..for the next 12 years we wouldn’t see Tiger for dust
April 13, 1997: Day golf changed forever..
IF hindsight is viewed in perfect 20-20 vision, the perspective of 20 years allows us to fully appreciate the greatness of Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.
That today marks the anniversary of his first Major win should make us all sigh at the passing of two decades in what seems like the blink of an eye.
None of us who watched enthralled as Woods romped to a stunning breakthrough Masters win in 1997 are getting any younger or stronger. Least of all, it seems, the man himself.
As one aborted comeback follows another, the graver the prognosis becomes for the career of the man nicknamed by many as the greatest of all time.
But as Woods endures more rehab on his fragile, battered back muscles in the dwindling hope of one day adding to his staggering haul of 14 Major titles, perhaps today he deserves to rest and reflect. To forget his ongoing battle to resurrect the career he’s clinging on to by his fingernails and celebrate the moment he grabbed golf by the scruff of the neck.
Nothing was ever the same again when this 21-year-old phenomenon blew away the field with an awe-inspiring 12-shot victory that smashed records and transformed the game for good.
The youngest player to win by the biggest winning margin thanks to the lowest score of 18 under, Tiger’s story would have been remarkable enough judged on the stats alone.
That he did so as the first black man to prevail at Augusta, a club whose roots were steeped in the racist legacy of America’s Deep South, made it all the more a success to savour.
The legacy Woods would go on to carve can be measured in much more than his haul of 106 professional wins. Many more of today’s pros are millionaires thanks to the astronomical rise in prize money and sponsorship created by the commercial appeal of Tiger as a truly global sporting star.
That the majority now see themselves as athletes and adopt a more professional attitude to their sport is rooted in the methods Tiger first employed to rise head and shoulders above the unsuspecting seasoned players he left trailing in his wake.
Guys like Colin Montgomerie, who found out the hard way when he was drawn to play with Woods in the third round of that fateful week at Augusta.
At the halfway stage the Scot stood three shots adrift of Tiger’s leading eight under scoreline and decided to try a few mind games in his Friday evening interview.
Monty said: “There’s more to it than hitting the ball a long way round here. I have a lot more experience of Major championship golf than he does. We’ll see what he’s made of.”
We certainly did. The story goes on Saturday afternoon Tiger’s coach Butch Harmon caught him on his way to the first tee and said: “Go show Colin Montgomerie who you are.” Tiger replied: “Don’t worry, I will. I got this.”
In the 65-shot masterclass that followed Monty was left in no doubt as Woods romped into an unassailable nine-shot lead.
The Scot knew then he was in the presence of something special. Looking back now, he said: “I was trying to get to No.1 in the world and he was obviously not ranked so on the Friday night I thought, ‘Well I’ve got some experience over him at least’.
“But we weren’t ready. I don’t think the world was aware of what was to transpire.
“He was hitting the ball 320 yards and I was stuck at 270, which was okay in ’97 but it was 50 yards behind him.
“And there’s an aura about him that I witnessed in that round of golf that I hadn’t seen before. Then I realised something was awry, something was different with this fellah.”
The difference in tone of Monty’s postround comments in comparison to the previous night said it all. The words of a beaten man who simply had no answer to the power of Woods – an answer for which Monty and his bemused peers would be seeking in vain for years.
Monty said: “There is no chance humanly possible that Tiger Woods is going to lose this tournament. He’s nine shots clear and I’m sure that will be higher tomorrow.”
So it proved, closing with a 69 to finish 12 shots clear of Tom Kite before falling into the arms of his father and mentor Earl. Woods said: “I rarely ever cried but at that moment I did.
“My dad had flatlined a few months before. We’d almost lost him. And here he was, with my mom behind the 18th green. As we hugged, Pop said, ‘I love you and I’m so proud of you’.”
Within minutes he was helped into the green jacket he would go on to win another three times in 2001, ’02 and ’05.
Final word goes to the man who helped him into it, the previous year’s champion Nick Faldo who had also had the pleasure of playing with Woods in the first round of the tournament…
“We didn’t see him for dust for the next 12 years.”
We weren’t ready. I don’t think the world was aware of what was to transpire MONTGOMERIE