Tiger Woods went 27 holes today, but it took one more to fend off the ever-battling, ever-clawing, ever-fighting Chris DiMarco. A birdie at the first playoff hole, and Tiger Woods his fourth Masters.
The rest of the field? They never factored into the play, and never got within six shots of the lead. Ryan Moore, perhaps the best amateur since Bobby Jones himself, finished T13 and will be back at Augusta next year. Trevor Immelman earned a hole in one at sixteen in the group ahead of Tiger. And defending champ Phil Mickelson? T10 with a final-round 74.
Total Score to Par, Final Round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Woods -12 -13 -13 -13 -12 -12 -12 -12 -13 DiMarco -8 -9 -9 -9 -9 -9 -9 -9 -10
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Woods -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -13 -14 -13 -12 DiMarco -10 -11 -10 -10 -11 -12 -12 -12 -12
Chris DiMarco, who couldn’t buy a putt on the front, putted spectacularly on the back while Tiger’s putting and shotmaking failed him several times. Until it counted: the 15-footer Tiger made for birdie on the first playoff hole was center-cut. It’s true that Woods had some luck in the last round – a tee shot on 10 that kicked right out of the left-hand trees. The chip shot on 16 – arguably the greatest shot in Masters history – was pure luck.
Tiger is now the youngest golfer to win nine major championships. His 43rd PGA Tour victory is his fourth Masters, just like Arnold Palmer. And, true to a Masters tradition that remains unbroken in the past 15 years, the winner came from the final group. Tiger’s made the turn – his ninth major victory gets him halfway to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18.
And, about the title. Think about it…
Plenty will be written about this win, and we can’t do much to top the performance we witnessed today.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot 1* Tiger Woods -1 -12 74 66 65 71 276 2 Chris DiMarco -4 -12 67 67 74 68 276 T3 Retief Goosen -5 -5 71 75 70 67 283 T3 Luke Donald -3 -5 68 77 69 69 283 T5 Rod Pampling -2 -4 73 71 70 70 284 T5 Mike Weir -1 -4 74 71 68 71 284 T5 Mark Hensby E -4 69 73 70 72 284 T5 Vijay Singh E -4 68 73 71 72 284 T5 Trevor Immelman +1 -4 73 73 65 73 284 10 Phil Mickelson +2 -3 70 72 69 74 285 T11 David Howell -3 -2 72 69 76 69 286 T11 Tim Herron E -2 76 68 70 72 286 T13 Tom Lehman -3 -1 74 74 70 69 287 T13 Ryan Moore (a) -2 -1 71 71 75 70 287 T13 Justin Leonard -1 -1 75 71 70 71 287 T13 Thomas Levet +1 -1 71 75 68 73 287 * Won on first playoff hole
Photo Credit: © AP.
From the AP
I guess now is as good a time as any to use our AP license. Here you go:
Tiger Woods is the Masters champion once again, turning back a surprising challenge Sunday with a shot of sheer magic and a birdie putt to win a playoff he never expected.
A spectacular finish of birdies and bogeys finally ended when Woods produced the most important shot of all — a 15-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to capture his fourth green jacket and finally put away the gritty Chris DiMarco.
Woods knew it was over when the ball was a foot from the hole, taking two steps to the left as a smile broke out on his face and his right fist punched the air with fury.
Everything else about this Masters was up in the air to the very end.
First came the most improbable birdie on the par-3 16th, when Woods skipped his chip shot up the slope and watched it crawl 25 feet down to the cup, where it paused for 2 full seconds before dropping.
“I would rank that as one of the best ones I’ve ever hit,” Woods said. “It turned things around. It was pretty huge.”
Then came an even bigger surprise. The greatest closer in golf looked like a first-timer at Augusta National, making a mess out of the last two holes to finish with two bogeys and allow DiMarco one more chance.
Woods made sure that was all he got.
DiMarco again came up short of the green, and chipped up for a tap-in par. He took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair, crouched and kept looking up at Woods and down at his feet, afraid to watch, perhaps knowing what was about to happen.
When the ball disappeared, DiMarco walked slowly to Woods to congratulate him.
Woods closed with a 1-under 71 and won for the second time in a playoff at a major, wrapping up a long and bizarre week at Augusta National that included two rain delays, an eagle putt that Woods rolled off the green and into the creek, a record run of birdies to get back into the contention and, finally, the fight of his life.
He now has nine majors for his career, halfway home to the standard set by Jack Nicklaus.
But this didn’t look like the same guy who won his first eight majors.
At times Woods was simply brilliant, especially when he made up a four-shot deficit in just two holes when the third round resumed Sunday morning. He tied a Masters record with seven straight birdies on his way to a 65, giving him a three-shot lead going into the final round.
But he made the kind of mistakes rarely seen from Woods in the final round of a major.
Ultimately, all that mattered was having defending champion Phil Mickelson slip the green jacket over his shoulders in the Butler Cabin, and being a major champion again for the first time in nearly three years.
For DiMarco, it was the second straight year he saw the winning putt on the 18th hole at Augusta National. He played with Mickelson in the final group when Lefty rolled in an 18-footer from about the same spot as Woods.
His consolation was a 4-under 68, and a steely performance that kept fans on edge to the end.
“I was ready to win,” DiMarco said. “I will be ready to win next year. I certainly feel like I can.”
DiMarco, who spit away a four-shot lead in two holes earlier Sunday to finish the third round, outplayed Woods in the final round and could easily have won except for missing four birdie putts inside 8 feet.
He also was up against some magic right out of Woods’ glorious past.
Woods was clinging to a one-shot lead and on the ropes, sailing his tee shot long over the par-3 16th green with DiMarco facing a 15-footer for birdie. Woods played his chip up the slope and watched it trickle down, begging from his knees for it to keep going. When it stopped, then dropped, it looked as though Woods had the Masters won.
But even a two-shot lead with two holes to play wasn’t enough.
He sliced his tee shot into the pines, couldn’t reach the green and escaped with bogey when his pitch rolled off the green. He sailed his approach on the 18th into the bunker on the right and made another bogey.
That forced the 13th playoff in Masters history.
Portions of the above Copyright © 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
“…ever-clawing”
Cute! Today was a great day for Tiger fans…pure, raw emotion from Tiger on the 16th…classic stuff.
Y’know, I didn’t even think of that. 🙂
The title, though, I had that one in mind all day today. All day.
That chip at 16 was incredible. I can’t say enough about that, especially given the circumstances and stress/pressure.
I was watching the golf channel a few minutes ago and they were going through some of the swing changes he has undergone (with Hank Haney).
I didn’t realize how much different his swing plane is now then in 2001.
What I don’t like about his swing is he looks a little sloppy when at the top, like he can’t get any stabalization with his club shaft, compared to 2001. I hope he fixes his driver because that club sure is sucking right now for him.
Erik — if YOU had made “The chip shot on 16” THAT would have been pure LUCK… Tiger melded many things to make skill collide with opportunity… enjoy… j
Jim-
Tiger himself admitted (in his press conference) that chip shot was luck.
People who are good at what they do make their own luck. Perhaps he only makes that shot 1 time out of 100, it’s still the skill that takes to give him that chance which is impressive.