Of all the incredible things Tiger Woods did last year, one of the most incredible was something he didn’t do.
He didn’t look back.
On its final Sunday, Woods had the Motorola Western Open wrapped up when he hit his approach shot to the 18th green. As he walked up the fairway, the gallery threw standard golf decorum aside and broke past the marshals to follow the game’s new Pied Piper. It was as if Michael Jordan himself was strolling on that stretch of green grass at Cog Hill.
The people cheered and woofed and threw their arms up in the air. It was the kind of scene normally reserved for the final hole of the British Open, but rarely viewed at an American tournament.
It was a photo op for the ages. The Western is marketing that picture today and will be marketing the shot 50 years from now.
Woods, meanwhile, obviously heard the people, and he felt their excitement. But he never looked back to survey the scene.
If most people suddenly had thousands of strangers following in their footsteps, their first instinct would be to turn around. But Woods, as the world knows, isn’t most people.
He kept walking forward with a smile on his face. He remained focused on the task at hand.
“I figure that I owe it to the people who are applauding on the green,” Woods said. “They’re giving me a standing ovation. I think I kind of owed it to them to acknowledge them. The people behind me, obviously, they’re running. But I think I owe it to the people who stood there and waited the entire day.”
The scene was the perfect climax to one of the most memorable days in Western Open history. It had an all’s-well-that-ends-well finish, but when the people first broke through the line, tournament organizers weren’t thinking memorable.
“At first I was panicked,” tournament director Greg McLaughlin said.
Western officials had spent countless hours working with the PGA Tour on security for Woods. Besides the safety issues, the vast crowds following Woods made it tough for him to get around at PGA events. He had 14 security people assigned to him that day.
McLaughlin believed Western officials had accounted for any contingency, but they never figured on such a spontaneous outburst. It started near the maintenance area down the fairway when a group of individuals broke past a brigade of marshals, shouting, “They can’t hold us back.” A few people started the deluge.
“My No. 1 concern was for (Woods’) safety,” McLaughlin said. “My second was to finish the competition. I was afraid the people would start coming from the greenside and run down the fairway to greet him.”
That didn’t happen. McLaughlin then saw Woods’ expression and felt a sense of relief.
“He never looked back,” McLaughlin said. “I could tell he wasn’t worried. He was fine.”
Cog Hill’s Frank Jemsek, who owns and operates the course along with his father, Joe, saw the scene off the 18th fairway. It had been a crazy day on his course. The biggest crowd in Western Open history, nearly 50,000, came out to see Woods’ coronation.
Woods called the crowds “jazzed up,” as people jockeyed for position. It was such a memorable day that people improvised their own souvenirs–Jemsek reported a couple of instances of fans taking patches of grass from the greens.
“The second time that happened, the fellow ran into someone who plays the course,” Jemsek said. “They got into a fight. I heard it was a one-punch fight.”
A few lost patches of grass pales in comparison to what could have happened to Jemsek’s 18th fairway. It wasn’t designed to be trampled on by several thousand feet.
“I didn’t think of that at first,” Jemsek said. “It happened so quick, it surprised me. I was frightened about losing control of the crowd.”
Don Johnson, executive director of the Western Golf Association, thought the same thing.
“I had a dual reaction,” Johnson said. “One of great enthusiasm to see everyone so excited. But on the other side, there was a concern for everyone’s security. You hope nobody gets hurt.”
Tiger’s father, Earl, shared his son’s serenity. From his vantage point just off the 18th green, Earl saw that the crowd wanted to embrace his son. He knew that fairway ropes were not going to contain the Sunday gallery.
“I knew exactly what they were doing,” Earl said. “I knew they were not a threat. They were rejoicing with him. This was, shall we say, a spontaneous outburst of love and respect.”
In retrospect, McLaughlin agrees. “People wanted to share the moment with him,” he said. “They felt he was making history. They wanted to be a part of history.”
The award ceremony was more sedate, but it was a love-fest just the same. A fan cried out, “We’ve got Michael, and we’ve got Tiger.”
For one day at least, Woods belonged to Chicago.
“It was wild,” Woods said. “It was just one of those afternoons where the people were really fired up. I won the tournament and I was fired up myself. It was just a great experience.”
So will there be an encore?
The potential for another wild scene on the 18th fairway is now on the Western’s contingency list, especially if Woods wins again. There will be more extensive roping and even some barricades used to restrain the crowd.
Yet putting practicality aside, McLaughlin, in his heart of hearts, wouldn’t mind seeing the scene repeated. Safely, of course.
“This year I think we have it covered,” he said. “It’s a great problem to have. I don’t want to encourage it, but I hope we have that problem again.”
