Tiger holds the trophy aloft. (Allsport)

Tiger Woods completed the greatest one-man show in the 140-year history of major championship golf at Pebble Beach today.

Woods kept himself in a class of his own to win the 100th United States Open - and his 100th professional tournament - by an unbelievable 15 shots.

It beat by two the previous biggest winning margin in majors. Set in 1862 by Old Tom Morris at Prestwick.

With a performance reminiscent of the 1997 Masters, which he took by a record 12 strokes and with a record 18-under-par total, the 24-year-old world number one totally demolished the field.

Woods, in only his 14th major as a professional, created more records as he moved one title - the Open at St Andrews next month - away from becoming only the fifth player in golf history (and the youngest) to win a career Grand Slam of all four majors.

Already the holder of the US PGA crown, Woods added his first US Open with a 12-under-par-aggregate of 272. It equalled the lowest total in the championship, but was the first anybody had ever finished in double figures under par.

Having already set a record for his 10-stroke 54-hole lead, none of the other 62 players really expected to have a chance entering the final day. And so it proved.

Instead they battled for second place - a contest eventually shared by Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and South African Ernie Els, a runner-up for the second major running.

American John Huston was fourth one stroke further back on four over and Ryder Cup team-mates Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington were joint fifth, one ahead of Nick Faldo.

Westwood summed up the historical nature of the day when he said: ``I never expected to see anybody ever 12 under par in this event.

``He has something special - it was a bit of a parade. I thought they (the United States Golf Association) would do their best to make sure it would not happen.

``I think they want level par to be the winning score every year. And it would have been for everyone else.''

Not before and not since Henry Cotton at the 1934 Open at Sandwich had a player taken a 10-stroke lead into the final round of any major, stretching back to the first Open in 1860.

But that was the situation Woods found himself and with nine straight pars on the outward half his advantage had been trimmed by only one.

There were echoes of Faldo at Muirfield in 1987 in that, but when Woods deviated from par at the 446-yard 10th it was only fitting it was with a birdie after he had hit his approach to 12 feet.

And when he slotted in a 20-footer at the next, he became only the second player in the US Open to reach 10 under at any point.

The first, Gil Morgan, was also at Pebble Beach in 1992. But he then collapsed to closing rounds of 77 and 81.

But Woods is made of different stuff. From the rough at the 406-yard 13th he almost holed his approach and then he birdied the long 14th as well.

At the 543-yard last he could have taken 19 and still won. He contented himself with a par five.

Woods, however, was as steady as his rock at the start. Wearing his customary last day red, the only spot of bother he encountered was at the long sixth, where his second was sprayed into thick rough on top of a bunker.

He had to play the next shot with one foot in the sand and the other out and sent the ball flying over the green. But from more rough he chipped down to four feet and saved par.

Even with Woods miles ahead, Harrington and his Ryder Cup partner Jimenez were enjoying the best major championship of their lives at that point and by going to the turn in 33 they had moved into a share of second spot as Els fell back.

Harrington managed only 40 for the back nine as well and so did not have to rue too much his misfortune at the ninth green in his second round.

He called a one-shot penalty on himself for his ball moving as he prepared to putt - and that just a month after the scorecard disqualification which cost him the chance of lifting the £166,000 first prize at the Benson and Hedges International when five clear.

Woods had approached the day in exactly the manner anticipated.

``If I play solid golf and play the way I know I can, then somebody is going to have a shoot a really good number (to deny him),'' said Woods, inevitably asked if he thought he was uncatchable now.

He was also asked if he had thought about the fact that a player as great as Jack Nicklaus never found himself with such a lead in any major.

``To be perfectly honest, no - just because the tournament isn't over yet.

``Once it's finished, yeah I will think about it and reflect on it and hopefully have some pretty good memories.

``But until that moment comes, I need to keep working and get the job done. Then I'll enjoy it pretty good!

``Even in fantasy golf I've never had anything like this. I'm usually playing against Jack (Nicklaus) and Arnold (Palmer) and Hogan and usually it's neck and neck.

``If I can just go out there and hit a lot of good solid shots, especially off the tees, I have a pretty good chance - no matter what he (Els) shoots.'' Or anybody else, of course.

Woods had won 14 of his last 26 tournaments and only twice in the 16 times he has led going into the final round has he lost. And never before had he had as big a lead as 10.

Woods, who added a 67 to his earlier rounds of 65, 69 and 71, said: ``All week I've had a sense of calmness I haven't had in a while.

``I felt very tranquil, even in the stormy conditions in the third round. I felt cool inside.''

Second represents Jimenez's best-ever finish in a major - and fifth is also Westwood's. Harrington was also joint fifth in the 1997 Open at Troon.

Faldo, of course, has six majors to his name. But this was his best performance since he was fourth at the 1996 Open and comes after a season which previously did not have a single top 20 finish in it.

``It's a big improvement,'' said the 42-year-old, down to 180th in the world.

``I'm on a big learning curve and the greatest thing is the confidence factor. Doing it when you have to do it.''

He will be looking forward to the Open at the Old Course in five weeks' time and joked: ``Tiger will really have to be on his game there - just to have a chance!''

Collated final totals at Pebble Beach, California: (US unless stated, par 71)

(x) denotes amateur

272 T Woods 65 69 71 67 (£500,000)

287 MA Jimenez (Spa) 66 74 76 71, E Els (Rsa) 74 73 68 72 (£244,238 each)

288 J Huston 67 75 76 70 (£133,538)

289 L Westwood (Gbr) 71 71 76 71, P Harrington 73 71 72 73 (£101,999 each)

290 N Faldo (Gbr) 69 74 76 71 (£86,107)

291 V Singh (Fij) 70 73 80 68, S Cink 77 72 72 70, D Duval 75 71 74 71, L Roberts 68 78 73 72

292 P Azinger 71 73 79 69, R Goosen (Rsa) 77 72 72 71, M Campbell (Nzl) 71 77 71 73, JM Olazabal (Spa) 70 71 76 75

293 M Weir (Can) 76 72 76 69, S Hoch 73 76 75 69, J Leonard 73 73 75 72, D Toms 73 76 72 72, F Couples 70 75 75 73, P Mickelson 71 73 73 76

294 N Begay 74 75 72 73

295 H Sutton 69 73 83 70, M Brisky 71 73 79 72, B May 72 76 75 72, T Lehman 71 73 78 73

296 H Irwin 68 78 81 69, N Price (Zim) 77 70 78 71, S Stricker 75 74 75 72, T Watson 71 74 78 73, S Jones 75 73 75 73

297 R Zokol (Can) 74 74 80 69, L Porter 74 70 83 70, T Kite 72 77 77 71, C Perry 75 72 78 72, R Mediate 69 76 75 77

298 J Kelly 73 73 81 71, W Austin 77 70 78 73, A Cabrera (Arg) 69 76 79 74, C Warren 75 74 75 74, T Tryba 71 73 79 75, L Janzen 71 73 79 75, C Parry (Aus) 73 74 76 75, B Clampett 68 77 76 77, L Mize 73 72 76 77

299 S Garcia (Spa) 75 71 81 72,, C Montgomerie (Gbr) 73 74 79 73, S Verplank 72 74 78 75, R Hartmann 73 75 75 76, T Bjorn (Den) 70 70 82 77

300 M O'Meara 74 74 78 74, W Schutte (Rsa) 74 75 74 77

301 D Clarke (Gbr) 71 75 83 72, K Clearwater 74 74 80 73, J Coston 70 77 80 74

302 K Triplett 70 71 84 77

303 J Green 74 75 77 77, D Eichelberger 78 69 77 79

304 (x) J Wilson 74 72 82 76

305 J Furyk 72 74 84 75

306 B Chamblee 70 77 82 77, C Franco (Par) 74 75 75 82

313 R Damron 72 73 84 84