We offer up our list of the top 10 putts in Tiger Woods’ career. Here are Nos. 7, 6 and 5. Go to Golfweek.com for more on this list.
One of the most iconic clubs in golf’s history is a 35.25-inch, chrome-finished Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter with a single dot on the topline and two distinct red dots, one on the front, the other on the back.
“Yep, it’s been pretty good to me,” Tiger Woods said of the putter he calls “Scotty.” “Seriously, it’s been a special club.”
In tandem, the two have delivered some of the game’s most memorable putts. Here’s our list.
Editor’s note: To see Nos. 10, 9 and 8 on the list, click here. To see Nos. 7, 6 and 5, click next.
Aiken County Public Schools has confirmed the Augusta National Golf Club has requested the district consider a fall break in November to accommodate a rescheduled Masters Tournament. A statement issued by the district said club representatives …
Aiken County Public Schools has confirmed the Augusta National Golf Club has requested the district consider a fall break in November to accommodate a rescheduled Masters Tournament.
A statement issued by the district said club representatives contacted school leaders about adjusting the calendar for the tournament, tentatively scheduled Nov. 9-15.
Area schools have historically timed their spring break to coincide with the annual tournament, which relies on thousands of area high school students as temporary workers as well as families leaving town on vacation to provide short-term home rentals to tournament patrons.
The main entrance gates are locked at Augusta National Golf Club during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
“Our desire is to be as accommodating as possible to our community partners and to provide our employees and students opportunities to be a part of working and or participating in this annual event,” Merry Glenne Piccolino, the school system’s communications director, said in a statement.
Both Amelie and Alexandra qualified for the 2020 Drive, Chip and Putt national finals, which were put on hold until 2021.
When Amelie Phung told her father she wanted to remake the song “We Are the World,” he was taken aback. Between Amelie and her younger sister, Alexandra, Amelie is the shier one of the two. She’s not one to perform in front of an audience, let along sing.
There isn’t much the sisters can’t do. Last April, Alexandra, made a trip to Augusta National as a finalist in the Drive, Chip and Putt contest where she placed sixth in the 7-9-year-old girls’ division. She’s already got an impressive golf resume, finishing 3rd at the 2018 U.S. Kids Golf Worlds at Pinehurst and 5th at the 2018 European Championship in Scotland.
She reached the 2019 event by winning regional qualifiers at Colonial Country Club, Bethpage and Winged Foot.
This year, she was scheduled to have company in Augusta as sister Amelie also qualified for the event.
The Phung sisters are also ranked nationally in chess.
Alexandra and Amelie, from Queens, N.Y., attend a gifted school in East Harlem called Tag Young Scholars. With East Harlem being one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City, Tam, their father, said they were exposed right away to how tough life can be.
Some of their classmates couldn’t afford lunch, Tam said. He added that triggered them to want to do a song to bring awareness to the problems in East Harlem. Tam said because he listens to a lot of older music, that inspired Amelie’s song choice.
She decided on “We Are the World,” which is owned by the Michael Jackson Family’s Trust and the Lionel Richie Family. After back and forth that included discussions on whether she could change the lyrics or not, the sides decided on giving Amelie a mechanical license to remake the 1985 hit. Amelie originally wanted to change the lyrics to fit more of the demographic in East Harlem.
“It was challenging because we’re not in the music business, we didn’t know where to go,” Tam said. “We kind of got the run-around a little bit and that’s why it took longer to finally get through. Lionel Richie is divorced, the song is owned 50 percent by the Jackson Trust and 50 percent by (Richie) and his wife. Since they are divorced, we had to deal with three parties. Eventually, Amelie has such good social skills, she kept it positive and stayed patient.”
After getting the license, Amelie faced another challenge.
Both Amelie and Alexandra qualified for the 2020 DCP national finals, which were put on hold until 2021. Alexandra scored a 105 in this year’s regional finals at TPC River Highlands to return to the national finals. Amelie qualified with a 136.
Living in New York City during winter months as a golfer isn’t ideal. Amelie and Alexandra had to split time with getting out on the course, going to school and producing a remake.
On days the temperature crept into the 50s, the duo practiced golf. On days it rained, it was a recording day. When the two had to practice, Tam said he would take his daughters to an indoor golf simulator, Five Iron, to train when they couldn’t get on the course. With the coronavirus rapidly picking up, that continued to overwhelm them.
Alexandra, front, and Amelie Phung pose for a picture. The pair were scheduled to compete at the Drive, Chip and Putt contest at Augusta National. They also started the #WeAretheWorldChallenge to help bring awareness to East Harlem, one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City. [SPECIAL]Amelie and Alexandra felt rushed to get the song finished so they could use any remaining, good weather days, to practice. Once news of the national finals surfaced, it was slight relief as the Phung sisters could allocate more time to finishing the song. COVID-19 eventually complicated that as well.
With studios closing due to the coronavirus and still three weeks until the publish date, Amelie and her family had to resort to self-producing to make the song come together.
Throughout the production of the song, Amelie decided she wanted to make a bigger impact. Not just make the song, but get people involved. So she decided on turning it into a social media challenge. To participate, you sing a version of the chorus — or dance if you prefer not to sing — record it and post it using the #WeAreTheWorldChallenge.
Amelie hopes to invite Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods to complete the challenge, the duo’s favorite pros.
Amelie and Tam said they’ve already garnered a lot of interest to participate in the challenge, and have even started a website to collect donations.
Amelie released the song April 5, which would have been the day of the national finals. The family plans on donating all the money from sales to various organizations, including the Annika Foundation and the World Central Kitchen Foundation. The money to the Annika Foundation is to assist with COVID-19 efforts, the money to the World Central Kitchen Foundation has been allocated for their Chefs for America, free meals program, going toward the New York City region.
If the challenge goes viral, she hopes to donate money to the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation.
“I didn’t expect it to become this big,” Amelie said. “I expected it to be more of a home project, something that I take part in when I have time. Now that the pandemic has come around, now I have more time at home and it’s become a hobby for me and I’ve been able to put more effort into it.”
Because the Drive, Chip and Putt national finals were getting canceled, Amelie was able to dedicate more time to song’s remake. But releasing it on the day the national finals were scheduled was always the planned.
The song was released on iTunes for $0.99 and on Amazon Music and Spotify for streaming, on April 5.
“One of the reasons we picked the release in April was because we wanted it in line with Drive, Chip and Putt. She knew if she won Drive, Chip, and Putt, she would have more exposure,” Tam said. “She was thinking in her mind, nobody is going to care about this song, but if I won and got interviewed, they’re probably going to ask me and I’ll have a platform.”
While she won’t have that platform this year, she hopes to gain enough interest that it’s still being talked about a year later at the 2021 Drive, Chip and Putt national finals. If not, at least she used a small gesture to bring awareness to East Harlem and find a way to make a difference.
“This whole challenge is building me up to a point where, you know, I can say that I did something powerful and I’m helping the world out in a positive way,” Amelie said.
This year, the Phung sisters were looking forward to their return to Augusta National. This time Amelie was competing on the course as well, in the 12-13 age group.
“It means a lot to me because I never thought I would be able to go back on, but now I’m going to be up there with my sister by my side and my family watching on,” Amelie said earlier this year about getting to compete.
The two were looking forward to returning to Augusta together as competitors. But with the coronavirus pandemic taking over, their return to Augusta was put on hold.
While they both looked forward to competing in this year’s national finals, the year extension allowed them to dedicate more time to the remake.
The impact they leave with the We Are the World Challenge, they hope precedes them in the 2021 national finals.
“We’re proud of their golf achievements. … As a parent, I can’t be more proud,” Tam said of doing the challenge. “I’m very blessed.”
A revamped PGA schedule that puts the Masters at the end of the 2020 slate could have McIlroy poised to win his first green jacket.
Even though he’s posted five top-10 finishes at Augusta National, Rory McIlroy has never broken through with a win at the Masters. In fact, his fourth-place finish in 2015 is still his high-water mark at the event.
McIlroy also admitted that he thinks the new schedule could be conducive to a stronger showing for him at the event. The world’s current No. 1 player spent some quality Easter time with Michelle Wie on a Nike Golf Instagram Live, and said he’s excited about the fact that the dynamics might be very different this year.
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“I feel like there’s anticipation going to Augusta the first big event of the year. There’s all this hype,” McIlory said. “I don’t think it’ll feel like that this year, I think it’ll feel a little bit different, which I’m looking forward to. It’s going to be a different Masters and personally, selfishly, maybe that’s what I need to get the jacket.”
As others, including Jack Nicklaus, have recently pointed out, McIlroy plays better as the season comes to a close. He’s already won the FedEx Cup twice, including last season.
If the new schedule is carried out, the Tour Championship in Atlanta will be played from Sept 4-7, and the U.S. Open will now be played Sept. 17-20. The 84th Masters, which was supposed to be played this week at Augusta National Golf Club, has been re-scheduled for Nov. 9-15 in Augusta, Georgia.
“November is going to be different. It’s going to be cold. The course can play very long. I mean, it plays long already, but it could play very long. The greens might not be as fast as they usually are in April, depending on the moisture,” McIlroy said. “Obviously, they can do whatever they want with the course with SubAir and everything, but I think it’ll be a different feel as well. It’s the back end of the year as two of the majors have already been played — hopefully, the Ryder Cup’s already been played. People might be in their routines and in their flow a little bit.”
Rory McIlroy of Europe and Justin Thomas of the United States walk of the third tee during singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 30, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Speaking of the Ryder Cup, Wie asked McIlroy if he feels more pressure when in contention for a major or when he has an important match for the match play event — which is currently scheduled for Sept. 25-27.
“Probably the Ryder Cup. You’re not just playing for yourself, you’re playing for your teammates, you’re playing for your country, you’re playing for a lot of different people,” McIlory said. “Pressure at the Ryder Cup is different. I think if you look at people who have performed well in Ryder Cups before they went on to win majors, I think it’s a good precursor.
“I think for us, anyway, that the Ryder Cup is the biggest and most intense atmosphere you can play under. If you can handle that, you can handle being in contention at the majors.”
Tiger Woods’ historic come-from-behind Masters victory is worth revisiting. Here’s a look at some of the key moments you may have forgotten.
One magical round: Tiger Woods’ improbable comeback had his competitors forgetting about their own play and soaking in the magnitude of the day
Editor’s note: While this year’s Masters won’t be played due to risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic, we think Tiger Woods’ historic come-from-behind victory is worth revisiting on the anniversary. Here’s a look at some of the key moments you may have forgotten in the voices of the players and caddie Joe LaCava.
In a charming corner of the Cathedral of Pines on Masters Sunday, Webb Simpson somehow took in a peaceful moment amid the roars ripping about the hallowed grounds of Augusta National Golf Club.
Standing on the tee of the final hole that is the sublime but precarious Amen Corner, Simpson, playing in the penultimate group and still very much in pursuit of the green jacket with six holes to play, glanced over to the green of the famous 12th hole.
There stood the resurrected figure of Tiger Woods.
“It’s his Sunday red on the 12th green of Augusta National, maybe the most famous picture in golf,” said Simpson, who 22 years earlier watched Woods play a practice round ahead of his historic Masters triumph in 1997. “I told myself, ‘You’re competing against Tiger Woods in the Masters. This is a childhood dream.’ That’s when as a player, you remove yourself for a second, and you take in the moment.”
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On a Sunday at Augusta National unlike any other to the players who witnessed it, memorable moments were abundant throughout the sensory explosion that is home to the first major championship of the year.
As much of the country was thawing from a long winter, last year’s Masters provided a warm embrace while becoming the epicenter of the sports world as Woods pursued his fifth green jacket and 15th major championship.
Just two years removed from telling fellow green jackets that he thought his career was over, Woods spectacularly capped his latest comeback from a shattered image, addiction to prescription painkillers and a persistent troublesome back by becoming a Masters champion again.
Playing in his 75th major as a professional, Woods, who won 14 majors in his first 46 attempts as a pro, hadn’t won a major in 28 starts. But he got in contention in the previous year’s British Open at Carnoustie before tying for sixth and finished runner-up to Brooks Koepka in the 2018 PGA Championship.
A few weeks later, he won the Tour Championship, his first Tour victory since 2013. Seven months later, at 43, he became the second-oldest player to win the Masters, trailing just Jack Nicklaus, who won the 1986 Masters at 46.
In his run-up to the Masters, which he previously won in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005, Woods teed up hints that he was ready to win a major again as he played well in five starts. He tied for fifth in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in his last start ahead of the Masters.
The week before the Masters, Woods made a reconnaissance trip to Augusta National and, in his lone round, shot 65 with a three-putt bogey on the first his only blemish. When he arrived at Augusta National for the 83rd Masters, Woods knew he could win.
In the gripping final round, six players held at least a share of the lead: Woods, Francesco Molinari, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka. Koepka had won three of the previous seven major championships played. Woods took the outright lead with a birdie on 15 and never relinquished his advantage.
Schauffele, who joked that “someone stole the thunder there,” had his chances on the back nine to claim his first green jacket but finished in a tie for second. His lasting memory from the 2019 Masters was Woods.
“No one thought he could do it. Except for him, probably,” Schauffele said. “It was cool to witness golf history. I totally forgot about golf and just witnessed history. When I think back to that tournament, I think of Tiger winning.”
Tiger-mania? Tiger-palooza? The perfect Tiger storm? Whatever the sobriquet, Woods was the 72-point headline once he arrived on Monday.
Tiger Woods has always been a towering presence at the Masters.
But after missing the first major of the season in 2016 and 2017, his return to the Masters in 2018 was on a whole different scale.
Tiger-mania? Tiger-palooza? The perfect Tiger storm? Whatever the sobriquet, Woods was the 72-point headline every day once he arrived on Monday.
On the state-of-the-art range and throughout his three 9-hole practice rounds, Woods was greeted with thunderous applause from the massive gatherings of patrons ahead of one of the most anticipated Masters in history.
Just a year prior, his world silenced by back pain, Woods had told some members of the green jacket fraternity at the Champions Dinner that he thought his career was over. But 11 days after the 2017 Masters came to an end with Sergio Garcia wearing a green jacket, Woods, with his golf career and way of life in jeopardy, returned to the operating room for spinal fusion surgery.
Months of painful rehab followed and slowly, Woods proved the surgery a success. With his back pain gone and his body healthy again, he returned to golf at the end of the year at the Hero World Challenge he hosts and tied for ninth.
His talents with golf club in hand steadily returned. He tied for 23rd in his first start of 2018 at the Farmers Insurance Open, then missed the cut in the Genesis Open. A 12th-place finish at the Honda Classic gave him a jolt of confidence. Then he nearly won the Valspar Championship but tied for second, and then tied for fifth the following week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Coming off his two best finishes since 2015, he was once again among the favorites to win the Masters.
“To be able to play this golf course and to be able to tee it up and play in the Masters, this is one of the greatest walks in all of golf. And I had missed it for the last couple of years,” Woods said.
But for Woods, there were few fist pumps, little magic and muted roars once the Masters began. He opened with a 73 to fall seven shots back, a 75 left him 13 behind at the halfway mark. A weekend of 72-69 left him 1 over for the tournament and in a tie for 32nd.
“I felt I hit it well enough off the tee to do some things, but I hit my irons awful for the week,” Woods said Sunday. “It’s disappointing that I didn’t hit the ball well enough. But to be able to just be out here competing again, if you had said that last year at this particular time I would have said you’re crazy. I had a hard time just sitting or walking. So now to be able to play and compete and hit the ball the way I did, that’s quite a big change from last year.”
Long after Woods finished his week, Patrick Reed held off Rickie Fowler, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy and 2015 Masters champion and Ryder Cup partner Jordan Spieth to win his first major.
With a huge birdie from eight feet on the 14th and gut-check pars on 13, 15, 17 and 18 – the last a four-foot par save to conclude matters – Reed finished with rounds of 69-66-67-71 to end at 15-under 273.
Fowler shot 65-67 on the weekend and birdied four of his last seven holes to finish one back. Spieth briefly tied for the lead but a final-hole bogey left him with a 64 and two shots back. McIlroy, paired with Reed, continued his star-crossed Masters history with a 74 to finish six back.
This is the 21st story in a series looking at each of Tiger Woods’ appearances at the Masters. Catch up on the series here.
Watch the full collection of official Masters films, which has a one-hour recap of every Masters from 1960 all the way up to 2018.
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Venturi’s gold medal for low amateur from the 1956 Masters is being auctioned off by his wife, Kathleen, on The Golf Auction site.
Ken Venturi was one of the most successful amateurs in Masters history. Not only did he take low amateur honors in the 1956 Masters, he carried a four-stroke lead into the final round over Cary Middlecoff.
He held on for a runner-up spot, shooting a 290, one stroke behind Jack Burke Jr., who started the round eight strokes behind Venturi.
Now, 64 years later, Venturi’s gold medal for low amateur is being auctioned off by his wife, Kathleen, on The Golf Auction site. The medal is part of the Ken Venturi collection being auctioned off, including some of his trophies he collected throughout his career.
Along with the Ken Venturi collection, other items being auctioned include a 1971 used PGA Championship scorecard, signed by Jack Nicklaus, Mark Calcavecchi’s 1989 Ryder Cup USA Team red/white/blue shirt and President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal 1950′s used set of Robert T. Jones Jr. irons and woods.
Venturi, who turned pro in 1956, went on to a 35-year long broadcasting career, including 14 Masters for CBS. He died in 2013.
Ken Venturi drives off from 14th tee during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta, Ga., on April 6, 1956.
Venturi was also the runner-up at the 1960 Masters. Many fans will remember the controversy surrounding playing partner Arnold Palmer’s embedded ball on No. 12. Palmer’s drop shot propelled him to a one-shot victory over the amateur.
Items can be bid on at thegolfauction.com, and the auction is open until Sunday at 9 p.m. Proceeds from the auction will go to the PGA of America’s charitable foundation, the PGA REACH.
“Bidding has been great,” said Kenley Matheny, president of The Golf Auction. “We’ve seen a lot of people come back and bid that haven’t in years.”
Back surgery for a pinched nerve knocked Tiger Woods out of the 2014 Masters. Chipping yips threatened his participation in 2015.
Back surgery for a pinched nerve knocked Tiger Woods out of the 2014 Masters.
Chipping yips threatened his participation in the 2015 Masters.
After Woods had a microdisectomy March 31, 2014, he missed the first two majors and played just five times the rest of the year, a dismal stretch that included two missed cuts, one WD and a finish of 69th in the British Open. He made his last start in his Hero World Challenge, where despite finishing in a tie for last, he looked healthy.
But his chipping in the Hero was an alarming collection of chunks and skulls.
The malady followed him into 2015 – in his first two starts, he missed the cut in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he posted an 82 in the second round, and withdrew with a stiff back after 11 holes at the Farmers Insurance Open.
He took a nine-week hiatus from the game and announced himself fit to return at the Masters, where he would go to the first tee ranked 111th in the world.
On Monday of the Masters, Woods arrived at Augusta National at 3:25 p.m. and all looked good in his world. He was relaxed, strong, fit. He smiled often and with ease, bro-hugged a bunch of players. And his short game was in order. After popping in some headphones, he hit nearly six dozen chips shots at the short-game area of the practice ground and was clearly grooving to the music in his ears.
“I’m on the good side now,” Woods said after playing 11 holes with Mark O’Meara that day. “I felt like I had to get my game into a spot where I could compete to win a golf tournament and it’s finally there. I worked my ass off. That’s the easiest way to kind of describe (my break).”
And your chipping?
“It’s my strength again,” he said. “That’s why I’ve busted my butt. That’s why I took time off. That’s why I hit thousands and thousands of shots to make sure that it’s back to being my strength. I’m back to hitting shots, making it hop, check on the second bounce, third bounce, I can figure those things out again.”
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But Woods and the rest of the field had no answer for Jordan Spieth.
The Big Kid from Big D, who tied for second behind Bubba Watson in 2014, was a tour de force from the first hole. Spieth, who had won the Valspar Championship and twice finished second in his three prior starts to the Masters, opened with a 64 and led wire-to-wire.
He started to suck the air out of his foes with a 66 in the second round and followed with textbook 70s on the weekend to finish four ahead of Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose. In his Masters masterpiece, Spieth, at 21, became the second youngest to win the Masters – only Woods was younger (by five months). He tied Woods’ scoring record for 72 holes at 18 under and set scoring records through 36 holes (-14) and 54 holes (-16). He is the only player to reach -19 in the Masters.
As for Woods, he opened with a 73 but followed with rounds of 69-68 to move into a tie for fifth through 54 holes. But he was still 10 shots in back of Spieth. Woods closed with a 73 to fall back into a tie for 17th.
“Well, considering where I was at Torrey and Phoenix, to make the complete swing change and rectify all the faults and come here to a major championship and contend, I’m proud of that part of it,” Woods said. “Just wish I could have made a few more timely putts and moved up that board.
“I going to have a little time off, go back to the drawing board, work on it again, and refine what I’m doing. I really like what I’m doing. I got my distance back, and everything is good.”
And then it wasn’t. Woods only played 10 more times in 2015, a tie for 10th in the Wyndham Championship being his best result. In September, he underwent a second back surgery to remove a disc fragment that was pinching his nerve. In October, he had another surgical procedure to his back to relieve discomfort.
He would play just four times over the next two years and missed the Masters each year.
This is the 20th story in a series looking at each of Tiger Woods’ appearances at the Masters. Catch up on the series here.
For many players, the pain of losing at Augusta National is never eased by the joy of winning someplace else, even if it is a major.
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Over the years, many men have found great disappointment in near misses at the Masters. Eamon Lynch tracked some of them down in an effort to find out whether the pain ever fades away.
For a lot of players, the pain of losing at Augusta National is never eased by the joy of winning someplace else, even if it is a major championship. From Curtis Strange to Tom Kite to Lanny Wadkins to David Duval, Lynch gives many examples of Masters titles that got away. As to whether that pain fades?
“Turns out it doesn’t,” he found.
Check out the latest edition of Eamon’s Corner at the top of the page.
