Orlando, FL …
On the up-coming 20th year anniversary of his stunning 12-shot Masters triumph, and now at a time of continued uncertainty in his career, Tiger Woods has spoken of how much winning his first Major Championship still means to him.
On that day in April, 1997 it was almost 50 years to the day after fellow African-American Jackie Robinson broke major league baseball’s colour barrier, at Augusta National, a club that no black man was allowed to join until 1991, and at the invitation-only tournament whose founder, Clifford Roberts, once said, “As long as I’m alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black,” a 21-year-old black man, and the proud son of a Vietnam ‘Green Beret’ veteran delivered the greatest performance ever seen on golf’s world stage.
Now in a publication “The 1997 Masters’ , written by renowned US-based golf writer Lorne Rubenstein, Woods says he still hopes to ‘win another green jacket or two’.
Tiger Woods rewrites Masters history books winning a first Master in his first Major as a professional
“I have gone through a lot on and off the golf course, what with different injuries, changes in the game, and the equipment we use, as well as being married, having kids, and getting publicly divorced,” he said.
“It’s definitely been tough at times. But I have stayed strong throughout, and I am confident in my ability to handle whatever life brings.”
Before those troubled times there was two people then so large in his life proudly waiting for Woods on that Sunday 13th April, 1997 afternoon – his ‘Mom and Pop’.
“I turned around the 1997 Masters after my opening nine,” said Woods.
“Twenty years later, I appreciate even more how much that meant to me. I hope to win another green jacket or two, but even if I don’t, I will always remember that walk up the 18th green on Masters Sunday, with Mom and Pop waiting to greet me”.
And Woods, who has just had seven rounds with an official scorecard in his back pocket since finishing T10th in the 2015 Wyndham Championship, has a message in the book as to whether or not he will ever return to being inside the ropes.
“And a final thought: I lived in ’97 for that moment when I had to perform. Maybe I don’t live as much for that now, but I still crave competing,” he said,
“But I also realise that, physically, I can’t necessarily do what I want to do. And I know I’ll miss it when I’m done playing tournament golf.
“Still, I love being on my own on the range and going out in the evening to play a few holes – just me, the golf ball, and the golf course.
“Compete though, remains my favourite word, and probably always will. My parents told me it was okay for me to fail, as long as I gave it everything I had.
“I have given it everything I had.”
