Augusta National, history blown away in Tiger
Woods' wake
By Ron Green Jr.
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Tiger Woods has never been afraid to dream big.
He has the audacity to imagine himself becoming the greatest
golfer in history and, as a child, he taped a time line of Jack
Nicklaus' career to his headboard to measure his progress.
By sundown Sunday, when Woods had written his name not just
in the Masters record book but across the span of golf history,
his 12-shot victory over Tom Kite at Augusta National had stretched
the bounds of his imagination and everyone else's.
"I never thought I'd have a lead like I did. It's not
what you envision," Woods said after setting the Masters
scoring record with a 72-hole total of 18-under-par 270.
"You envision dueling it out with Faldo or Nicklaus. You
always dreamed of doing that or of birdieing 16, 17 and 18 to
get into a playoff. You never do it in the fashion I did it."
It's never been done like Woods did it.
At 21, he became the youngest winner in the history of major
championship golf. And he did so much more.
With rounds of 70-66-65-69, he broke the tournament record
set by Nicklaus in 1965 and tied by Raymond Floyd in 1975. Kite
was second at six-under 282, followed by Flat Rock's Tommy Tolles
at 283 and Tom Watson at 284.
It might have been the most dominating performance in the history
of major championship golf. Old Tom Morris won the 1862 British
Open by 13 strokes and his son, Young Tom, won the British Open
by a dozen shots in 1870.
But that was a different game in a different time.
The same was said of Woods.
"Tiger is out there playing another game," said Nicklaus,
who heard similar words about himself three decades ago.
"He's playing a golf course he'll own for a long time.
This young man will win many more."
It was an astonishing performance as much for how Woods played
as for what he stood for.
It crossed the boundary of sports. It was about black and white
and green jackets.
When Lee Elder, who broke the color barrier in the Masters
when he played here in 1975, spoke to Woods as he left the chipping
green before the final round, the 21-year-old phenom understood
where he was and what he was doing.
"That's why this victory is even more special," Woods
said. "When (Elder) came down, that inspired me. I knew what
I had to do. It really reinforced it."
It was an immense burden Woods carried into Sunday's final
round.
He came in with a nine-shot lead, aware most of his closest
pursuers had surrendered the green jacket to him Saturday night.
"My dad said last night, 'Son, this is going to be one
of the toughest rounds you've ever had to play. But if you'll
be yourself, it'll be one of the most rewarding you've ever played.'
He was right," Woods said.
Woods had two objectives on the golf course. He wanted to not
make a bogey. That way, he figured, someone would have to shoot
at least 63 to tie him.
He also wanted to take advantage of the par-5s, which he did.
Woods birdied the second and 13th holes Sunday and played the
par-5s 13-under par for the week.
The only cracks he showed came midway through the front nine
in the final round when Woods made two bogeys in three holes.
All that did was force him to play the final 11 holes four-under
par to break the tournament record.
As Woods marched around the back nine, Augusta National didn't
rumble with the roars of combat. Instead, it was the sound of
history echoing out of the valley and back toward the clubhouse.
On the 17th tee with the dangerous water holes behind him,
Woods looked at the scoreboard and thought about the scoring record.
When he ascended the hill to the 18th green awash in the adoring
cheers of thousands, Woods was thinking about the tough two-putt
down a slope he needed to set the scoring record.
"I never lost my focus," he said.
How did Woods change this tournament?
Usually it doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday. This
year, it began on the back nine Thursday when Woods shook off
a four-over-par 40 on the front nine and went about doing what
no one had ever done at Augusta National.
Other players cracked. Woods got mad and took it out on a golf
course that was defenseless against his length and unwavering
confidence. He played his final 63 holes 22 under par.
"This golf course can take anyone who's confident and
humble them," Woods said. "My first nine Thursday (when
he shot 40), I was like anyone else - nervous.
"But from there, it evolved into one of the best ball-striking,
putting and management (series of) rounds I've ever put together."
Beyond his wildest dreams.
(c) 1997, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).
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