GIVEAWAY: Post Your Favorite Tiger Woods Memory, Win His New Book (The 1997 Masters: My Story)

[stewie]

My favorite memory is seeing Tiger in person for the first time. It was at the Tuesday practice round 1996 Masters. He was playing with Greg Norman, Fred Couples and Ray Floyd. The size of the gallery was incredible. Remember, he was still an amateur and for all his incredible accomplishments on the amateur circuit, playing with the pros is a different league altogether. I'm lucky enough to be attending the Tuesday practice round at The Masters again this year. It will be my first time back at Augusta since that day in '96. I hope he'll be there too.

[GeorgeHWB]

Tiger's drop--2013 Masters, 15th hole, 2nd round.

 

 

[DNice26]

When i was in college, my golf coach and I went to the Buick Classic to watch Tiger play. This is back in about 2001. When he passed right by us after coming off the green, my coach said out loud - "that is the closest I'll ever get to a billion dollars." Tiger turned around and gave us a big coolaid smile! I will never forget that.

[BearQ]

Guy wins 79 PGA events, 100+ worldwide, 14 majors, best amateur career ever. 1000's of shots where our jaws dropped.

 

And some are choosing negative memories as their favourite ever...the world we live in lol.

[bladehunter]

For me it was 2000 Firestone. The shot in the dark. He damn near jarred it In pitch black from 150 or so out. And wasn't surprised when he did it. He could have played blindfolded that day.

[MSUIRONDAWGS]

Like others on here, where do you start when talking about Tiger memories? I guess here is a bullet list of tidbits that stick out in my mind:

• The Masters chip in at 16. Probably the most epic ever, that none of us junkies will ever forget
  
• The almighty stinger when he had that thing on a string back in the day
  
• Him at the Prez Cup on that par 3: "GIMME SOME, GIMME SOME!"
  
• The epic BEATDOWN of Steven Ames in match play..."What do you have to say about what Ames said earlier, Tiger?..."9 and 8"
  
• Some of the funny quips involving Sergio..."Im not surprised, he's complainin about something"
  
• The various chip ins at the Memorial
  
• The comeback in 13' when he won the Players again. That F YEA twirl of the 3 wood on that tee shot on 18, final round.
  

[joker21]

I was able to watch him putt at augusta national on the practice green in 2009. I was able to see the detail of his putting routine. It was extremely impressive. Something I will never forget.

[bu11dog]

For me it's got to be the 7 iron (2nd shot) he hit into the Par 5 6th hole at the US Open hosted at Pebble. He was in the rough hitting uphill and into the wind and chased it up onto the front of the green. I don't recall the yardage, but it had to be more than 215 yards out.

I concluded my college golf career a few years earlier and was still in the habit of practicing and playing quite a bit. I was playing as well as I ever had in my life. After seeing that shot, I remember thinking not only that I couldn't hit that shot in a million years, but that I didn't know ANYONE who could hit that shot. There was no one on my team or any of the teams that I'd played against that could pull that off or that would probably even think of pulling that off.

[tcarrow]

When Stephen Ames poked the bear, err Tiger, and Woods went on to beat him 9 and 8 in match play. There's nothing I like more than a person getting destroyed after talking smack.

[rbr_man]

Went to the Bay Hill tournament with a friend and saw Tiger walking off practice putting green. Asked for an autograph and he said after the round. Caught him after round and congratulated him. He signed my hat and said thought I'd see you again. Pretty cool.

[eth117]

My favorite Tiger memory has to be the experience I had at Firestone in 2010 when i was lucky/unlucky enough to get popped in the face with a wayward shot from Tiger. It was just surreal. It was my favorite athlete all time and he was gonna be right in front of me! I wanted to tell him how much I believed in him, and I was able to do that. He signed a glove, tossed me a ball and on he went. What would follow was just as crazy, you couldn't take phone into tournaments yet and when i got back to the car that day and turned it on, i think it vibrated for an hour straight! People from home recognized my buddy and I, and somehow in that time ESPN found out who I was and got my number, if ESPN can pull that off, imagine what the government can do! They wanted me on First Take, i refused to do it if they were gonna make it negative about Tiger and they promised to be cool, i was on first take the next day and just had a fun interview. They sent me a DVD copy of the segment and now I have that memory forever. Tiger is the man!

[ajschn06]

Better then most. Better then most.. BETTER THEN MOST!

 

*than

[tigercub]

Has to be the walk-in putt on the first playoff hole of the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla! Bob may stuck his pitch shot from the deep rough to two feet, guaranteeing himself a par. Tiger followed by holing an 18ft birdie putt, giving himself a 1 stroke lead with 2 holes to play. The putt was clutch, the reaction, electric:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing better than Tiger in his prime.

 

This was the one that stands out to me as well. He walks the putt in when it's about 3 feet from the hole. The confidence he had in his game at that time, including putting, was impressive.

[VarneyGolf]

My favorite Tiger memory is from the 2000 NEC Invitational at Firestone, but not the shot in the dark at 18. Two days earlier, Tiger hit a terrible tee shot into the left rough at 18 that would have required any other player in the world to lay up. Tiger pulled out a PITCHING WEDGE from 185 yards and fired his ball up over a tree onto the green. I remember being absolutely speechless about the shot. A few years later, David Feherty did this an interview and recalled the shot because he was speechless as well. Thankfully, Ernie Els walked by the open mic and said "F*%k that guy."

[BlkNGld]

I was at the US Open at Pebble in 2000 on Saturday when he blew away the field.

 

But my favorite memory of him would come there in 2010. I was sitting in the grandstands behind the 18th green. Tiger's tee shot puts him behind the tree. We're discussing where he'll chip out to when we see him grab a club with a headcover. Is he taking an unplayable? He then takes a stance that looks like he's aiming into the bay. He starts it out there, over the rocks, over the water and fades it onto the green.

 

Greatest shot I've ever seen in person.

[cdewispelare]

It was definitely his chip in on 16 at the 2005 Masters. My dad's usually a pretty reserved guy, especially when it comes to golf, but when he holed that, he went NUTS!

[ClarkGrswld4]

The US Open at Pebble Beach, it was almost unfathomable at the time that somebody could run away with a major by 15 shots

[Koalaty]

2005 Masters @ Augusta for the win on the 16th. The Tiger "roar"

[benclab]

Easily the 2008 US Open for me. Almost quits on Thursday and Friday, on Saturday (the same day that golf beat the NBA finals in ratings) has a limp legged eagle on 13, the chip in on 17 and the eagle on 18 to end the day, on Sunday with the putt on 18 to tie and then goes 19 more holes on Monday. All on a broken leg and torn tendons and beats Rocco. Unbelievable event and at my favorite course ever to boot.

[stribs]

TW's winning putt on 18th hole at the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. I was working the event for NBC as a scorekeeper for the group in front - VJ Singh's group. After VJ finished I hung out greenside by the back left bunker right next to the tunnel where the players walk off. Anyways, waited for the final group to come through and when the putt dropped I swear the ground shooked! Immediately after the ceremony I made my way into the tunnel and while in there both TW and Mr. Arnold Palmer both walked by me, maybe 2 feet away. Was a great experience and something I'll never forget.

 

[IHFN]

The 97 Masters. I played golf since I was 6 (1986) and in 97 I was a Junior in highschool. I usually got made fun of for playing on the golf team. But that 97 Masters changed it all. I remember walking into my girlfriends house and seeing her mom and dad glued to the TV watching him play and talking about how exciting he was. After that happened, everyone at school changed their tune and thought I was cool for playing golf. Kids are weird like that, but he forever changed the game. He didn't just make golf cool at my school, he did it to the entire world.

[buchaneb]

2000 US Open. Greatest golf performance of all time. Every facet of his game was on display.

[kdog25]

I remember when I used to be able to count on him to play and enjoyed watching him.

[gentles]

The British Open at Hoylake when he used a driver once in 72 holes. So much faith in the strategy that ultimately paid off. I love how the course was made longer "tiger proofed" so he takes irons to make sure he never goes in any of the bunkers! As a kid (living in New Zealand) I stayed up all night to watch the final round of the each Open, and I remember this one better than most :)

[cphrey]

The putt to extend the 2008 US Open at Torrey. Worked at Golfsmith at the time, went to a bar after work to watch the last few holes that Sunday and a few work buddies and I were sitting there watching. Guy across the bar says, bet ya he misses, here comes one for Rocco. Buddy and I look at each other at the same time and both say, deal, loser buys drinks. As Tiger is looking over the putt and about to settle in, Buddy and I order a couple doubles. He sinks the putt, we say never bet against Tiger, we get free drinks. Just knew that putt was going in. At that time, he didn't miss those puts, ever.

[XLee2000]

This was a personal experience more than anything and it is my contribution to the lore that is Tiger Woods. It was called the Anderson Consulting's WGC Player's Championship at Aviara (North San Diego) around 18 years ago. Tiger just arrived at the range to work on a few things after he quickly defeated his first round opponent. He was the only player there. There were bleachers set up behind the range so that people could watch the players practice. In about 10 minutes time, the entire bleacher section was filled with fans that swarmed to see how this young guy, who quickly enamored the world with his talent, actually honed his skills on the range. The range had just prior been cleared of most of the balls by the ball collector so all there was to see was green grass and yardage markers with pins. To Tiger, it probably looked like a blank canvas for him to paint on with his clubs. Almost like a skier that gets to carve the first tracks on virgin snow in the early mornings.

 

After about 20 minutes, all we saw were little white dots surrounding the pins in a tight radius to every pin from 100 yards to 250 yards. When it seemed like his work was done, Tiger decided to have a little fun and entertain everybody watching. The range was about 270 yards long so it was easy for Tiger to clear the back fence as it wasn't very tall. Because of this, the ball collection guy was behind the fence collecting the random drives that the players hit. Because this area was bushy, this range employee actually had to pick up balls by hand and throw them into a 5-gallon bucket he was holding. Anyways, Tiger decided to pull out his driver and proceeds to hit a beautiful drive just 5 yards to the right of this guy while he was collecting balls at the far left end of the fence. Funny enough, the guy hears Tiger's ball land, walks towards it, picks it up, throws it into his bucket and stands there while he's making out who hit the ball some 280 yards away. So what does Tiger do? He tees up another and hits a perfect drive 5 yards to the right of where the guy is now standing. Sure enough, the guy goes to the ball, picks it up, throws it into his bucket and stands there. Tiger repeats this 4 more times while the crowd starts cheering him on as we realize that he's literally walking this guy across the entire length of the back fence like a puppy dog getting treats thrown at him! Not only was it absolutely hilarious, it really put me in awe as I was realizing the level of talent it took for somebody to literally aim a driver with that much accuracy and distance.

 

After this little exhibition, Tiger grabbed a lob wedge from his bag. He aligned himself so far right that it looked like he was aiming directly to the right side fence where there was nothing at all. Everybody was wondering what he was doing until he hit the softest, floating shot OVER the 50 foot fence to where the short-game practice green was located. Without really knowing what the distance was (must've been about 70 yards), he managed to land the ball about 5 yards away. He then reloaded and proceeded to hit another that landed about 2 feet from the pin. The crowd started clapping and cheering. Tiger decided to hit one more and sure enough, the ball landed about 3 feet past and spun back to fall into the cup. The crowd just went bananas! You would've thought he had just won a major because it was so loud. He started laughing and hi-fives his caddy and another guy that was probably his agent or something. Still laughing, he put away his club, took off his glove, grabbed a water bottle from his bag and waved to the crowd for a second before he started drinking it while he walked towards the clubhouse...walking towards a career that we all are so very lucky to have lived through.

 

Anyways, something to share with my future grandkids. I'll never forget that day for as long as I live.

[Sean2]

On the 18th hole at Glen Abbey, during the Bell Canadian Open, Tiger hit his drive into a fairway bunker and had 213 yards over a pond for his second shot on a par 5...6-iron on to the green.

[dave willie]

I'll have to go with the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, all 72 holes. The course was set up so tough that nobody broke par, except Tiger at -12 (second was +3). Everyone knew prior to the tournament that he was special, but afterwards the conversation started about whether he was better than Nicklaus, Hogan and all the rest.

[rburchjr]

2008 US Open must make putt on the 72nd hole.

[bunta]

Prob this shot.. been trying to learn for the past few years now.

 

Only a psychopath would attempt that circus of a shot in a major..

 

I once bought a small bucket (30balls at my range) just to try and hit this shot all the while my buddy laughing hysterically in the next stall. lol. silliness.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2OvF2c-mU8