Green and Black Go Well Together

Tiger Woods’ 1997 Triumph, and the road he took to get there

Brennan Manson
Jul 24, 2017 · 4 min read

In March 1997, 44 million Americans tuned in to watch a baby-faced 21-year-old change golf forever. The 1997 Masters set television ratings for the sport, and for a very good reason. Tiger Woods was winning his first major championship, but was not only winning, was dominating the field in every way imaginable. Tiger turned in a 72-hole score that was lower than any score in Masters history, and won the tournament by 12 shots, the greatest margin of victory in any major tournament in history. Tiger outdrove the field by 38 yards that week, and was hitting wedges into multiple par 5’s — for his second shot. This kind of play was unlike anything any golf fan had ever seen before. Everyone was asking the same question — Who is this kid, and how did he get so good at this game?

Tiger Sinking the Final Putt at The Masters

Eldrick Tont (Tiger) Woods was born on December 30, 1975. Ten months later, he watched his father, Earl Woods, swing a golf club, and swung the club himself. At 18 months old, he goes the driving range with his father and empties a bucket of balls. Tiger begins to get media exposure at the age of Two, as a local news reporter does a piece about him, and appears on TV — The Mike Douglas Show — and wins a putt off with comedian and avid golfer Bob Hope, and is dubbed a child prodigy. At a 6, he played a 2-hole exhibition with one of the best golfers of all time — Sam Snead — and lost by a stroke. He wins his first Junior World Championship at age 8, and begins to have one of the best junior careers in history.

Tiger, age 2, on The Mike Douglas Show

Impressed Yet?

Tiger was this unbelievable not only because of his natural ability, but because his dad pushed him in every way imaginable. When Tiger would try to hit a golf shot, his dad would do anything to distract him — blow a whistle, shake his keys, anything. This kind of tough love helped Tiger develop a passion for not only golf, but his father as well.
He loved his father more than anything, not only because he would make Tiger a better golfer, but because he had more faith in Tiger than Tiger even had in himself, he was always there for him at tournaments and practice, and they faced adversity and racial discrimination together. The hatred for Tiger, whether or not it was due to his unbelievable talent or the color of his skin, only drew the two closer together, and they became the most important people in eachothers lives.

Throughout Tiger’s amazing amateur career, Earl was always by his side, whether it was a large amateur event, a simple high school match, or the PGA Tour event he played in when he was still in high school. His amateur career accomplishments include being the youngest person to win the U.S Junior Amateur (he would win this tournament three times in a row, something no one has ever done), is the only person to win three straight U.S Amateur Championships, and won the coveted NCAA Individual
Championship while at Stanford. Whether it was the usually triumph or the seldom defeat, Earl was always with him, cheering him on, giving him encouragement, and making him believe that he will soon be the greatest golfer in the world.

Let’s go back to the second Sunday in April 1997, in a small town called Augusta, Georgia, at the Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta National Chairman once famously stated

“As long as I’m alive, all the golfers will be white and all the caddies will be black.”

Not only is a man of color a golfer this week in 1997, he is THE golfer this week. The 21-year-old black man gave the most dominating golf performance the world has ever seen. Tiger would, of course, give a hug to his father, who had been with him through all of the adversity, right off of the 18th green right after he won. When Tiger slipped on the world famous Green Jacket — given to the winner of each year’s Masters tournament — his dad soaked the moment in with his son, and said with a smirk,

“Green and Black go well together, don’t they?”

Both Earl and Tiger Woods had passion for the game of golf; they both ate, slept, and breathed the sport. They also had passion for challenging the cultural norms, considering golf is a predominantly white sport. These two men can be rewarded with not only changing the way golf is played -Augusta National made the course longer after Tiger’s 1997 runaway, a technique called “Tiger Proofing”- but also introduced a new demographic to country clubs everywhere. Tiger will always be remembered as the greatest golfer who has ever lived, and one who has overcome the most adversity, done more for both the sport and the world than anyone else.

Tiger slipping on the Green Jacket

Commit to Serve

2017 UGA Freshman College — Service Learning

Brennan Manson

Written by

Commit to Serve

2017 UGA Freshman College — Service Learning

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