Our 5 Favourite Years of The Masters Tournament

By Quantum, March 28

4. 19973 of 7

The 1997 Masters

Despite the honour and prestige attributed to the hallowed grounds of Augusta National, course policies have not always been fair to all.

African-Americans were highly discriminated against for many years at the course, and Augusta didn’t even have a black member until 1991. In the early days of the course’s existence the role of black people at the club was nothing more than to caddy for the privileged few who were invited to play there.

The 1997 tournament changed the perception of golf for the better with the emergence of a young African-American named Tiger Woods having not only golfing significance, but incredible social significance as well.

Although the tournament didn’t start as Woods would have imagined, he soon began to demonstrate the skills that have dazzled us ever since. After stumbling to an opening 40 for his first nine holes, Woods bounced back with 30 on the inward nine.

On the second day, Woods shot a 66 and followed it up with a bogey-free 65 on Saturday to take a nine-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. Woods looked unflappable again in the final round holing a four footer on the 18th to mark a 12 shot victory. He had not only dominated the field, but ensured that Augusta National would never be the same.

The overall picture of his win is quite astounding – he won by 12 shots in his first Masters as a pro at the age of just 21. Not even taking the social considerations into account Tiger’s win marked a degree of dominance that no one had ever seen before, all from a kid who was barely old enough to drink.

Image credit to IMG Kid.