AUGUSTA.
CALL it what you want: a Grand Slam, the Roar to Four or the Fabulous Four. Or you can simply call it Incredible.
The best that golf has to offer challenged Tiger Woods on the back nine of Augusta National yesterday afternoon.
But a historic day on this storied course ended with a familiar finish: Woods hoisting his fist in victory and leaving everyone else in awe.
Woods had all but won the 65th Masters before he drained a 15-footer on the 18th green for birdie to win his second green jacket and fourth major championship in succession, a feat never accomplished before.
A simple par would have given him a one-stroke victory over David Duval.
Instead, Woods made birdie to punctuate a round of four-under 68 for a winning total of 16-under 272, just two strokes off his record, set when he won the 1997 Masters.
“Under these circumstances, with what he was trying to accomplish, to shoot 68 and win the golf tournament in the manner that he did is outstanding,” said Duval, who missed a four-footer on the 18th green that would have tied Woods, two groups back, at 15-under.
Let the debate continue over whether holding all four majors qualifies as a Grand Slam. Woods also has won the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship within 10 straight months.
But some will insist he must win all four majors in the same calendar year to be a Slam. That only gives him something else to shoot for.
There should be little debate that Woods, at 25, is already the greatest golfer of our time and ultimately will be regarded as the greatest ever.
Except for his putt on 18, his performance yesterday didn’t have the drama of one of his come-from-behind triumphs. He had six birdies scattered throughout the round against two bogeys. Still, he won because he held up under the pressure, when some of his top competitors could not.
“I’m amazed at the fact I was able to play as well as I was able to play when I needed to,” Woods said.
For Duval, it was another nightmare finish at Augusta National. He pulled what looked to be an easy tying putt on 18, and also bogeyed the 16th when he nuked his 7-iron off the tee to the back of the green. He called it one of the best shots he’d ever hit, but it ended with him dropping to 14-under and losing a share of the lead.
Phil Mickelson, who started the day one shot behind Woods, tied for the lead when Woods bogeyed the first hole. But Mickelson lost a stroke when he three-putted the sixth hole for bogey and further hurt his chances with a bogey on 11 after he hooked his drive off the trees. When Woods tapped in for birdie on 11 after nearly holing his approach shot, he had a three-stroke lead on Mickelson, who never really threatened again.
In the end, Woods was just too good, too consistent and too accustomed to winning when the pressure is the greatest.
“That is the reason why I practice,” Woods said, “to have the feeling, coming down the stretch, knowing that you have to hit golf shots against the best players and somehow be able to do it.”
He did it time after time yesterday.
Following a bogey on the 12th hole, where his tee-shot flew the green into the back bunker, Woods posted a birdie on the par-5 13th after a thunderous drive he called his best shot of the tournament. He would par the remaining holes until he authored an exclamation on the 18th.
“I rolled it down there, had good speed, and it just went right down in the bottom,” said Woods, who covered his face with his cap to hide tears of joy before sharing a victory hug with his father, Earl.
It was a fitting finish to a final 18 holes that was as highly anticipated as any Super Bowl or Seventh Game of the World Series. Patrons were lined up 10 deep at the first tee nearly and an hour before Mickelson and Woods teed off.
“There’s more anticipation for this than we’ve seen in recent golf history,” said Woods’ IMG agent, Mark Steinberg. “Everybody wants to be a part of this so they can say they were there.”
This was a day Augusta National turned into one big stadium. Usually, it’s the blooming azaleas that dominate the landscape. Yesterday, it was the people, thousands upon thousands of them, in all colors, shapes and sizes.
That only adds to the greatness of Woods.
What Bobby Jones did in 1930 in winning the U.S. Amateur, the British Amateur, the U.S. Open and the British Open was phenomenal.
But what Woods accomplished yesterday was even greater.
Today’s golfers are stronger, better, smarter than those of 70 years ago. They come from all over the world to win the green jacket.
But despite the competition, despite the pressure, despite knowing the world expected him to win, Woods managed to do just that and make history in the process.
“When I won [the Masters] in 1997, I didn’t fully understand what I had accomplished,” Woods said. “This year, I understand. I have a better appreciation for winning a major championship. To win four in succession is hard to believe.”