Tiger Woods breaks all barriers with 12-stroke
victory
By Jack Saylor
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
AUGUSTA, Ga. - For the first time in Masters history, a winner
began his victory march at the first hole.
Tiger Woods took a big slug of water, splattered a tee shot
up the fairway, and strode after it to a crescendo of applause.
It never stopped. He completed his round - a three-under-par
69 to more thunderous applause - then walked off into the history
book.
After making his final putt, Woods squeezed his eyes tight
and fought back tears as he hugged his father, Earl, who taught
him the game, and his mother, Kultida. "My dad said last
night, 'If you play well and be yourself, it would be the most
rewarding round you've ever had,' " Woodas said.
So the 21-year-old Woods, a pro for less than eight months,
has a green jacket in his closet, a monumental memory for his
bank and a select spot in golfing lore.
Woods won the Masters by a record margin Sunday, an unheard-of
18 strokes under par, to launch a new era of American golf.
He is the youngest ever to win the Masters and the first minority
- all while posting a record score (270) and winning margin (12
strokes).
It was Jack Nicklaus, a six-time winner here, who uttered the
seeming nonsense that young Woods might win more Masters than
he and Arnold Palmer, who once owned this preserve, combined.
Now that figure of 10 might have be on the conservative side.
The only apparent way to hold that Tiger would be to change the
configuration of Augusta National's par-five holes or else give
Woods full-time tenure as chancellor at Stanford.
Forget the social ramifications of Woods' victory, which are
huge. He's the first person of color to win at this old Southern
bastion, where for years the only blacks on the premises caddied
or waited tables.
But it wouldn't matter if Woods - who is part Dutch, Thai,
Chinese, American Indian as well as Anglo-African American - also
was part Egyptian, Russian or Icelandic, the enormity of his performance
would be the focal point.
The only color that mattered was green, as in the jacket -
42 long, if you please.
Woods even broke another record. He posted 40 for his first
nine holes, breaking Ralph Guldahl's mark of 38 for the worst
start by an eventual winner that had stood since 1939.
After that, he played the storied 6,925-yard course in 14 under
par, his pet project being destroying the par-five holes, which
he played in 13 under par.
The race was for second place, and veteran Tom Kite prevailed
at 282 on a final-round 70, one stroke ahead of Tommy Tolles,
who had a great 67.
Tom Watson's 72 gave him fourth at 284, just ahead of Italy's
Costantino Rocca, who slipped to 75 and 285 with Paul Stankowski
(74).
But the day belonged to Tiger.
He was even par through the front nine, offsetting bogeys at
the fifth and seventh holes with birdies at the second and eighth
(par-fives, naturally), the latter coming out of the woods.
But he was vintage Tiger - if a golfer can be vintage at age
21 - on the back nine with a three-under 33, which he spiced with
drama down the stretch.
Woods saved par with a seven-foot putt at the 15th, a superb
two-putt from off the fringe at the par-three 16th, then closed
with a flourish at the 18th with a nervy four-footer that gave
him the 72-hole record previously owned by legends Floyd and Nicklaus.
The immediate rewards were a long hug from his father, Earl,
and another with his mother, Kultida.
"He is playing another game," said Nicklaus, whose
record for victory margin (nine) was erased along with the tournament
record 271 he shared with Floyd.
Additionally, he surpassed the mark of Seve Ballesteros (then
23) as the youngest-ever Masters champ.
"He's playing a golf course he'll own for a long time,"
Nicklaus said. "It's not my time anymore, it's his."
Tolles agreed. "Tiger is in a different league than I
am," he said. "This is a tournament he can probably
win for the next 20 years if he is on his game."
This was Woods' fourth PGA Tour victory in his 15 starts as
a pro, to go with one second, two thirds and nine top 10 finishes.
And his money pot keeps growing. The husky check for $486,000
pumped his '97 earnings to $966,350.
(c) 1997, Detroit Free Press.
|
