Time flies, doesn't it?
Ten years ago, Tiger Woods won his first major tournament, the Masters, by 12 strokes. It was a stunning display of reality surpassing than the hype. In its Masters preview edition, Golf Digest features a tremendous article called "The Dawn of Dominance: A decade ago Tiger's epic 12 stroke victory shook the game." The article assembles interviews with participants in that Masters, and gives you a great flavor of what it was like being a part of golf history.
I love this part from Paul Azinger, hearing a sport-talk radio guy who is so wrong on something, he feels compelled to call in:
Before the Masters, Tiger was favored, but the sports-talk radio guy in my area was saying how wrong that was--what has Tiger Woods done to be the favorite, and c'mon, there's a better chance he'll miss the cut. So I called in. I didn't identify myself, but the guy knew my voice. I just wanted to tell the guy that he had it really wrong--that not only could Tiger win, but he could win by a lot.
Really, even if you are a casual sports fan, this article is worth a read. Do you have any particular memories of the 1997 Masters?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-03-2007 @ 11:38AM
derek said...
i was 16yrs old and my mom nor i watched golf but we saw this kid killing it and to be honest it was amazing because of his presence. golf sometimes seems so cocky but rarely confident, but that changed. Tiger took the Jordan/Bird image of confidence on the playing field and lapped them... the energy coming through the tv as he was playing was weird. the whole time, i wondered, "he might win by 20 strokes"
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4-03-2007 @ 2:58PM
Genneysa said...
Tiger winning by 12 strokes was phenomenal but having his dad ther with him to celebrate was really the most important thing to Tiger. Anyone could see that the most important aspect of Tiger's first Masters win was having Earl there to share it with him.
I heard an interview on the radio this weekend with John Thompson Jr. and John Thompson III. John Thompson Jr. said the best thing about seeing his son make it to the Final Four was that he was there to share it with him. When he won the NCAA title in the 80's his parents were both gone and he couldn't share the win with them. The interview was really touching.
If Tiger wins on Sunday he won't be able to share the win with his dad. The win will be no less important to him but will be all the more bittersweet.
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