ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 14, 1997 TAG: 9704140158
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: AUGUSTA, GA.
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
The Augusta National Club was a national symbol of segregation for decades. Now it may well be remembered as a place Tiger Woods once golfed.
Playing at the Augusta National Club, which did not until six years ago have a single minority member and now has just two, Tiger Woods became a legend Sunday.
The son of an African-American father and an Asian-American mother, Woods, 21, did not merely become the youngest player ever to win The Masters. He also became the first man of color to win the Masters, or, for that matter, any of golf's four major championships.
Two days before the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first major-league baseball game, Woods brought major-tournament golf into the 20th century.
``I wasn't the pioneer. Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder and Teddy Rhodes paved the way,'' said Woods, who spoke to Elder on the practice range before Sunday's round. Elder broke the color line at The Masters in 1975. ``I was thinking about them and what they've done for me as I was coming up the 18th fairway. I said a little prayer and a `thanks' to those guys. They are the ones who did it for me.''
The 21-year-old sensation also broke the all-time scoring record. After a shaky start on the first nine holes in the first round Thursday, he played the last 63 holes in 22 strokes under par for a performance that will be talked about as long as golf is played. His margin of victory is the largest in any major championship of the 20th century: a dozen shots.
As he walked off the 18th green, Woods gave a long and tearful embrace to his father, Earl, a retired Army colonel who has devoted his life to helping his son become the greatest golfer in history. Then he hugged his mother, who stood weeping at her husband's side.
Though it's hard to grasp on such short notice, it's conceivable that, in his first major event as a pro, Woods' victory is the most memorable moment in the 900-year history of the game. If it's not, his virtuoso week is on the short list.
Many who do not know golf too well will assume that Woods' victory was some sort of inevitability. After all, Woods was putting against Bob Hope on the ``Mike Douglas Show'' at age 2. He broke 50 for nine holes at age 3 and was on ``That's Incredible'' at 5.
No stage father ever pushed harder. And no son, judging by Woods' grin, took to the regimen more readily.
Golf, however, is not that simple. Every player's game flucuates from streak to slump. Consistency is a chimera.
The crowds who followed and adored Woods throughout this Masters were mesmerized by his 350- to 360-yard drives that turned the par-5 holes into mid-length par-4s for Woods. ``He reduced the course to nothing,'' said Jack Nicklaus, whose accomplishments as a young amateur and a pro Woods studied as a child and now, barely out of adolescence, is surpassing.
However, many pros were more struck, and more unnerved, by Woods' sudden maturity. Though he came here with three wins in 14 starts as a pro, he was still viewed by other top players, especially Europeans, as an unfinished talent. In two previous Masters and two U.S. Opens as an amateur, he had been no factor and had often shown too much youthful exuberance.
This week, he crushed the ball, but he also thought his way around the course. While stars who were much his senior played too boldly on the tricky course, Woods and his caddy, Mike ``Fluff'' Cowan, gave a lesson in deferred gratification.
After this victory, Woods once again gave the impression that he was aiming past his target, hitting through this Masters rather than merely at it.
Woods was not overly excited or effusive. Happy, yes. Ecstatic? No way.
Asked at what age he realistically thought he could win his first Masters, Woods said, ``Nineteen. I was here. I thought I could win.''
Those who think Woods might have no more worlds to conquer or might lack for future motivation are definitely mistaken. Nicklaus, the man whose name has been on the wall next to Woods' head since he was a boy, has 18 major championships as a pro.
That means Tiger Woods has five more Masters, five PGAs, four U.S. Opens and three British Opens left on his agenda. At the least.
That project took Nicklaus 24 years to complete. So, Woods has his time frame. Jot the date down in your daily planner: 2020. Between now and then, think of all the thrills, such as 18 under par at The Masters, which the lucky game of golf has in store.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. 1997 Masters champion Tiger Woodsby CNBreacts to his final putt on the 18th green Sunday in Augusta.
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