Wearing his customary red shirt, Tiger Woods was reunited Sunday with his old friend, the green jacket. Woods had put it on three times before, but this one was different.
His fourth Masters title was about validation and vindication. It was about delivering an improbable shot in the clutch that staggered the imagination.
Ultimately, it was about winning one for an ailing father, the inspiration for his son’s incredible journey.
Another memorable Sunday at Augusta National saw Woods break his 10-tournament drought in majors. On the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, he made a 15-foot putt for birdie on 18 to end a valiant effort by Chris DiMarco. DiMarco closed with a 68 to catch Woods, who had a 71, at 12 under through 72 holes.
The victory, his first in a major since the 2002 U.S. Open, put Woods back on his historic path. He won his ninth major title, moving him halfway home to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18. He also seems destined to fulfill Nicklaus’ prophecy that he would win 10 Masters. Woods became the first player to win four before the age of 30.
“A long way to go,” said Woods of his march to history.
The records, though, didn’t mean as much to Woods on Sunday as the struggle. After a period of unprecedented dominance, Woods decided he needed to change his swing. He severed ties with swing coach Butch Harmon, eventually hooking up with Deerfield native Hank Haney.
Both Woods and Haney were pummeled relentlessly as Woods’ game slipped. But all along, Woods kept insisting that the changes were necessary, and that he was on the right track.
Woods wouldn’t use the word vindication when his big moment finally arrived Sunday.
“More than anything it’s validation for all the hard work I’ve put into this,” Woods said. “Hank and I have put in some serious hours. I’ve been getting ripped for all the changes I’m making. To play as beautifully as I did this entire week is pretty cool.”
After an opening-round 74, when he knocked a putt off the green into the hazard on 13, Woods resembled the Tiger of old. He put up a 66 during the second round. Then, needing to complete the final nine holes of his third round Sunday morning, he opened with four straight birdies, giving him seven in a row for the round. He wound up with a 65.
Haney beamed watching from outside the ropes. Vindication definitely was the word for him.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel vindicated,” Haney said. “Sometimes people get hypercritical, but I realize it’s part of the program. But I knew things were coming. You could see he was gaining a lot of confidence.”
Woods came into the final round with a three-shot lead. DiMarco, meanwhile, was reeling after a back-nine 41 led to a third-round 74. A rout seemed inevitable.
It didn’t end up that way. The tournament seemed on the verge of changing on the par-3 16th hole, when Woods, with a one-shot lead, hit an 8-iron over the green. DiMarco, meanwhile, faced a 20-foot birdie putt.
Woods then pulled off a shot for the ages. Aiming left, his chip caught the bank perfectly and trickled toward the hole. Finally, it stopped on the edge of the cup for one, maybe two breaths. Perhaps the collective gasp from the gallery was enough to give the ball the one revolution it needed to fall into the hole for a birdie.
“Under the circumstances, it’s one of the best shots I’ve ever hit,” Woods said. “I was just trying to throw the ball up there on the hill and hopefully have a makable putt. All of the sudden, it looked pretty good, and then it looked, `How could it not go in?’ and all of the sudden it went in. It was pretty sweet.”
With Woods now up by two shots, the tournament should have been over. But Woods failed to close the deal, making bogeys on the last two holes. DiMarco thought he had the edge going into the playoff.
“Probably I felt better going into it than he did,” DiMarco said. “But it didn’t work out that way.”
Indeed, Woods hit a perfect 8-iron to 15 feet. Then, like clockwork, he made the putt when it counted the most.
“In the playoff, for some reason, I hit two of the best golf shots I had all week,” Woods said. “I felt so good over [the 8-iron], and I hit it in there flush. That golf shot was cool.”
What happened next was familiar territory for Woods. But in putting on the green jacket again, the emotions hit him.
Woods talked of his father, Earl, who is suffering from cancer. Earl, 73, was in Augusta but wasn’t up to making it to the course. Woods said Earl is “struggling.”
So Woods dedicated this title to his father. With tears in his eyes, he recalled how his father had been with him for his previous three Masters victories.
“This is for Dad,” Woods said. “I can’t wait to go home and see him.”
Taking the green jacket home to Earl, more than anything else, was Woods’ ultimate satisfaction Sunday.
Masters results
Sunday at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club. Yardage: 7,290; Par: 72
a-amateur;
x-won on first hole of playoff
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276 (-12), $1,260,000
x-Tiger Woods 74-66-65-71
276 (-12), $756,000
Chris DiMarco 67-67-74-68
283 (-5), $406,000
Retief Goosen 71-75-70-67
Luke Donald 68-77-69-69
284 (-4), $237,300
Rod Pampling 73-71-70-70
Mike Weir 74-71-68-71
Mark Hensby 69-73-70-72
Vijay Singh 68-73-71-72
Trevor Immelman 73-73-65-73
285 (-3), $189,000
Phil Mickelson 70-72-69-74
286 (-2), $168,000
David Howell 72-69-76-69
Tim Herron 76-68-70-72
287 (-1), $135,333
Tom Lehman 74-74-70-69
a-Ryan Moore 71-71-75-70
Justin Leonard 75-71-70-71
Thomas Levet 71-75-68-73
288 (even), $112,000
Darren Clarke 72-76-69-71
Kirk Triplett 75-68-72-73
Chad Campbell 73-73-67-75
289 (+1), $84,840
Jeff Maggert 74-74-72-69
Stewart Cink 72-72-74-71
Bernhard Langer 74-74-70-71
Jerry Kelly 75-70-73-71
Scott Verplank 72-75-69-73
290 (+2), $61,600
Joe Ogilvie 74-73-73-70
Craig Parry 72-75-69-74
Thomas Bjorn 71-67-71-81
291 (+3), $53,900
Jim Furyk 76-67-74-74
292 (+4), $50,750
Steve Flesch 76-70-70-76
Kenny Perry 76-68-71-77
293 (+5), $46,550
Miguel Angel Jimenez 74-74-73-72
Mark O’Meara 72-74-72-75
294 (+6)
a-Luke List 77-69-78-70
294 (+6), $39,620
K.J. Choi 73-72-76-73
Shingo Katayama 72-74-73-75
Adam Scott 71-76-72-75
Casey Wittenberg 72-72-74-76
Ian Poulter 72-74-72-76
295 (+7), $32,200
Fred Couples 75-71-77-72
Tim Clark 74-74-72-75
Ryan Palmer 70-74-74-77
Todd Hamilton 77-70-71-77
296 (+8), $28,000
Jonathan Kaye 72-74-76-74
Stuart Appleby 69-76-72-79
297 (+9), $25,200
Stephen Ames 73-74-75-75
Nick O’Hern 72-72-76-77
298 (+10), $23,100
Ernie Els 75-73-78-72
301 (+13), $21,700
Jay Haas 76-71-76-78
304 (+16), $20,300
Chris Riley 71-77-78-78
306 (+18), $19,180
Craig Stadler 75-73-79-79
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