Weather-beaten Majors

We're not trying to provide more fodder for Al Gore, but in recent years the men's majors have been plagued by extreme conditions. Here, in order of extremity, are seven of the worst.

1 2008 BRITISH OPEN, Royal Birkdale, Southport, England
Four days of wind, often howling; two days of steady rain. Bad enough that John Daly (left) shot a 19-over 89 on Friday.

2 2007 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Southern Hills, Tulsa
Four days of near 100° heat. Even Tiger Woods, the winner, in his Nike Dri-Fit duds, was drenched in sweat.

3 2003 MASTERS, Augusta National, Augusta
Torrential rain prompted officials to pour a sandy, water-absorbing mix on the course that smelled—to be delicate—like manure.

4 2002 BRITISH OPEN, Muirfield, Muirfield, Scotland
One of the wettest summers on record produced rough so high that you could, literally, mislay a golf bag in it. Woods shot an 81—his worst round in a major—during a driving rainstorm on Saturday.

5 1992 U.S. OPEN, Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach, Calif.
In Sunday's near gale, caddies were replacing flagsticks with two hands, visors were flying, and Tom Kite shot a 72 to win his only major.

6 1994 U.S. OPEN, Oakmont, Oakmont, Pa.
Five days—with a Monday playoff—of suffocating heat and humidity yielded six-hour rounds on Thursday and Friday and a very red-faced Colin Montgomerie when the playoff was over.

7 2000 BRITISH OPEN, Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland
Four days on the most exposed course in the British Open rota with barely a breath of wind. "It was so weird," said winner Woods of the still conditions. "I couldn't get over it."