Tiger Woods was sitting on a bench as Mark O'Meara approached the tee box on the 15th hole during the first round of the 1997 Masters. One of Woods' closest friends and a mentor during the early years of his career sat down next to him. O'Meara asked Woods if he really was. Woods replied, "Yeah, what?" O'Meara asked what was going on. Pretend you are playing against me. You make a hole-in-one when you shoot 59. gimme a break. On April 4, 1997, O'Meara played a round with Woods at their home course, Isleworth Country Club in Windermere, Florida. During his career, Woods has won a record-tying 82 PGA Tour events and 15 major championships, but he has never shot 59 on a par 72 course. On the next day, Woods made a hole-in-one on the second and O'Meara left after he made a hole-in-one on the first. Then, less than a week later, in his first appearance as a professional at the Masters, his game was out of sorts. Woods was forced to chip out after hitting his opening tee shot with Nick Faldo. He bogeyed the first hole and then the fourth, eighth, and ninth. He shot 4-over 40 on the first nine holes. He wasn't down in the dumps, but he was a little disappointed that he hadn't gotten off to a better start. He wouldn't have said that, but by knowing him, it showed when he was sitting next to me. Pick a winner and compete for a chance to win $5,000. Pick your favorites. The 63 holes that followed in the 1997 Masters are still considered to be some of the greatest holes in Masters history. As O'Meara offered encouragement, he could not have known that Woods was going to win the tournament and change golf forever. The Masters tournament scoring record of 18-under par 270 was set by Woods, who would become the youngest man to win a green jacket at 21. He was 22 under after the final 63 holes. The first of five victories at Augusta National would be the first of 20 Masters records set by Woods. His history at the Masters gets another unexpected twist this week, as Woods is seemingly ready to return to action after a 14-month layoff since suffering serious injuries in a car wreck. It would be his first start in a long time. Television coverage and more will be offered in the year 2022. He left us in the dust after he left in 30 and we didn't see him again for 14 years. The first 18 holes of the 1997 Masters are remembered by people who had front-row seats at Augusta National. Their memories come from new interviews, previous comments from an ESPN documentary about Woods, and Tiger's recollections in his book. The competitors at the 1997 Masters were tired of hearing about Woods and didn't know if he was ready to compete. Faldo asked, "What do you think of Tiger?" It was a total Tiger. It was amazing. It was so boring that it was annoying. He came in with a lot of attention. Woods was the first player to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. He won the NCAA individual championship in 1996. He won the silver medal as the low amateur at The Open, shooting a 5-under 66 in the second round. Woods turned pro on August 29, 1996. He won two times as a rookies on the PGA Tour and once at the Mercedes Championships in Hawaii in 1997. There was a lot of anticipation and a lot of expectations, but you didn't know it. I don't remember what he did before the Masters. The tournament had something special and there was a buzz in the air. As good as Woods had been over the first seven months on tour, Faldo and other pros wondered if he was ready for the pressure that came with playing at Augusta National. Woods had never broken par in six rounds as an amateur and had missed the cut by four shots the year before, when Greg Norman blew a six-shot lead in the final round and Faldo won his third green jacket. Faldo once said that playing Augusta National for five years was how long it took players to figure out the place. There is a learning curve when playing Augusta, Faldo said. When not. When to walk. It is not impossible, but I think experience can help. Even though Woods is inexperienced at Augusta, oddsmakers still installed him as the favorite with Faldo and Norman. Augusta National invited Lee Elder, the first Black player to compete in the Masters, because the public and media were obsessed with Woods. Elder was one of the ceremonial starters at the Masters in 2021. Elder died in November at the age of 87. The patrons came to see who they were. There are probably 30,000 to 40,000 people at Augusta National on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was like a rock star showing up. In the previous year, Woods played a practice round with the man who has won more major titles than any other player. Woods was told by Nicklaus that his game was so good that he would win as many green jackets as any other golfer. Palmer won four Masters. The media was told as much before the opening round. The two-time U.S. Open winner said that Augusta takes a lot of local knowledge. It is a veteran's golf course. The kid is young. He is still inexperienced in major championships. It didn't make a difference to Tiger Woods. Woods and Faldo arrived at the first hole. All eyes were on the 21-year-old in the baggy Nike shirt as he teed off in the first round. The storyline was on fire, according to Jim Nantz of CBS. I felt it for a long time. Woods and Faldo were standing in the middle of the 10th fairway when the 1997 Masters started on USA Network. TV coverage of the second nine holes was allowed back then. The day before the tournament started, Jack Stephens was asked about expanding TV coverage to all 18 holes, like in the U.S. Open. America's Caddie is back with Michael Collins. He will take you inside the world of golf with exclusive looks at some of the top courses, feature stories, celebrity guests and interviews with the biggest stars in golf. You can stream on the internet. Progress is slow because we don't want to do it. Nobody saw Woods' first nine holes. After the first round, Woods said he couldn't keep the ball in the fairway. I was just playing golf. Augusta's fairways are large and I couldn't hit them. That was pretty bad. Woods pulled his tee shot into the trees on the ninth hole. His approach shot hit the green but then rolled back into the fairway. He missed a 10-footer after a so-so chip. He carded a 4-over 40 on the first nine. Woods wrote in "The 1997 Masters: My Story" that his start wasn't going to finish him, and he didn't play. I was angry as I walked to the 10th tee after shooting 40. I was thinking about what had just happened. I need to figure out what went wrong on the front nine. Problems off the tee made Woods angry. There was nothing wrong with his swing in the days leading up to the tournament. He was confident in his swing going into his first major championship, but not in his putting. 25 years ago, Tiger Woods won his first Green Jacket. The game would never be the same. #themasters pic.twitter.com/3TJ9FarDbs
'It was so total Tiger it was annoying'
'Forty. That's not a very good start'
The night before the first round, Woods stood in the bedroom where his father was sleeping. In February 1997 Earl Woods had triple bypass surgery. Earl wasn't going to miss his son's first Masters as a professional despite his doctor telling him not to travel to Augusta.
He was in bed the night before the first round. I grabbed three balls and asked him if he saw anything as he lay in bed.
Earl Woods told his son that his hands were too low. Lift them up. Get that little arch in your hands.
It was a good tip. Woods putted well on the first nine holes, but everything else seemed off in his game. As Woods walked to the 10th, his caddie, Mike Fluff, offered him a few words of encouragement.
Cowan told him that there was a long way to go. We will be alright if we can shoot something under par in the second nine.
Tiger was not the only one surprised by his score.
Paul Stankowski, who had the lead for much of the first round, was chuckling when he saw that he was 4-over par. I thought I shot one or two under on the front nine. I am thinking, "Forty?" That is not a good start.
After working with Peter Jacobsen for nearly two decades, Cowan moved to the hotshot Woods bag in 1996. He became the most famous caddie on the tour after teaming with Woods. As they made the turn in 1997 at Augusta National and headed for the most famous nine holes in golf, Cowan wasn't overly concerned about the way Woods was playing.
It doesn't always go the way you want it to. I am aware of the value of shooting par around Augusta. I knew we were going to play a par-34 back nine because he was able to make two par-5s on the back. You are not out of the golf tournament if we shoot 74 and a couple over. We are right in the middle of it if we can do something better than that.
Woods had to figure out what was happening with his swing on the tee shots. He fixed it in the blink of an eye.
I decided that my backswing got too long on the front nine, and I didn't like it. I had to use my arms alone to get back on the right path after I got out of sync.
I had to depend on my timing, which was unreliable. I wanted my swing to be strong. This gave me the control I wanted. I did not mean that I was swinging freely. I could make a swing without thinking. I wanted that feeling.
The man who was Woods' swing coach at the time, was not allowed to speak to him.
"You know your golf swing and you teach it to the best players in the world," he said. You have to teach them how to self-correct. You have to know when you hit a bad shot, why you hit them, and what you have to do to change it.
You can feel67531 when you are out of sync and67531 when you are in position. His body rotation is so fast that the club was too far behind him. You have heard him talk about it for a long time. He gets stuck when he gets bad.
The star student just needed to calm down, according to the teacher.
He was ready to play. He was not being himself. I think shooting 40 on the front nine was a good thing. It was a slap in the face, like, "Hey, you are this great player, but this course isn't just gonna let you take it." You have to go out and earn it.
The other players had struggled on the first nine. Only eight players were under par when TV coverage began. With winds of 15 to 18 mph, club selection became a guessing game. The greens at Augusta National were already some of the most dangerous in the world. Ken Green, one of the better putters on tour, putted from 6 feet on the 16th green and had 44 putts in his round. Faldo shot 5-over 41 on the first nine and had 20 putts.
Even at 4 over, Woods knew he was still in the running.
Woods wrote in his book that before he stepped on the 10th tee, he let go of the anger and calmed himself. I felt the feeling wash over me. My heart rate slowed. I felt the motion of my swing and the sense of control through the ball. I felt free.
Woods hit his tee shot in the middle of the fairway. He hit his approach shot to 15 feet and made the putt to move to 3 over.
From that one swing on the 10th tee, I knew it was over. The swing was going to turn it around for me.
After making par at the 11th, Woods seemed to make a big mistake when he hit his tee shot over the green on the 12th. He faced a difficult chip shot from 35 feet back. He hit a perfect shot with a 9-iron and the ball fell into the hole for a par. He raised both hands over his head and pumped his fist.
We watch Tiger bogey the first hole. Things just flipped at the 12th hole.
On the par-5 13th, the final test in the three-hole stretch famously known as Amen Corner, Woods' second shot with a 6-iron from 196 yards landed on the green. He was just 1 over for the round after he two-putted.
On the par-5 15th, after bumping into his good friend, Woods hit a 349-yard drive over the crest of the hill in the fairway. He hit a pitching wedge to 4 feet from the left side of the hole. Woods went under par for the first time that week when he knocked in the eagle putt. He was two strokes behind leader Paul Azinger after 15 holes.
Woods made a 12-foot putt on the 17th to improve to 6 under on the second nine, after making a par at the 16th.
Woods needed a par on the par-4 18th to tie Mark Calcavecchia&s record of 7-under 29 over the second nine holes in the final round in 1992 ( David Toms would tie the mark in the final round of 1998). The putt slid past the hole on 18. He was 6-under 30 on the second nine and 2-under 70 for the round.
It would be like saying the pollen at Augusta National makes you sneeze. The Masters re-paired players by scores after each round back then, and he was three strokes behind leader John Huston after the second round.
The 1993 PGA Championship winner had never played with Woods and hadn't seen him hit balls on the range. On the second hole, Azinger told his caddie, "You know, I have never seen this guy hit a shot." I am going to watch this shot.
I folded my arms and said, "You know, let's just see what this guy is all about." Azinger said. It felt like it was close to the bank of pine trees. It felt like it was below the pine trees. It was the most straight rocket tee shot I have ever seen. I looked at my caddie and I couldn't believe it. I had never seen a ball leave like that.
In the second round, Woods shot 6-under 66 and took a 3-shot lead over Colin Montgomerie. When Woods grabbed his first lead with an eagle putt on the par-5 13th hole, Jim Nantz opened his microphone and said on TV, "Let the record show, a little after 5:30 on this Friday, April the 11th, Tiger takes the lead for the first time ever
"I wanted to kind of mark that moment in history, because what I was really saying was that this is going to happen a lot." This is the first time this will happen and it will happen many times in the future. That is a point in history.
Montgomerie said after the round that the pressure would be on Woods on the weekend.
Montgomerie said there was more to it than hitting the ball a long way. Hopefully I can prove that.
Woods had a bogey-free round of 7-under 65 to move to 15 under after 54 holes. He missed the fairway and green in the third round. His lead grew to nine shots over Costantino Rocca. Montgomerie fell into a tie for sixth at 3 under after shooting 2-over 74 while playing with Woods. The Scotsman became a believer.
Montgomerie said there was no chance after the third round. There is no chance that Tiger will win this tournament. No way.
Montgomerie was correct. The Masters scoring record was set by Woods with a final round of 3-under 69. He was 16 under after 54 holes. Tom Morris won the Open at Prestwick by 13 shots. The 2000 U.S. Open was won by Woods by 15 strokes.
David Feherty, who was working the 15th hole at Augusta National in his first season with CBS Sports, said it felt like you could have hit him on the head with a baseball bat. He looked very strong. After interviewing him on the first day, I thought he had something special.
The 1997 Masters was the beginning of a career in which Woods would win 15 major titles, including five Masters titles, and a record-tying 82 times on the PGA Tour. The World Golf Hall of Fame accepted him in March.
There is 4,300 hours of live coverage from 35 PGA TOUR tournaments each year. You can access replays, originals and more. You can stream on the internet.
Augusta National was Tiger-proofed after Woods won a second green jacket in 2001. In order to keep Woods from dominating the course, Masters officials added nearly 300 yards to the length of the course. The sides of the fairways have trees added to them. He won three more green jackets despite their efforts.
Future PGA Tour players from around the world were inspired by that memorable week in 1997.
The 7-year-old golfer was watching Woods dominate on the television from his home in Northern Ireland. He remembers Thursday, what happened and its significance.
He shot 40 on the front nine on Thursday, came back in 30 on the back, and then completely decimated the field after that. It was a complete master class. I remember sitting on the sofa with my dad and watching him win on a Sunday night before he had to go to school on Monday.
Since he was 6 years old, Charley had heard about Woods winning junior tournaments. Woods is a year younger than the man. In his second season at UNLV, he watched the 1997 Masters at a friend's home in Santa Barbara, California.
"You know what I remember more than anything?" he asked. Everybody was like, "Oh, no." And then what he did next is history." He had a terrible start, but his next 63 holes are some of the best golf to ever be played.
Gary Woodland was more interested in basketball and other sports when he was a kid. He watched the 1997 Masters as a child.
I bought the VHS tape after he won and watched it a million times. Playing golf was not cool when I was a kid. You were a golfer after golf became a little bit cooler. He changed the game for everyone.
When Woods won in 1997, Snedeker was still in high school. He ran home to watch the final round after playing golf that morning.
Snedeker said that golf was more of a niche sport at that time. I don't remember if Palmer or Nicklaus won AP Male Athlete of the Year, but it seemed like Tiger did it for 10 years after that. The way people view golf has changed. It became cool and different.
After 25 years since his first victory at Augusta National, his competitors and golf fans around the world are waiting for his return.
He made golf, at the highest level, a very attractive thing to be involved in. The sponsors paid more. His peers and colleagues were getting paid more because of that. We should all be very fortunate that we played at a time when Tiger Woods was around, because we have all benefited from him.
The day in 1997 when Woods became the first golfer to win the Tour Championship has benefited him and every other player on the tour. The effect it would have was not fully known by those who were there.
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