The Masters: Ranking the 25 most exceptional performances at Augusta
By Bill Felber
T-20. Tiger Woods, 2005 Masters; 276 (-12), Std. Deviation -2.38
Augusta’s 16th green provided the setting for one of the memorable shots in golf lore. Playing together, Woods led Chris DiMarco by a stroke coming to the par 16, but pulled his tee shot toward the water, the ball stopping just off the fringe. Aiming well high of the hole, he struck a perfect chip that took the substantial slope, crept toward the cup and appeared to have stopped on the edge before unseen forces gravitated it into the hole for a birdie.
In our mind’s eyes, Woods won the tournament with that shot. Not true. He actually bogeyed both of the final two holes, opening the door for DiMarco to tie him at 12-under, setting up a playoff.
In that playoff, Woods left his approach 15 feet above the flag while DiMarco’s ball rolled back off the green onto the fringe. DiMarco two-putted for his par, but Woods rolled in his birdie try for his ninth major championship.
DiMarco, whose Sunday 68 made up three strokes on Woods, accepted his fate. “I played him as hard as I could down the stretch,” he said. “It was just that I was playing against Tiger Woods.”