Ranking the 15 best wins in career of Tiger Woods
By Tim Letcher
4. 1997 Masters
By the time the 1997 Masters rolled around, Woods had already won on the PGA Tour. But, in many ways, this event was the true announcement that Woods was a forced to be reckoned with, and that the entire world had better take notice.
At just 21 years of age, Woods put on a dominant performance against the best players in the world. However, it didn’t start that way.
The leader after round one was John Huston, who shot a 5-under par 67. Paul Stankowski was second at 4-under par and Paul Azinger was next at 3-under par. Woods sat in fourth place at 2-under par after Thursday’s round.
It was the second round when Woods began to exert his dominance on the field. His 6-under par round of 66 was the best of the day and gave him his first lead in a professional major championship event. Woods led Colin Montgomerie by three shots with 36 holes to play.
On Saturday, Woods showed that he was again head and shoulders above the field. His 7-under par 65 gave him a nine-shot lead over Constantino Rocca with 18 holes left.
While most players would have cruised home on Sunday, Woods went record hunting. And he broke a couple of impressive ones. His 18-under par finish was the lowest score ever at the Masters. And, his 12-shot win over Tom Kite was the biggest in a major until Woods broke it himself in the 2000 U.S. Open.