Looking back at Tiger Woods first Masters Win in 1997

The Masters was unable to be played last week. Let’s take a look back at one of the more dominating performances of all-time, Tiger Woods win in 1997.

It’s almost always a good idea to go back in time and watch old Tiger Woods victories. That’s just what I did the other day as I was craving some Masters action.

It was even entirely my idea. In a pretty proud dad moment, my four-year-old son walked out of his room in the morning and asked me if we could watch golf together.

Of course, I had to comply.

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I decided to go back in time and watch the first Tiger Woods win. You can find just about anything online, and all of the Masters are available to watch.

It’s such a shock to watch the old broadcasts. It’s a completely different experience and is something that I don’t fully remember from my nine-year-old days.

It didn’t start off great for Tiger Woods. In fact, it looked like he was going to be in danger of missing the cut as he made the turn. He was +4 and was falling behind fast. This was 1997 though, and Tiger Woods turned it on, and he turned it on quick.

Tiger made three birdies over the first four holes and headed to the par 5 15th at +1 for the day. By the time he walked off the hole, he still had a 1 on his score… only there was a – in front of it due to the eagle that he made. He would finish out with a birdie on 17, shooting a 40-30 on the day for one of the weirder scores you will ever see at a major.

It was enough to get him to 4th place, three shots back of John Huston. Admittedly, I do not remember Huston, or the man in second place at -4 in Paul Stankowski.

If not for the opening nine holes, Tiger Woods might have turned in the most impressive Masters performance of all-time.

He showed up Friday and continued his hot play, highlighted by a three-hole stretch on the back nine where he was -4. His 66 was the best round of the day, and by the time the cut line was set, Tiger Woods was atop the leaderboard with a three-shot lead over Colin Montgomerie.

For those who thought they might be able to catch Tiger Woods and his three-shot lead… they were sorely mistaken.

Tiger made it back-to-back rounds where he turned in the best score, shooting a 65 on Saturday. Monty shot a 74, dropping to -3 for the tournament. Constantino Rocca shot 70 and found himself in second place… nine shots back of Tiger Woods.

It was all done except for actually playing on the final day, and Tiger Woods was able to coast to the win. He shot 69 over the final round, with five birdies and two bogeys.

Tiger Woods would end up winning by an incredible 12 shots over Tom Kite. It was good enough to set the record for lowest/best score in Masters history. His -18 270 broke the record previously held by Jack Nicklaus. It would later be equaled by Jordan Spieth in 2015. If not for the opening nine, Tiger would’ve annihilated Jack’s record, and created a nearly impossible record for anyone to match.

Next. Virtual Masters: Who’s left amidst the top at the finish?. dark

I’m glad my son woke up wanting to watch golf. It led to me watching, once again, one of the greatest Masters performances of all-time.

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