FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - As a child growing up in Southern California, Tiger Woods played on public courses with threadbare tee boxes, patchy fairways and sandy greens. He didn't see the inside of a country club until he was a teen-ager.

Those memories came back to Woods all week here at Bethpage State Park, where the 102nd U.S. Open was contested on a public facility for the first time in its history.

The Black Course didn't evoke the same kinds of thoughts for Woods as those municipals he played back home.

"They never looked like this," he said last night.

Woods was talking about the condition of the course, not the wild setting that surrounded the latest victory in his history book career. Not the bleachers packed with rowdy fans, or the flashbulbs popping as Woods hit his final putt.

It was all a bit surreal, but there is one constant that has followed Woods since his days as a prodigy to current status as a 26-year-old living legend. What never seems to change, especially in major championships, is his name at the top of the leader board.

Despite a sloppy start that produced two quick bogeys and cut his four-shot lead in half, despite a thunderstorm that sent players and fans scurrying for cover during a 49-minute rain delay, Woods never lost his concentration or his lead.

A 2-over-par 72 was his worst score of the week, but his total of 3-under 277 proved to be three strokes better than Phil Mickelson. As happened when he won his first Open at Pebble Beach in 2000 by a record 15 strokes, Woods was the only player under par.

The victory, which was secured when Woods made a birdie on the par-5 13th hole moments after Mickelson had done the same, was the eighth major championship of his career and the 32nd since he turned professional in 1996.

More importantly, it kept Woods' dream alive of winning the Grand Slam in the same calendar year. With three-shot victories at the Masters and Open, Woods will pursue that goal of a single-season Slam at next month's British Open at Muirfield in Scotland.

"I'd love to win the Slam, I've done it before," said Woods, taking a shot at those who didn't consider his four straight major championships between 1999 and 2000 a legitimate Grand Slam.

Just as he was growing up in Cypress, Calif., just as he has been for most of his professional career, Woods was clearly in control of his own destiny here. And, just as he did two years ago on the Monterrey peninsula, Woods won going wire-to-wire.

"The only thing I can control is my own game and my own emotions," Woods said. "With the golf course playing this tough, you're going to make mistakes. I just told myself that I got mine out of the way early."

When he missed a 6-footer for par on the first hole, there was a nervous buzz that went through the crowd. When he missed a 3-footer for par on the second hole, that buzz grew louder.

But neither Mickelson nor Woods' playing partner, Sergio Garcia of Spain, could take advantage of those uncharacteristic mistakes by Woods. After making birdie on the par-4 opening hole, Mickelson bogeyed the par-4 fifth and par-4 sixth.

Garcia had bogeyed the par-3 third.

"I thought he was a little nervous," said Garcia, 22, who was playing in the final group at a major for the first time. "It was important for me to show him that I wasn't going to back up. Unfortunately I didn't get the ball in the hole."

Said Mickelson, who was also looking for his first major championship, on his 32nd birthday: "When he started out with a couple of bogeys, I felt it would be a day he would be catchable with a couple of birdies and a good solid round."

It all proved to be a tease. Woods nearly ran in a 30-footer for birdie on the par-3 third hole and missed a 6-footer for birdie on the par-4 sixth hole, but put his lead back to four strokes when he birdied the par-4 seventh from 20 feet.

The only other excitement came when Mickelson made a birdie on the par-4 11th and, after the rain delay, made another on the par-5 13th to get within two strokes of the lead. Again, Woods made a birdie, barely missing his 25-foot eagle putt at 13.

"I think I had a three-shot lead at the time, but I still had some tough holes to play," Woods said later. "If Phil makes one or two more birdies coming in, I couldn't afford to make a mistake. I still had to keep plugging along."

Said Mickelson: "I thought I had a good shot at it if I could make a couple of birdies coming in."

There were no more birdies for Mickelson. In fact, a player who has had a history of missing short putts at the most crucial moments in major championship did more of the same last night.

After driving into a green-side bunker on the par-4 16th, Mickelson missed a 10-footer for par. He then three-putted from 20 feet on the par-3 17th, running a 30-inch putt for par past the hole.

It allowed Woods to gear down for the first time. He made a bogey on the par-4 16th and another on the par-4 18th, but the three putts he took to finish his round proved to be moot.

"I don't think I ever putted with flashbulbs popping in my face," he told the huge crowd behind the 18th green shortly after he finished.

Woods plucked his ball out of the cup, and took off his hat to salute the crowd.

"I didn't get out to the greatest of starts," he said. "I was able to hang in there somehow. It was a long, tough day. This one was hard. It was brutal, the way the course was set up and with weather changing all week."

Not only is Woods the greatest player of his time, and possibly the best ever, but his talent is matched only by his toughness. He took the lead during the first round and never relinquished it.

The victory helped Woods pass the legendary Arnold Palmer, who won seven majors in his career, and match Hall of Famer Tom Watson, who also won eight. Woods now has a chance to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year.

"I think I've won seven out of 11 [majors]," said Woods, the youngest player to twice win the U.S. Open. "As a kid you dreamt of just winning one. To put yourself in that position, I've done that a few times. It's so hard to describe how good it feels to win one major championship, because it takes so much out of you."

But of all his major championships, this one had a different place for Woods.

A higher place.

"To play it on a public facility such as this," he said, when asked about the distinction. "They've done an incredible job getting this golf course ready. And, on top of that, the fans, the enthusiasm they showed the entire week is second to none. After what transpired in September here, for all the fans, I think that just makes it more special."

Enough for Woods to come back with the regulars, sleep in his car and tee it up for $31 when the course reopens later this week?

"Hey, I've slept in my car waiting for a tee time," he said.

That was a long time ago, growing up in Southern California. Back when he was a prodigy, not a living legend.