Tiger Woods’ major championship breakthrough came during the 1997 Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
Woods‘ 12-shot victory saw the 22-year-old burst to the top of the professional scene, and the rest, as we all know, is history.
The soon-to-be superstar won his second major at the 1999 PGA Championship, finishing one shot clear of Sergio Garcia. Woods then won the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach and then went on to lift his second Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla after beating Bob May in a dramatic three-hole playoff.
Tiger would go on to tick off multiple golfing achievements in the 2000s, some of which will never be seen again.
Woods’ major championship career started in 1995 when he was the low amateur at the Masters. Just months later, He made his US Open debut at Shinnecock Hills.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan.
Why Tiger Woods withdrew from 1995 US Open
Woods shot 74 in the first round (three over), a respectable score for arguably the hardest golfing test in the United States.
However, the second round is where things started to unfold. The 19-year-old injured his wrist on the third hole. Woods was attempting to hit a wedge out of the tall fescue grass.
After hitting his drive on number six, the soon-to-be superstar withdrew and sought medical attention.
“On No. 3, I hit a one-iron left off the tee into some fescue grass and tried to hit a wedge out from there,” Woods said. “I bent it out forward, and something tweaked in my wrist. They said it is a sprained ligament.
“I kept trying to play on, and it progressively got worse and weaker. I hit another drive left on [No.] 5 into the same kind of grass and tried to hit it out with a wedge and I really hurt it. I hit another drive on [No.] 6, and I said that was it. I could no longer hold on to the club with normal grip pressure.”
Woods remained at the tournament over the weekend to undergo treatment for the injury before he returned to college for the Northeast Amateur.
Tiger Woods’ record in 1995
As mentioned, Woods made the weekend at the 1995 Masters and finished in a tie for 41st. He was left to rue his third-round 77, which stunted any hopes he had of contending near the top of the leaderboard.
After his injury woes at the US Open, Woods played the Motorola Western Open, where he ended the week in a tie for 57th. Once again, a third-round 77 proved damaging.
Woods’ final appearance in 1995 came in the Open Championship at St Andrews, which John Daly won. Woods carded rounds of 74-71-72-78 to end the year’s last major tied 68th.
The following year, Woods missed, to date, his only cut at The Masters, finished T82 at the US Open and inside the top 25 at The Open.
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