none," said Woods of the fans, who definitely made the tournament live up to its nickname, the "People's Open."

The 102nd annual U.S. Open earned that moniker because the Black Course was the first-ever truly public course to host the tournament. This made the victory all the more meaningful for Woods, who recalled what it was like growing up on municipal courses and sleeping in cars to wait for tee times. "That's where I really learned how to play golf," Woods said in a press conference just prior to the Open.

Now, with the tournament concluded, the common man gets his turn at the revitalized Black Course. The average weekend golfer who can't afford membership at a private club can bask in the privilege of playing a genuine U.S. Open course, following in the very footsteps of the champion, Tiger Woods.

Which is not all that different an experience from being a professional golfer right now, considering that when compared to Tiger, everyone else is a follower.