Tiger Woods emotional when discussing last year's Masters victory
Tiger Woods warms up on the range during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Nov. 9 in Augusta, Ga. Credit: Getty Images/Jamie Squire
It has been 19 months since Tiger Woods woke up the echoes of his former greatness with an emotional Masters victory in April of 2019. It was his fifth green jacket but his first since 2005 and his first major title anywhere since 2008.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that pushed the 2020 Masters to November, Woods has been able to take his green jacket off property and wear it longer than any other champion, and thinking back to that victory left him misty during his pretournament news conference on Tuesday.
"I’m still getting chills just thinking about it, the feelings coming up No. 18 and knowing that all I have to do is two-putt that little 15-footer and to see my family there and my mom and my kids and all of the people that helped support me or were there for me in the tough times," Woods recalled. "I was walking up there trying not to lose it.
"Then, I walked off the back of the green to see [son] Charlie, just opened up our arms. It meant a lot to me and it still does. It just reminded me so much of me and my dad, and to come full circle like that, it still [leaves] me a little teary."
The circumstances for this Masters, which starts Thursday morning with players going off the 10th tee for the first time as well as the first tee because of concerns about darkness at this time of year, are unlike any other. There will be no "patrons," as the Masters quaintly refers to fans, because of the pandemic. But Woods said hosting the champions dinner Tuesday night would be "awfully special" along with celebrating his 25th anniversary at Augusta National Golf Club since he was low amateur in 1995.
Looking back over a storied career that includes 15 major titles, second only to the 18 won by Jack Nicklaus, Woods ranked last year’s celebration on a level with his first Masters victory in 1997, when he scored his first PGA Tour victory by 12 strokes.
Woods began the final round last year two shots behind leader Francesco Molinari, who knocked his tee shot at the par-3 12th in the water while Woods parred to tie for the lead before getting birdies at the par-5 13th, par-5 15th and par-3 16th on his way to a one shot win over Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele.
"I think that ’97 was probably the one that stands out with my dad and his heart surgery and coming to the Masters to win my first major and the way I did it," Woods said. "But last year was more emotional in a different way just because of the struggles I’ve had, and I had never, ever won a major coming from behind.
"My kids were there, and it was just so special and emotional in a different way. To come full circle from being with my dad and seeing my son there and [having] the same embrace 22 years apart, pretty good bookends."
Since the PGA restart in June, Woods has played only six events and has not finished higher than 37th. But he actually feels better physically than he did in 2019 and is hoping to find the same consistency with his irons and feel that he had on the greens.
The one thing Woods can’t duplicate is the energy the fans provided as they willed him to victory. "They helped me win," he said. "The support I had, the energy that was around the property, it was electric that day. This year is going to be a very different experience, hopefully, one that I can figure out and be able to replicate what I did last year."
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
