Tiger Woods tees off during a practice round prior to the 1995 Masters.
Steve Munday/Allsport
Tiger Woods began his quest for his sixth (!) green jacket on Thursday morning at Augusta National. He’s a regular there, as the 2020 edition is his 23rd career Masters start.
Woods is the defending champion, of course, but 25 years ago he was just another promising amateur making his Masters debut. Woods won the 1994 U.S. Amateur to grab a spot in the 1995 Masters, and he arrived as the next big thing. He played practice rounds with legends and, as is Augusta tradition, played the first two rounds with the defending champion, in this case Jose Maria Olazabal, who was impressed by the 19-year-old future star.
“I needed binoculars to see where he hit the ball,” Olazabal said back then. “On the 1st hole he flew his drive over the bunker on the right side — 280 yards on the fly.”
Woods’ first official hole of his Masters career on that Thursday morning got off to a good start, until an unfortunate turn with his third — he rolled his birdie try from about 25 feet off the green.
“I putted off the green right into the gallery playing with Ollie,” Woods said in his book, The 1997 Masters: My Story. “Chipped back up there and made the putt for bogey, and that was one of the most embarrassing moments that I can ever remember.”
“Great start to my Augusta career,” he added, sarcastically. “Hit the green in regulation, and then hit my first putt off the green.”
Woods played better from there, though, firing rounds of 72-72 and becoming the only amateur to make the cut. He tied for 41st. He missed the cut in 1996 but, in 1997, well — you know the story.
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.
