Rich Beem arrived at the 84th PGA Championship ranked 73rd in the official world golf rankings, and had started what would be a career-defining two-win season in 2002 ranked a meager 284th.
The two-time Tour winner at the time had only played in three majors to that point, with two missed cuts and a tie for 70th — nothing to really hang your hat on.
Beem started that fateful Sunday three shots behind 54-hole leader Justin Leonard, and Tiger Woods began his final-round chase five shots behind the lead.
"I was ready for a big finish. I was ready for a big breakthrough," Beem recalls of the feelings he had that Sunday morning in anticipation for the biggest round of his life.
But who could blame him for desiring a big finish? After all, the 31-year-old had just beaten a strong field at the International in Denver only two weeks prior, and he had also finished solo second a few weeks before that at the Kemper Open in Washington, D.C.
So nearly a quarter-century after that final putt dropped and the affable Texan did that smooth dance as he relished the newfound spotlight, does it feel like it's been 24 years?
"Physically, oh yeah it does, and let me tell you, time flies. I think the Fast and Furious movies were just coming out before I won (2001), so man, that's wild," Beem recalls. "I mean there's lots of things that feel like yesterday and there's a lot of things that feel like forever and ever ago."
So what specifically feels like forever and ever ago?
"Well, my body for one," Beem cracked. "My kids too. My son just graduated college (University of Minnesota), and he wasn't even in the picture back then when I won at Hazeltine. So you know, honestly it's just life itself. It's just the fact that, you know, I never kind of expected to be doing what I'm doing now (broadcasting for Sky Sports). I never kind of thought that far in advance."
Beem admits that even if aspects of that magical week at Hazeltine feel like forever ago, there are still moments that don't quite feel like they were over two decades ago.
"I can still see the shots that I hit, feel the shots that I pulled off," Beem said. "I can't recreate them, of course, but you know, I can still kind of see and feel what I did there when people ask me, and that part is always fun to recall."
Asked which shot he's most often called upon to recreate, Beemer — as he's affectionately nicknamed — says it isn't a golf shot but rather a celebratory moment on Hazeltine's final green.
"Without a doubt, the first one everybody wants me to do is to recreate the dance. I mean everybody wants me to do that, and I'm telling you that's never gonna happen in a million years," Beem laughs.
But in the end, Beem is the guy who delivered his best golf when he absolutely needed it, culminating in a 4-under 68 and ultimately a one-shot win against a red-hot Tiger Woods, who had already won two majors earlier that season at the Masters and the U.S. Open.
Beem then recollected a couple of the key moments he felt were critical during that sunny and eventful afternoon in Minneapolis.
"The second shot on the par-5 11th, fairway wood into that green that not many players were hitting all week. I remember the feeling of hitting that shot and thinking, 'Wow, that was really good.'"
More than just really good. Beem smashed his fairway wood and demonstrably waved his club back and forth immediately after, yelling "come on, come on" to the shot in mid-air as it eventually listened and bounded up to 8 feet from the hole. Beem would go on to call that shot the best fairway wood he's ever struck, and the eagle he made was the only one that week on the hole.
Another moment that sticks out was hitting the fairway on the difficult par-4 16th.
"I remember walking down the hill to 16 and I had the honor, and I went down there and pulled out my fairway wood, stuck the tee in the ground and hit it as fast as I could," Beem said. "My caddie didn't say anything to me. I don't even remember talking about a line off the tee. I think I already knew where I needed to hit it. I just wanted it over with."
"I was swinging it great, so that felt good to just go after that shot, especially with Tiger on a roll in front of me," Beem said.
Beem's emphatic raised hands after converting his 40-foot birdie putt on 16 — the hardest hole of the tournament — became an iconic image on his way to a thrilling victory over Woods.
Woods delivered some indelible images himself over the final few holes and brought unmistakable electricity to the finish at Hazeltine, enthusiastically fist-pumping and sending his galleries a jolt of energy like only he could as he birdied his final four holes in a row.
For Beem to hear the Tiger roars just one hole in front of him from 15 through 18 must have been impossible to ignore, which made ultimately sealing the deal an even more impressive feat.
Additionally, to have beaten Woods at essentially the height of his powers would seem an accomplishment most pros would relish. However, for Beem, this defining moment was more about beating all of his peers that week and claiming a major — not just beating the world's dominant No. 1 player.
"I think that (beating Tiger) only kind of came into my mind many, many years later," Beem said. "I think that more people focus on that instead of me, because it doesn't matter that I just beat him. I beat everybody. I won a tournament. I didn't — you know, I'm sure that anybody that's ever won a major is always gonna say, 'Well, listen, I beat Tiger, you know?' It's like, well, I know, but I won the PGA," Beem said.
"I don't know if I find any more satisfaction in the fact that Tiger Woods finished runner-up to me. You know, my name is ultimately on the trophy."
And as a result, Beem's a part of the Champions Dinner each Tuesday night at the PGA Championship, and that's an honor he says he'll never take for granted.
"It's amazing. I pinch myself every time that comes around," Beem says. "With the Champions Dinner, just being around that week is always amazing, you know? It's always great to be part of a small club of winners at the PGA and just to be around that week is always a memorable time."
Beem didn't have a traditional celebration for his PGA Championship win in 2002 and had a flight to catch across the country to Seattle.
"For me, the celebration with the Wanamaker was fantastic, but we had to quickly load up and head out to Seattle that night because we had plans already in place that week, as my wife's family is from northern Idaho, so they were gonna meet up with us on Monday. So we got out there Sunday night and celebrated till the early hours.
"I can tell you that I fell asleep for a few hours and woke up with a smile on my face, just like I should have," Beem laughed.
Today, Beem estimates he plays Hazeltine about two to three times a year. Having his son in school at the nearby University of Minnesota made it easy to plan some visits and bring the golf clubs.
Rees Jones Design started some redesign work on the property in 2024, and Beem likes how the course continues to play.
"This is a big boy golf course and it's a giant golf course, and I love going up there. It's still one of my favorite places to be and the way it plays is fun," Beem said. "You play that course two days in a row and you're definitely thinking, 'Yeah, this is a big boy course.'"
With the women set to tee it up in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Hazeltine this week, how excited is Beem for them to take on the course?
"Oh, I'm really excited for them, and Chris Tritabaugh, the superintendent there, is phenomenal at what he does," Beem said. "I would imagine the greens are gonna be a little on the firm side. And wow, you just have to think your way around that golf course. You know, it's a golf course that if you go flag hunting too much, it can bury you — or if you're spot on, you can do well. But I think the greens have always been tricky there. You've just got to trust your reads out there at Hazeltine.
"You gotta be spot on with everything, and it's a hell of a test. They're gonna enjoy it. The course right now, from what I understand, is playing magnificently."
The U.S. soccer team is also playing magnificently in the World Cup at the moment, and Beem grew up a die-hard soccer fan. So on Friday, during coverage of the U.S. Open, the 55-year-old had one eye on his iPad watching the U.S. vs. Australia match and the other eye on calling the action for Sky Sports at Shinnecock Hills.
Rich Beem: passionate about his soccer and his golf.
