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Make it four for Tiger
Woods wins Masters for historic 4th straight major title
Posted: Sunday April 08, 2001 11:02 PM
Updated: Tuesday March 26, 2002 9:11 PM
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Not many will concede Tiger Woods the coveted Grand Slam title, but all will agree Woods accomplished a remarkable feat Sunday. Michael Holahan/Augusta Chronicle |
By David Westin
The Augusta Chronicle
The stage couldn't have been any grander for the slam.
Playing at the nation's most famous golf course in the most prestigious tournament in the world, Tiger Woods completed his version of the Grand Slam in his normal flair-for-the-dramatic fashion Sunday.
The 25-year-old turned in a stunning performance under intense pressure to win the 65th Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Woods is now the only golfer in history to hold the four major championship titles at the same time.
Among the millions of fans watching history unfold on television was President George W. Bush, who congratulated Woods during a phone call.
Woods beat David Duval, a runner-up for the second time in the past four years, by two shots. Phil Mickelson finished third, three shots back.
Mark Calcavecchia tied for fourth place, six shots back, along with Masters rookie Toshi Izawa of Japan. It was the highest Masters finish by a Japanese golfer.
Woods, a one-shot leader after 54 holes, closed with his second straight 4-under-par 68 for a 16-under-par 272 total, just two shots off the tournament record he set when he won his other Masters, in 1997.
He opened with rounds of 70-66 this year and is now the 15th player to win multiple Masters titles.
Duval tied with Izawa for the day's best score with a 67, while Mickelson had 70.
Woods calls his feat the Grand Slam, though by definition a golfer must win the four major championships in a calendar year.
The first three of Woods' major titles came in 2000. In order, they were the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. Counting the Masters victory, Woods was 65-under par in his four major victories in a row, winning them by a combined 26 strokes.
"Am I amazed?," Woods said, who holds the scoring records in relation to par at the four majors. "I'm amazed I was able to play as well as I did when I needed to do it."
But what to call it? Some will label it the Tiger Slam. Jack Nicklaus said the Fiscal Slam would be more fitting.
| Comparing the wins |
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A comparison of Tiger Woods' figures from the 1997 and 2001 Masters tournaments.
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| Category |
1997 |
2001 |
| Score |
70-66-65-69 |
70-66-68-68 |
| Eagles |
2 |
0 |
| Birdies |
21 |
23 |
| Pars |
42 |
42 |
| Bogeys |
7 |
7 |
| Doubles |
0 |
0 |
| Par 3s |
Even |
1 over |
| Par 4s |
5 under |
8 under |
| Par 5s |
13 under |
9 under |
| Fairways hit |
47 of 56 (T-24th) |
40 of 56 (T-19th) |
| Driving distance |
323.1 (1st) |
305.5 (1st) |
| Greens hit |
55 of 72 (T-1st) |
59 of 72 (1st) |
| Number of putts |
116 (T-8th) |
121 (T-37th) |
| Three putts |
0 |
4* |
*(10th hole in Round 1; ninth and 16th holes in Round 2; 15th hole in Round 4)
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"If you're a historian, obviously it isn't a Grand Slam," said 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples. "If you're a player, when you look at it, I think it's pretty wild."
By whatever name, what Woods did has never been done before in professional golf. Two golfers, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus, had won three majors in a row. Bobby Jones won the amateur Grand Slam in 1930, taking the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open and British Amateur.
"We have witnessed the greatest golfing feat of our time," Augusta National Chairman Hootie Johnson said at the awards ceremony.
"To win four in succession, that's hard to believe," Woods said. "There are so many things that go into winning a major championship, or for that matter, any tournament. More so in a major because you have to have your game peaking at the right time. On top of that, you've got to have some luck.
"To have it happen four straight times, some of the golf gods are looking down on me the right way," Woods said.
"Awesome," is the way Couples described Woods' four-in-a-row feat. "He's an amazing player. He's one of a kind."
Woods is the first player since Couples in 1992 to win the Masters when he was ranked No. 1 in the world.
"He earned it," said Couples, who shot 68 on Sunday but was never in contention. "There was a lot of players chasing him, and he had a lot of extra pressure to hold all these tournaments at one time. The guys chasing him didn't have that situation on their hands. I thought he could handle it."
He did, but not until Duval missed two makable birdie putts on the last two holes and Mickelson faded with a three-putt bogey on the 16th hole.
Woods put an exclamation mark on the Slam by making an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole. That gave him 23 birdies during a week in which he led the field in greens in regulation (59 of 72) and driving distance (a 305.5-yard average).
The latest victory is Woods' third straight this year and 27th in his career on the PGA Tour, where he has a 27-for-98 record. As a 54-hole leader in PGA Tour-sanctioned events, Woods is now 21-2. He's also 6-0 when leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes in a major championship.
As if Woods, one of the richest athletes in sports, needed any more money, Sunday's tournament record $1,008,000 first-place purse gave him $2,088,000 for his past two tournaments and $3,263,857 this season, tops on the PGA Tour.
Woods won $1,080,000 for his Players Championship victory two weeks ago. He's the first golfer to win a combined $2 million in consecutive starts.
Woods continues to rocket up the major championship victory list. With six, he passed five players, including Byron Nelson and Seve Ballesteros, and is tied for 11th place with Nick Faldo and Lee Trevino.
Trevino was 45 when he won his last major championship, while Faldo was 38 when he won his sixth.
For Duval and Mickelson, this was another tournament in which they left the course shaking their head in admiration of Woods. They remain the world's top two players who have never won a major championship. Mickelson is now winless in 35 majors. Duval is 0-for-25 and has finished sixth or better in the past four Masters.
"I can't put it in perspective," Duval said. "I would imagine it was the same way when people were competing against Jack Nicklaus, and they beat him, that's kind of where we are. We've got another player who is certainly the best player in the game right now. I think what it will do is make my victories in these majors that much more special."
"If I'm going to win with Tiger in the field, I can't afford to make the mistakes I made, like on Friday and Saturday," said Mickelson, referring to a double bogey on No. 12 on Friday and a double bogey on No. 14 on Saturday. "I had the opportunity, I just didn't come through. I was disappointed not to come out on top."
On Sunday, when Calcavecchia bogeyed the 13th hole to drop to 10-under par for the tournament, it became a three-man fight to the finish among Woods, Duval and Mickelson. Duval was playing two groups ahead of Woods and Mickelson, who were in the final pairing of the day.
| Masters at a Glance |
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A brief look at the final round Sunday of the 65th Masters, played on the 6,985-yard, par-72 Augusta National Golf Club course:
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| Winner: |
Tiger Woods, with a 272 total that was two shots better than David Duval and gave him his fourth straight major championship. Phil Mickelson was another shot back at 275. |
| Big shot: |
Woods, hitting a short iron 149 yards on No. 11 that came within an inch of going into the hole. Woods would make birdie to extend his lead. |
| Missed opportunities: |
David Duval and Phil Mickelson on No. 16. Both made bogey on the par-3 to hurt their chances of catching Woods. |
| Tiger's sixth: |
It was the sixth major title for Woods. More importantly, it made him the first to ever hold all four pro majors at one time. |
| No peeking: |
Mickelson played with Woods but said he didn't watch Woods hit one shot all day. |
| Didn't matter: |
Woods made an 18-footer on the final hole for birdie that didn't really matter. All he had to do at that point was two-putt to win. |
| Family gathering: |
Woods' father, Earl, and mother, Kultida, were both standing next to the 18th green to watch their son win. |
| Ernie's not second: |
Ernie Els, who finished second three times in majors to Woods last year, shot an even-par 72 to tie for sixth. |
| Putting not everything: |
Woods had nine more putts in four rounds than Duval and seven more than Mickelson. |
| Quoteworthy: |
"Some of the golfing gods are looking down on me the right way." -- Tiger Woods. |
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Woods never lost the No. 1 standing he carried into the final round, though he was tied with Mickelson early in the round and tied with Duval after Duval made birdie on No. 10 to go 14-under for the tournament.
Woods went ahead of Duval with a birdie on the par-5 13th, a hole Duval three-putted for par. That moved Woods to 15-under par, with Duval one behind and Mickelson two back.
Twenty minutes later, Duval moved back into a tie for the lead with a birdie on the par-5 15th hole.
Duval gave a shot right back to par when he flew the par-3 16th green and emerged with a bogey.
Woods could have given himself some much-needed breathing room when he played No. 15, a hole he had birdied in each of the first three rounds, but his 2-foot birdie putt lipped out.
Instead of having a two-shot lead with three to play, Woods only led Duval and Mickelson, who made birdie from a greenside bunker on No. 15, by one shot.
"When I missed that putt on No. 15, I kept telling myself I knew I still had a one-shot led," Woods said. "I told myself I needed to make one more birdie. When I didn't hear any roars on No. 17, I knew David didn't make birdie and the best he could do was get to 15-under."
A three-putt bogey on No. 16 dropped Mickelson two shots behind Woods, who made par.
"No. 16 was a real killer because I had finally got within one shot," Mickelson said. "To pull a 7-iron up on that slope, it was a very disappointing shot. I needed to give myself a good birdie putt, and I didn't do it."
Up ahead at the 17th hole, Duval missed a 15-foot birdie putt and remained one shot behind Woods.
On No. 18, Duval staked his approach shot to within 8 feet of the hole, but ran it past the hole.
"I pulled it a little bit," Duval said. "I missed it, and I knew I needed to make it. Today, I just came up short."
Duval's miss gave Woods the luxury of making par on the final hole to win by a shot. Instead, he made a birdie, sinking the putt, just as his friend Mark O'Meara did to win the 1998 Masters.
| Masters Money |
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The winner of the 2001 U.S. Masters on Sunday took home more than $1 million dollars for the first time in the history of the year's first major. Here's the payout for the top 10 finishers from the approximate $5,600,000 purse:
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| Place |
Money |
| 1 |
$1,008,000 |
| 2 |
$604,800 |
| 3 |
$380,800 |
| 4 |
$268,800 |
| 5 |
$224,000 |
| 6 |
$201,600 |
| 7 |
$187,600 |
| 8 |
$173,600 |
| 9 |
$162,400 |
| 10 |
$151,200 |
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