Between 1997 and 2005, it really did appear that Tiger Woods was going to break every single record in the game of golf – with Woods winning the Masters on four occasions in nine years.
It had been the Masters which had seen Tiger Woods announce himself as a superstar in 1997, with the then-21-year-old winning by 12 shots. It was also at Augusta National, in 2001, where Woods would complete The Tiger Slam as he held all four majors at the same time.
Woods’ penultimate win at the Masters came at 2005, with his next green jacket coming in 2019. Nevertheless, he would finish no worse than tied for sixth between 2005 and 2011. Of course, it was during that period that Woods’ dominance in the game and life away from the course seemed to unravel.
He would miss much of the 2008 season after breaking his leg. And in 2009, Woods was making many headlines for all of the wrong reasons. But while some would have hidden away, Woods made sure that he was in the field for the Masters the following year.
The ‘insane’ Masters performance from Tiger Woods in 2010
It was actually his first tournament of the year. But he still managed to finish on 11 under par to sit just five shots back of Phil Mickelson. And with that, Gary Williams has told 5 Clubs that he cannot think of too many more impressive performances from Woods at the first major of the season.
“Tiger coming back in 2010 after what had happened in the fall of 2009, off of losing his first 54 hole lead in a major, I thought Tiger’s tied for fourth at the Masters in 2010 was insane. Insane. The level of self-consciousness that you would think any human being would be crippled by, for him to finish in the top five, I just went, ‘okay, of all the things that he’s done, there’s no doubt, that’s incredible’,” he said.
How Tiger Woods reacted to tied fourth finish at the 2010 Masters
Woods understandably tried to downplay the significance of his appearance at the Masters in 2010. He has clearly often been uncomfortable in the spotlight unless there is a golf club in his hand, and there is no way at all that he would have wanted any of the additional attention he got that week.
He was asked about not looking himself during the early stages of the final round – and he insisted that that was down to his poor golf.
“I think people are making way too much of a big deal of this thing. I was not feeling good. I hit a big snipe off the first hole and I don’t know how people can think I should be happy about that,” he said.
“I hit a wedge from 45 yards and basically bladed it over the green. These are not things I normally do.
So I’m not going to be smiling and not going to be happy.
“And I hit one of the worst, low, kind of low quack hook on five. So I hadn’t hit a good shot yet. I’m not going to be walking around there with a lot of pep in my step because I hadn’t hit a good shot yet.”
There was probably an element in truth to Woods’ comments. If there was any player who would be able to ignore all of the noise and focus on his game, it would have been the man who made so many crucial putts at exactly the right moment during his career.
As Williams notes, the fact that he was able to finish fourth after not playing before that week acts as yet another reminder of why Woods was like no-one else in the game.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
