Emotional Tiger Woods fights back tears as he talks about his iconic Masters win

AUGUSTA, Ga. — I don’t know about you, but Tiger Woods’ Masters win last year still seems like something of a dream for me. Sometimes I have to remind myself that yes, that actually did happen. The birdie on 16; the tap-in on 18; the hug with his kids afterward. A moment so epic for the game of golf that it’s still hard to believe.

Tiger Woods holds up Masters trophy.
Tiger Woods hoists the Masters trophy in the air following his win in 2019. Getty Images

More than a year later, thanks to a slight delay, Tiger’s back at Augusta National to defend his 15th major.

“I may never have the opportunity to take the jacket off property again, so this means a lot to me,” Tiger said on Tuesday. “To have this opportunity to have the Champions Dinner and to be able to host it tonight with all the guys that are here, it’s going to be awfully special for me.”

And by all accounts, Tiger feels good about his game. He’s working on the same things in his golf swing that helped him to victory last year, and said his body is “feeling better than I did last year.”

But, of course, all questions eventually led back to his heroics last year. And during one notable exchange, when he began recounting it all, he started to get emotional. No tears, but his voice started to shake as he choked-up, and he said it gave him goosebumps just talking about it.

Us too, Tiger.

Watch the full video below:

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Luke Kerr-Dineen

Golf.com Contributor

Luke Kerr-Dineen is the Game Improvement Editor at GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. In his role he oversees the brand’s game improvement content spanning instruction, equipment, health and fitness, across all of GOLF’s multimedia platforms.

An alumni of the International Junior Golf Academy and the University of South Carolina–Beaufort golf team, where he helped them to No. 1 in the national NAIA rankings, Luke moved to New York in 2012 to pursue his Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Golf Digest, Newsweek and The Daily Beast.