FROM THE ARCHIVES APRIL 14TH 1997: DERMOT GILLEECEwas at Augusta National in 1997 to witness Tiger Woods' first Masters victory
IN THE chill of evening, as fresh winds brushed the pines of Augusta National, Tiger Woods realised his destiny yesterday by becoming the first black player to win the US Masters. And as we watched a record-shattering performance, there was an awareness of something very special – of a talent that may not be matched for another generation.
If admiration is to be measured by the status of the admirer, then Jack Nicklaus captured the essence of an astonishing achievement.
“Tiger is out there playing another game,” said the six-times winner of this title. “He’s playing a golf course he’ll own for a long time.”
One suspects he will also retain possession of some remarkable scoring figures. As if playing to order he sank a four foot, par putt on the last green to card the 69 he needed for an 18-under-par aggregate of 270 – one stroke inside the target set by Nicklaus in 1965 and matched by Raymond Floyd on the old, Bermuda greens, 11 years later.
His 12-shot margin over second-placed Tom Kite, was also a record – three strokes better than Nicklaus managed 32 years ago. At 21, he became the youngest winner of the title, surpassing the achievement of 23-year-old Seve Ballesteros in 1980. And, of course, he is the first black winner of a major championship.
On a broader basis, the only player to surpass his margin of victory was Old Tom Morns, and that was way back in the 1862 British Open, which he won by 13 strokes. More realistically, in the four majors this century, nobody has secured a margin in double figures.
Only in tearful hugging of his father and mother, who greeted him in his moment of triumph beside the 18th green, did we suddenly realise he was little more than a boy, but an exceptional one. “It was an amazing week for me,” said the new champion. “I knew my game was ready when I shot a 59 last week. I have never played an entire tournament with my A-game, but this was pretty close, if you exclude the first nine holes (on Thursday). My dad said last night that I was facing probably the toughest round of my life, but that if I played it well, it would be the most rewarding.”
As to his status as the first black winner of the title, he said: “I’m pleased about that, but I wasn’t the pioneer. Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder and Terry Rhodes – those guys are the ones who paved the way for me to be here. If it wasn’t for them, I might not have had the chance to play golf.”
Meanwhile, it was a desperately disappointing outcome for Europe’s leading challenger, Costantino Rocca, who battled bravely to hold onto his second place, only to see it all slip away at the end of the round. With Kite having taken over second place on six under par ahead of him, Rocca attacked the pin on the 17th, 26 yards in and only four yards from the back of the green.
Even with a wedge, it was fraught with danger. In the event, he overshot the green and ran up a bogey. And with a share of fourth place beckoning, he slipped further adrift at the 18th, which he three putted for another bogey and a round of 75. Up to those last two holes, he had borne up remarkably well to the pressure of partnering Woods.
But there were other, admirable European performances. Among them was a closing 70 from England’s Lee Westwood, who will be 24 later this month.
On his Masters debut, Westwood survived the horrendous start of double-bogey, bogey on Thursday to eventually earn the reward of partnering Nicklaus on the final day. “It was nerve racking to play with such a hero of mine,” he said breathlessly, before dashing off to have his photograph taken with the great man.
Fittingly, Lee Elder, the first black player to compete in the Masters, was there to see Woods’s victory march. For him, however, there was further evidence of just how difficult it is to get into Augusta National, even as a guest of the chairman, Jackson Stephens.
During an 85mph dash by car from Columbia, South Carolina, Elder was waved in by a state trooper. “What’s the rush?” Elder was asked. “I’m heading for Augusta National to watch Tiger Woods win the Masters; “Who’s Tiger Woods?” mumbled the trooper as he wrote a traffic ticket.
Even for this golfing Philistine enlightenment is at hand.
How they finished
270 - T Woods 70 65 65 69
282 - T Kite 77 68 66 70
283- T Tolles 72 72 72 67
284 - T Watson75 68 69 72
285 - P Stankowski 68 74 69 74 C Rocca (Italy) 71 69 70 75
286 - B Langer (Ger) 72 72 74 68, J Leonard 76 69 71 70, F Couples 72 69 73 72, D Love 72 71 72 71, J Sluman 74 67 72 73
287 - S Elkington (Aus) 76 72 72 67, W Wood 72 76 71 68, P U Johansson (Swe) 72 73 73 69, T Lehman 73 76 69 69, JM Olazabal (Spa) 71 70 74 72
288 - M Calcavecchia 74 73 72 69. V Singh (Fij) 75 74 69 70, F Funk 73 74 69 72,
289 - J Huston 67 77 75 70, S Appelby (Aus), 72 76 70 71, J Parnevik(Swe)
291 - L Westwood (Eng) 77 71 73 70, N Price (Zim) 72 70 75 74
292 - C Stadler 77 72 71 72, L Janzen 72 73 74 73
293 - J Furyk 74 75 72 72, P Aanger 69 73 77 74
294- L Mize 79 69 74 72,S McCarron 77 71 72 74, M OMeara 75 74 70 75 C Montgomery (Scot)72 67 74 81
295 - S Lyle (Scot) 73 73 74 75, F Zoeller 7S 73 69 78
296 - D Waldorf 74 75 72 75
297 - D Frost (SA) 74 71 73 79
298 - S Hoch 79 68 73 78
299 - J Nicklaus 77 70 74 78. S Torrance (Sco) 75 73 73 78, I Woosnam (Wal) 77 68 75 79
300 - M Ozaki (Jap) 74 74 74 78
301 - C Pavin 75 74 78 74; C Rose 73 78 79 74
302 - B Crenshaw 75 73 74 80
303 - F Nobilo 76 72 74 7 71
