When I woke this morning (Super Bowl Sunday, January 25, 1998) and turned on the Golf Channel, it was like the third round of the British Open (1997). At Troon, Tiger startled audiences by posting the third-round's best round, and all of a sudden, he was back in the hunt. On that morning, I found myself saying "this guy never quits!". On this final round morning of the Johnnie Walker Classic (in Phuket, Thailand, Tiger's "second home"), Tiger was somehow in second place! When I tuned in, Ernie Els was at the 11th or 12th hole. Els was playing shaky! And Tiger was in second place!
Imagine my amazement when I
saw Tiger on the leaderboard.
Some background: I had been following the tournament with only one eye. After the first day, it was clear that Tiger was suffering distractions, and he never got it going. He fired a first round 72, which was only par. He was not out of it, but after the second round, in which he posted a 1-under 71, he was starting to fall behind the pace set by Ernie Els (who won this tournament last year).
By the third round, and Tiger's second 1-under 71, I was resigned to seeing Tiger put up a fair finish. The third round was shaping up to be the rebirth of Nick Faldo (71-67-69), as Ernie Els was having trouble with his lead, although he was still the leader (and had been the leader since day one) at the end of the day. I was looking forward to seeing Nick Faldo get a win. At the start of the final round, Tiger was eight strokes behind Ernie Els.
So imagine my amazement when I saw Tiger on of the leaderboard this morning. He was cozy in the club house, with a good number of players left to play. Tiger's final round score of 65 (for a 9-under 279 total) was the bar that everyone on the course was trying to reach.
But as a golf fan, I knew that there was no way for Tiger to retain that lead. Els, Faldo, Peter O'Malley (Australia), Retief Goosen (of South Africa, who eventually finished third) and the rest of the field had at least six or seven holes to break 9-under. At least Tiger had made a run, which is all he kept saying he needed to do this week. (Tiger was quoted a few times this week as saying he had once come back from 9 strokes on the final day of a junior tournament.)
I switched the TV off. It was 10:30AM EDT.
Fast forward to 4:30PM EDT.
I logged on to check the final round scores for the Johnnie Walker. And to my amazement, the headline, from Clarinet's clari.sports.golf read (from Agence France-Presse): Tiger Roars on Final Day to Win Johnnie Walker Classic. This had to be a joke. But it was true. GOLFonline's headline (from the Associated Press): Woods comes from 8 back to tie Els, then wins playoff to capture Johnnie Walker Classic.
Various reports say he was rushed back to the course after Ernie Els bogeyed the 17th. Tiger had been watching the tournament on television for almost two hours. Ernie made a 14-foot birdie putt on the eighteenth just to get into the playoff with the surprised Tiger. "It was amazing (to watch). I figured somebody had to make a move but it didn't happen," Tiger said.
At the practice grounds, Tiger was unable to find any balls, so he only took a handful of practice swings. "I was pretty nervous on the greens because I hadn't had any practice putting," Woods said. "When I warmed up, I hit the ball as hard as I could to get the adrenaline in my system going."In the end, they only played two play off holes, the 18th hole each time. Tiger won by sinking in a 14-foot birdie putt, much to the crowd's delight, and much to Ernie's disappointment. Tiger's mother rushed to embrace him on the green.
"It was really amazing what Tiger did," Ernie Els said. This is the quote that will follow the retelling of this tournament, surely Tiger's greatest comeback as a professional.
The final leader board:
279 - Tiger Woods (USA) 72-71-71-65, Ernie Els (Rsa) 67-65-74-73
(Woods won at second play off hole)
280 - Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71-71-69-69
281 - Andrew Coltart (Gbr) 71-68-72-70, Lee Westwood (Gbr)
71-66-73-71, Alexander Cejka (Ger) 67-68-74-72, Peter O'Malley (Aus)
69-68-72-72
282 - Stephen Leaney (Aus) 70-68-72-72, Padraig Harrington (Irl)
69-67-73-73, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 67-72-69-74, Nick Faldo (Gbr)
71-67-69-75
283 - Peter Lonard (Aus) 70-71-71-71, Robert Allenby (Aus) 75-70-66-72
Tiger won $218,661, and retained his number one spot on the world rankings. This win is his first PGA European Tour victory, and his second win in Thailand.