Tiger's Triumph: Reliving the 1997 Masters

On April thirteenth, nineteen ninety seven, Eldrick Woods, better known as Tiger Woods, would win his very first Masters, but also setting multiple records and becoming the very first African American and Asian participant to win. Here's the story behind this iconic moment on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'methan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history. Tiger Woods is the definition of a phenom. He became popular back when he was just a small child, getting on TV shows showing how good he was as a putter, and he continued his love of golf all the way to when he was a teenager, become the youngest call for to ever winning the Junior US Cup are getting a scholarship to Stanford, becoming the youngest winner of the US Amateur Opened, as well as the only one to win it three times. After his success in college winning a national championship, he decided it was time for him to go pro after his nineteen ninety six season where he was actually participated in the nineteen ninety six Masters as an amateur, missing the cut by just four strokes, So this wasn't his first Masters but it would be his first as a pro. Now what's very interesting about this is what led up to it, because after the nineteen ninety six year, he had won the PGA Rookie of the Year, and he had actually won other tournaments leading up to this, and he came in having the best odds to win the tournament despite never winning a Master's But it wasn't just because he was winning tournaments at such a young age. He was becoming a national phenomenon because he could drive the ball further than anyone else. And it wasn't just his prowess and how far he could hit the ball. He was also getting information from everyone he could on how to better his game. He played with multiple Master champions and every time he played with them, he would ask him question after question to get the best knowledge for his chance to win. And before the Masters, he had actually played a round with Mark o'mira, who actually won the nineteen ninety eight Masters, where he shot at fifty nine on the course. So he had the skills, he just needed the chance to show them. He had the support from everyone in the golfing community. He got information from Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicholas and even Nick Faldo, who won the Masters three times, gave him pointers on pen positioning. But the day before the first round, Tiger just had the yips and lost his putting. He couldn't put to save his life. He woke up his dad, who had just had open heart surgery a few months earlier, and was told not to travel, but he would not miss his son's very first Masters as a pro, and he got up the night before and gave him pointers on his putting, and I was able to help him get his putting back before his first round started. In his first round, he was partnered with Nick Faldo, a friend of his, and he played terrible. He was a mass during that first round, but everyone was at the time as it was Wendy and the average score of the players that day was just over a seventy six, which was the highest since nineteen eighty eight. So after that first nine holes, he was four over par, looking just like he did as an amateur and not looking very good to make the cut. But his friend Mark O'Meara, who he had just shot a fifty nine with a week before, sat down with him before he took on the next nine holes and said, hey, just pretend like you're playing with me and you'll be fine, and he finished the day two under par, going in fourth place after the first round and after that, Tiger was in complete focus and on the second round he shot a sixty six, giving him eight under for the tournament, a three shot lead over second place Colin Montgrony. But Tiger could not be stuffed. Despite having a good lead. Going to the third round, he shot a sixty five, giving him fifteen under, leaving Constantino Rocca by nine strokes and coming in to his final round on Sunday, April thirteenth, nineteen ninety seven, we saw him wear his trademark red shirt, which he wears because his mother believed that red was a powerful color. Coming into this final round, many wondered if he would break the record Jack Nicholas set in nineteen sixty five of a seventeen under, setting the course record, not only which n Tiger came in and didn't let up, finishing his final round with a sixty nine, finishing eighteen under par, breaking Jack nicholson record for the lowes score of the Masters, but also beating his record for the highest winning margin of any major champion, winning by twelve strokes, which Woods would break in three years at the US Open, where he won by fifteen strokes, and when he putted in his final put, CBS commentator Jim Nantz had those iconic words where he says, there it is a win for the ages. Tiger took home guy his very first green jacket on his way to his current total of fifteen major wins, including five Masters wins, becoming arguably the greatest golfer of a new generation and opening the doors for multiple athletes of color. And see those part Chinese and part Black, both of which had never won a Master's before. In nineteen ninety one was the first year that Augusta allowed African Americans to become members, showing that the golfing world was starting to change. Thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please subscribe or follow wherever you're listening. That way, you don't miss any episode because they come out every single day. Come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History.