Tiger Woods at the Masters (1999): Duval-Tiger showdown was all the buzz

A showdown between Tiger Woods and David Duval was all the talk heading into the 1999 Masters.

Woods, who won his first green jacket in 1997 by a record 12 shots and finished in a tie for eighth in 1998, was in the midst of fine tuning his revamped swing but remained a serious contender. Coming into the Masters, he had six top-10s in eight starts, including a victory in the Buick Invitational and a tie for second in the Nissan Open.

But Duval was the clear favorite.

He was on a remarkable run of 11 wins in 34 starts. He had won his two previous starts ahead of the Masters, including The Players Championship. He had won his first two starts of the year, the second coming in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where he closed with a 59.

Duval was No. 1 in the world rankings, Woods No. 2.

1999 MASTERS: Final leaderboard

But the Sunday showdown never materialized.

Woods never threatened and shot rounds of 72-72-70-75 to finish at 1-over 289 and in a tie for 18th. He made a triple-bogey 8 on the eighth hole in the first round, a double-bogey 5 on the 12th the second round, and made three consecutive bogeys, something he had never done in the Masters, in the third round. He started the final round five shots out of the lead but shot 75 and finished nine shots behind Jose Maria Olazabal, who won his second green jacket.

“I hit a lot of great shots and a lot of ugly ones,” Woods said. “I just didn’t make the putts or give myself a lot of opportunities.”

While he wasn’t in full control of his game in the Masters, everything clicked for Woods the rest of 1999. He won nine times, including his second major victory in the PGA Championship. He won eight of his final 12 starts in 1999.

Duval, meanwhile, shot 71-74-70-70 to finish at 3-under 285 and in a tie for sixth. He pulled within one in the final round with birdies at 7, 8 and 10, but a double-bogey 6 on the 11th hindered his chances.

Olazabal, Woods’ first playing partner in his first Masters in 1995, held off Greg Norman and Davis Love III in the final round. Olazabal shot 70-66-73-71 to finish at 8-under 280.

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Three years prior, Olazabal didn’t think he’d ever play golf again as aching feet had forced him to crawl on all fours around his house. But his condition had been misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. It was later discovered that he suffered from a lower back hernia. Treatment and rehabilitation returned his health. Out for 18 months, he played in his first professional tournament in March 1997.

Sergio Garcia, the British Amateur champion, made it a Spanish double in 1999 as he became the first European to win the low amateur medal.