The Archive: Tiger's historic first Masters win

(This story was originally published in April of 1997.)

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- In the end, Tiger Woods hugged his father behind the 18th green and cried. It was a private moment in a public place; a privilege to witness, impossible to forget. With that, a touch of humility closed out the proceedings. It was the only counterpoint to a weekend of sheer historical audacity.

Woods won the Masters.

Tiger mocked time.

It isn't often that sport is any more than the surface offers - entertainment, escape, an afternoon or evening away from it all. And attempts to make it any more than that are usually forced. Restraint is the wise course, even on these kinds of days. It's not as if Woods just walked through a blocked schoolhouse door.

Still, what he did here was wondrous. And what he did here will reverberate outside the sporting realm. Because what he did here was as charismatic as it was unprecedented.

He won the Masters at age 21, the youngest player ever to do it. He became the first African-American and the first Asian-American to win either the Masters or any major championship - an accomplishment as overdue as it is heartening. He won it with the lowest score ever (18 under par) and by the widest margin ever (12 strokes), two more landmarks for the ages.

He has built himself a special platform, and he did it with only 270 strokes. Untold wealth and fame await him - to go along with the untold wealth and fame he'd already acquired. With this one tournament, he has turned himself into the golf world's engine - and make no mistake, everyone is eagerly hooked up for the ride.

But seeing him there behind the 18th green at Augusta National, melting in his father's arms, was the human side.

``I think, more than anything, I just realized it was over,'' Woods said. ``Every time I hug my mom or pop after a tournament, I know it's over."

It is over.

And it has just begun.

``He has an opportunity to do something more for the human race than any golfer ever has,'' former Masters champion Gary Player said.

This was a mouthful. This also was a fairly common sentiment on the grounds yesterday. It was hard not to get carried away by the moment. It is not often that you witness history, after all. And it is even less often that the appointment with history is made more than a day in advance - early enough that Lee Elder, the first black golfer to play in the Masters, was able to travel here in time for the denouement.

``I think it certainly means a lot for all of us,'' Elder said. ``It's going to be a situation where he's going to be such a role model. A lot of kids will turn to golf because they'll see what they can possibly do . . .

``I tried, Charlie [Sifford] tried, Jim Thorpe tried,'' Elder said, ticking off the names of some of pro golf's African-American pioneers. ``We were just a little before our time. Now, the time is right."

The year was 1975. That's when Elder became the first black golfer to meet the Masters qualifying standards and play in the tournament. There was talk a few years earlier by several congressmen of seeking a special exemption for Elder to get him into the field. Augusta National never came through with the exemption and Elder said he never would have accepted it if the club had.

``I said the only way I would come to Augusta and play was under my own merit,'' he said.

Golf is one of the ultimate meritocracies, and always has been. There's some irony there. A sport that was rooted in money and privilege, a sport whose pro ranks were officially limited to Caucasians by a written rule until the early '60s, had so many closed doors - and still has some. But at the same time, everyone has always accepted that once the doors are open, your game is the only thing that matters.

That has always been Woods's frame of reference. As he said, ``I'm no pioneer.''

What is he, then? A conglomerate. A worldwide celebrity. A stupendous golfer. A better-than-stupendous competitor. In no particular order.

``We're very happy with our investment,'' said Phil Knight, king for life and supreme ruler of the grand duchy of Nike. Knight is paying Woods a reported $40 million to sell his stuff, and was walking the grounds yesterday looking like a guy who had hit the lottery.

``A lot of people are telling me that the crowds around Amen Corner are greater than Arnie's Army at its peak,'' Knight said. ``I've never seen anything like this at a golf tournament . . .

``You see the crowds that [Michael Jordan] draws in public. You don't see it at a venue like this, but it's very similar to this. I think the closest comparison you can make is to Michael Jordan."

Another mouthful.

No one argued.

The guy is just magnetic. You have to see it to believe it. The appeal is just about universal. You're not allowed to run on the grounds of Augusta National - yeah, really - but there was some awfully quick walking going on as thousands of fans chased this elusive vision in the red shirt.

Of course, some people rode. Jack Nicholson tooled around Augusta National in a golf cart driven by NBC reporter/ caddy Jim Gray. It just added to the whole larger-than-life air.

As Woods proceeded through his round yesterday, as the crowd and the anticipation grew, he said the thought of history didn't hit him until the last couple of holes. For everyone else, though, history was never that far removed.

``One must never forget that Tiger Woods is black, but he's also Asian,'' Gary Player said. ``He's going to have a great effect all over the world. Can you imagine the excitement in my country, in South Africa? And in Asia, golf is already exploding. Can you imagine the feeling in Asia and Africa? He's going to do so much for golf.

``He has the ability to do more to change golf than anybody in the history of the game,'' Player said.

Pause.

``That's a great responsibility, isn't it? '' Player asked.

The scene was repeated dozens of times yesterday. Woods would be playing on one fairway, each side lined by thousands of witnesses to history. The adjacent hole would be pretty much vacant, which you wouldn't think possible. But it was.

They were 10 deep behind the greens and tee boxes, four or five deep along the fairways. On the 15th hole, a kid got loose just as Woods hit a shot - a shot that displeased him. The kid attempted to pat him on the back just as Woods was slamming his club down in disgust. Nobody was hurt.

In a way, it was surprising it didn't happen more often. Because while the adults in the galleries were appreciative, the kids were the ones in awe. And time after time, as Woods took his first big step toward golfing immortality, this little scene would be played out in some variation:

``I see his ball. Can you lift me up?''

``OK . . . Last time, OK?''

``OK, dad, OK. ''

The kids. That's what this is about. That is the real significance here. As Woods said, ``I think that now kids will think golf is cool. '' And here and now - on perhaps the most famous lawn in America, a place that is as immersed in tradition as it is strangled by it - this fresh new spirit can be measured by the wonder in an 8-year-old's eyes and in the soreness of his father's back.

``You know, I think I understand why the big guy up in the sky has given me some of these talents, and I think the main reason is to help people,'' Woods said.

``I'm in a very unique position where a lot of kids look up to me just because I'm around their age group. They look up to me in a role-model sense. And I think if I can influence their lives in a positive way, then I believe that's what the big guy in the sky had intended for me.''

It's a pretty significant calling. It will be fascinating to watch it play out over the years and decades. Because we are in it for the long haul with Tiger Woods now. That, more than anything, will be the lesson of the 61st Masters.

``He's wanted to win the Masters since he was 5 years old,'' his father, Earl, said after the ceremony in which Tiger received his green jacket. ``I told him that you just have to wait and grow up first.''

We've seen him grow. We've seen instant maturity.

Tiger Woods has won the Masters.

Tiger Woods has mocked time.