Before we get to the swoosh hanging on the lip for 1.8 seconds on the final day of the 2005 Masters, let’s deal with a few other matters that set the stage for one of the greatest chip shots in the history of the game.
Tiger Woods, his latest new swing in tune, came into the Masters with two wins that year and brimming with confidence. Then he opened with a dismal 74 that included a putt into Rae’s Creek at the 13th hole.
Foul weather marred the first three days of the event and Woods got back on track with a 66 in the second round that was completed Saturday. In the third round that spilled into Sunday, Woods birdied his final three holes on Saturday and then his first four on Sunday en route to a 65 that gave him a commanding 3-shot lead over Chris DiMarco heading into the final round.
2005 Masters: Final leaderboard
DiMarco had held a 4-shot lead when darkness halted play Saturday.
But DiMarco didn’t go away and wasn’t overwhelmed by the Sunday red shirt. When DiMarco and Woods got to the 16th tee, they were six shots clear of the field. Then Woods, who was one clear of DiMarco, sailed his 8-iron over the green, the ball coming to rest against the collar of the rough, well below the putting surface and 50 feet from the hole.
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He had to play the shot away from the hole, run it up a severe ridge, have enough spin on the ball to make it stop on the ridge and change direction and start heading toward the cup. Well, he clipped the ball perfectly, it made a seamless right-hand turn and started trickling toward the hole. Then the Nike swoosh hung on the lip for 1.8 seconds before disappearing into the hole.
“In your life have you ever seen anything like that!” CBS announcer Verne Lundquist roared.
“I was just trying to throw the ball up there on the hill and let it feed down there and hopefully have a makeable putt,” Woods said that day. “All of a sudden, it looked pretty good, and all of a sudden it looked like really good and it looked like how could it not go in and how did it not go in and all of a sudden it went in, so it was pretty sweet.”
But Woods squandered his 2-shot advantage with bogeys on 17 and 18 but won on the first playoff hole with a 15-foot birdie.
“Even though I was kind of throwing up on the last couple of holes, I kind of snuck one out in the playoff,” Woods said.
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On the 10th anniversary of the 2005 Masters, the duel with Woods – and the chip shot heard round the golf world – was still fresh in DiMarco’s mind.
“Tiger knocking it in was certainly not what I was expecting, but I had prepared for it,” DiMarco said 10 years later. “It was Tiger Woods, and it is expected that stuff like that happens to him. Jack Nicklaus is right there with Tiger. It’s neck and neck, but I’ve seen a lot of Tiger Woods up close and personal, and there’s never been anyone close to him.”
Speaking of Nicklaus, it was the final Masters for the Golden Bear.
Remarkably, Woods won in each of Nicklaus’ final appearances in the four majors – the 2000 U.S. Open, 2000 PGA Championship, 2005 Masters and 2005 British Open.
Woods now had nine majors – halfway to Nicklaus – and four green jackets. It was his first major win since the 2002 U.S. Open.
“I think it’s pretty neat for me to have an opportunity to have won four before the age of 30. No one’s done that, so to be able to do something that no one has ever done is pretty neat,” Woods said. As for his chase to catch Nicklaus, he added, “There’s a long way to go.”
Little did Woods know that it would be a long time before he won his fifth green jacket.
This is the 11th story in a series looking at each of Tiger Woods’ appearances at the Masters. Catch up on the series here.
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