Fansided

Tiger Woods’ 15 essential moments on the PGA Tour

By Luke Norris

AUGUSTA, GA - 1997: Tiger Woods during the final round of the 1997 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 1997 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/PGA TOUR Archive)
AUGUSTA, GA - 1997: Tiger Woods during the final round of the 1997 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 1997 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/PGA TOUR Archive) /
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AUGUSTA, GA – 1997: Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo of England during the final round of the 1997 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 1997 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/PGA TOUR Archive)
AUGUSTA, GA – 1997: Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo of England during the final round of the 1997 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 1997 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/PGA TOUR Archive) /

Tiger’s historic win at The Masters in 1997

In between Phoenix and The Masters, Tiger Woods played in five tournaments. He finished tied for second at Pebble Beach, a place where he would later make more history, and threw in two more top-10 finishes and everyone just knew that he was on the cusp of doing something special. But few people realized just how special things were going to get at Augusta National in 1997.

Ranked 14th in the world, Tiger came to Augusta with victory on his mind. Honestly, Tiger never came to a tournament thinking he wasn’t going to win. But things didn’t go as planned for Woods in the beginning as he started his first round with a 4-over 40 on the front side. However, he made the adjustments he needed to make and fired a 6-under 30 on the back nine to get to 2-under for the tournament, three shots behind leader John Huston. Thursday was the only day he wouldn’t top the leaderboard.

Woods shot a 6-under 66 in the second round to get to 8-under, three shots clear of the field and was paired with Colin Montgomerie, the third-ranked player in the world, on Saturday. Three shots isn’t a big deficit with two days to play, especially for a player like Montgomerie, but he was 12 back after the third round. As Monty struggled to a 2-over 74, Tiger was brilliant with a 7-under 65, which put him at 15-under for the tournament, nine shots ahead of his closest competitor. Montgomerie would later describe the round as the easiest 65 he’d ever seen and he knew he was witnessing something special.

The question heading into Sunday’s final round wasn’t if Tiger was going to win but by how much. The answer was 12 strokes. With a record television audience tuned in, Woods shot a final-round 69 to finish at 18-under for the tournament, one stroke better than Jack Nicklaus in 1965 and Raymond Floyd in 1976. That mark would be tied in 2015 by Jordan Spieth but the historical significance is unparalleled. Tiger was the first non-white player to ever win The Masters and it was easy to see that the moment meant so much to him.

Following his iconic fist-pump after he tapped in to close things out, Tiger shared an emotional embrace with his father Earl and the memories from that week remain some of the best in the history of golf.

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