20 things you may have forgotten from Tiger Woods’ iconic 1997 Masters win

I was in elementary school when Tiger Woods won the Masters in 1997. It was the moment I became hooked on golf. Tiger was a bad ass, which was a weird thing to say about a golfer when you’re a young kid. He was just as cool as other sports heroes like Tory Aikman and Emmitt Smith. He had a style that I didn’t think was allowed in golf. As a result of those four days in Augusta in 1997, I’ve played the game ever since. Each day I become more and more addicted to it and that’s all due to that first Masters win for Tiger. And if you ask many of the guys on Tour today, they will tell a similar story.

It has been 20 (!) years since Tiger took over the golf world. In honor of that anniversary, here are 20 moments, facts, photos and miscellany you may not remember from the 1997 Masters.

1. Tiger was a skinny dude

In the past few years, it has become fashionable to criticize Tiger for bulking up too much. Sure he’s ripped now, but that’s not the point. Back in 1997, Tiger looked like he was 155 pounds. He still blasted it some 23 yards, on average, farther than the second longest hitter in the field. His power was derived from unbelievable club head speed and it wasn’t because he was working out like a madman.

2. Opening Nine 40

It’s hard to believe this even happened. We all know that Tiger blitzed the field at the 1997 Masters, but many forget that Big Cat’s historic win got off to an awful start that threatened to end his week two days early with a missed cut. Bogeys on Nos. 1, 4, 8, and 9 led to a front nine 40 for Woods. After only nine holes, it was hard to believe we were witnessing anything historic.

As Rick Reilly noted, however, “something happened to him as he walked to the 10th tee, something that separates him from other humans. He fixed his swing, right there, in his mind.”

3. Back Nine 30

After that front nine 40 on Thursday, a switch flipped. Tiger birdied four of his final nine holes and added an eagle en route to a back nine 30. It was a signal to the world that the Tiger era was going to be different. His overwhelming length and pinpoint short iron play was a sign of things to come. He made the once intimidating Augusta National into a pristine pitch and putt. He never looked back.

4. Fuzzy Zoeller

Not everything was positive during that week in 1997. There were several negative stories to come out of Augusta, most notably the comments made by Fuzzy Zoeller. When asked about Tiger, Zoeller made his infamous comments about next year’s Champions Dinner. Eventually the two would reconcile, but it was a bad, bad, bad look that will forever be attached to Zoeller.

5. A win at the club of Clifford Roberts

Fuzzy’s comments may have been out of line and a stupid mistake, but the truth is, Augusta National wasn’t exactly the friendliest place for minorities. The club’s co-founder Clifford Roberts was known for saying, “As long as I’m alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black.”

Woods winning the 1997 Masters had far-reaching consequences and carried incredible weight happening at a club with such history. African Americans and women are now members at Augusta National. It’s likely the success of Tiger Woods contributed to making the membership of the club more diverse.

6. 37 bogey-free holes

During the second round, on the third hole, Tiger made a bogey. He wouldn’t make another one until the fifth hole during the final round. That’s 37 holes of bogey-free golf on the vaunted Augusta National layout. During that stretch, Tiger pulled away from the field by playing those holes in a remarkable 14-under par. It was ova.

7. The Tiger Swagger becomes a thing

We knew early on that Tiger was going to be a different golfer. The crowds from the very beginning were unreal. But Tiger was different in the way he carried himself on the golf course. Remember the Phoenix Open where he raised the roof all the way down the fairway? That was just a precursor to the signature Tiger swagger that would be a staple of his career. At the ’97 Masters, the Big Cat’s signature fist pump was on full display, along with club twirls, pimp steps, and thousand-yard stares.

It’s possible these moves might have been inspired by the Golden Bear. According to his recent book, Woods, who was 10 at the time, recalled seeing Jack Nicklaus celebrate before the ball was in the hole at the 1986 Masters and the memory resonated.

All week long, Woods would uppercut the sky in a way that traditionally reserved golfers never did. He would club twirl. He picked up his tee before the ball hit the ground. He would start stalking after great shots. He walked in putts. He was becoming a star.

8. MONTY!

Always one for a sound byte, Colin Montgomerie provided one of the best during the 1997 Masters. Referring to Greg Norman’s 1996 collapse, Monty dropped this gem.

“There is no chance humanly possible that Tiger is just going to lose this tournament. This is different. This is very different. (Nick) Faldo is not lying second for a start, and Greg Norman is not Tiger Woods.”

9. Tiger played Mortal Kombat

Maybe one of the lesser-known anecdotes to come out of that week at Augusta was Tiger’s love of playing video games. You may know Tiger is a big ‘Call of Duty’ guy, but back then it was ‘Mortal Kombat.’

According to Reilly’s aforementioned game story, after play was done for the day and while the who’s who of the sports world were sent positive notes, Tiger was busy playing ping pong and video games. According to the story, Tiger (as Motaro) enjoyed ripping his buddy Jerry Chang’s (as Kintaro) head off.

10. Finishing in style

Most golfers with a large cushion will play a conservative game in order to secure victory. Tiger either didn’t do that or he was just so good at the time, he didn’t need to. Either way, his back nine on Sunday put an exclamation point on his historic win. He made birdies on 11, 13, and 14. The gas pedal was down and it wouldn’t let up until Nick Faldo slipped that green jacket over his shoulders.

11. Tiger almost missed setting the scoring record

Tiger was set on cruise control coming to the 18th hole. He wasn’t going to lose, but he wanted to best Jack Nicklaus for the all-time Masters scoring record. On the 18th tee someone shouted during Big Cat’s swing and he pulled his tee shot way left.

But, come on, this was Tiger’s week. He found his ball in an advantageous spot. He put his second shot on the green and two-putted his way to the best score in Masters history.

12. “A win for the ages”

We often joke about Jim Nantz’s love for extended family trees and clever puns at the end of golf tournaments, but this line was one of his best. As Tiger Woods drained his putt on the 72nd hole, Nantz called the monumental victory a “win for the ages.”

It remains one of the most memorable calls from years of Masters highlights, but it also signaled a new era in the golf world. Yes, that win by Tiger may be the most impressive in the tournament’s history, but it also put golf in a new place in the sports landscape. In the coming years, TV ratings soared. Purses skyrocketed to a level never thought possible. And maybe most importantly, golf was seen as cool for a change. It was indeed a win for the ages. The moment Nantz uttered that line serves as a clear line of demarcation in the game’s history.

13. Earl and Tiger embrace

If you have followed Tiger at all in the past 20 years, you will know the impact that his father had on his life. Earl Woods taught his son the game and instilled a mental toughness in his son that would make him one of the best to ever play the game. When Tiger won in ’97 he found his father beside the 18^th green and their embrace is one of the unforgettable images from that week.

14. 270

Tiger blew away the field in 1997. But you knew that. His score of 270 or 18-under par was the tournament record and he also won by TWELVE shots. That major championship record stood for a few years until Cat won the U.S. Open in 2000 by an even more absurd 15 shots.

15. 21

Tiger became the youngest winner of the Masters at age 21. Winning the Masters is an impressive feat no matter a player’s age, but the fact that Tiger was doing it at this age and in an era when young talents did not make waves like this put the rest of the golfing world on notice.

16. 43 Million Viewers

Tiger emerged as a transcendent star of the game and that was reflected in the TV ratings. A record 43 million viewers tuned into to watch the coronation of golf’s new superstar. This still remains the high point for CBS’s coverage of the event. The final round of the ’97 Masters also remains the highest rated final round and major championship of all time. If anyone asks you why Tiger is so important to the game of golf, point to these numbers.

17. Tiger played a different game from the tee

You know that Tiger beat the crap out of everyone in ’97, but how did he do it? He overpowered Augusta National. That week, Cat averaged over 320 off the tee. He smoked every other player in the field by 25 yards. That advantage allowed him to beat up Augusta in a way that was never seen before. This was especially evident on the par-5s where Woods was a crazy 13-under par and often playing a short iron or wedge into the green. His fellow pros could simply not keep up.

18. The impetus to “Tiger Proofing”

Tiger rewrote the book on how to play Augusta National. He dominated the course in a way that that the green jackets had not seen. So the club eventually lengthened the course in an overhaul that was dubbed “Tiger-proofing.” Sure, this didn’t happen until a few years later, but you better believe the talk of changes started in 1997. This one win forever changed the setup of the National.

19. Cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes

One of the great traditions of the Masters is the Champions Dinner the following year. After his historic win, Tiger was entitled to pick the menu for the dinner in 1998. Being that he was still a kid, Tiger went with what he ate at home: burgers, fries, and milkshakes. It was a huge hit with the other past champions, including Byron Nelson who remarked, “I’m glad you ordered cheeseburgers, Tiger, because I don’t get this at home.”

20. The New Master

After his historic win, Tiger took over the cover of Sports Illustrated. The headline read “The New Master.” We often rush to proclaim something the new “era” after a super talent wins only to see that era never get off the ground. But this was foreshadowing for the man that would rule the game for the next decade and then some.