'Better' Tiger returns to the top
Woods' win showcases effort to rework swing
Tiger Woods' victory in the 2005 Masters Tournament proved that he was back, revamped swing and all.
Or did it?
At the time, that was still in question, even though Woods regained the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Ranking with his victory at Augusta National Golf Club.
It was how Woods won that had some doubters wondering whether he really had returned to his dominating form.
Woods needed one hole of sudden death to beat Chris DiMarco, after his new swing let him down for two bogeys on the final two holes of regulation.
He regrouped to hit what he called his "two best shots of the entire week" on the drive and approach on the first playoff hole, which led to a 15-foot birdie putt, which he made on No. 18.
Woods called the victory a "validation" of his decision to rework his swing with instructor Hank Haney starting in early 2004.
Haney, who is also the instructor for 1998 Masters champion Mark O'Meara, changed Woods' plane angle in an effort to make the swing more symmetrical from start to finish.
Before - and during - the swing overhaul, Woods went 10 majors without a victory. In comparison, he won six majors from 2000 to 2002.
"Ten majors is not that long," Woods said after winning the 2005 Masters. "Some guys go without (a major) for life. I've had my championships. I know what it takes; it's just a matter of putting myself there. I put myself there a couple of times (since winning the 2002 U.S. Open) and didn't get the job done. This time, I got the job done."
Indeed, he showed the new swing was solid the rest of the season, especially in the major championships.
He was back.
Woods finished second in the U.S. Open, won the British Open and tied for fourth in the PGA Championship.
For the 2005 season, he won six times, earned $10.6 million and reclaimed the PGA Tour player of the year honor he won from 1999 to 2003.
Before the PGA Championship in August, Woods was asked whether he had ever thought of going back to his 2000 swing, which produced nine victories, four runner-up finishes and more than $9 million in earnings that season.
"No, I don't want to go back to 2000," Woods said. "I want to become better than that. And that's why I'm making the changes, to become better. I'm very pleased.
"When I had my nice run there in 1999 and 2000, I won 17 times; that was great, but it can always be better, right?"
The victory at Augusta National was Woods' fourth Masters title. In each of those victories, he carried a lead into the final round.
This time, he led DiMarco by three shots after 54 holes, and needed all of them to hold off the former University of Florida golfer, who shot a final-round 4-under-par 68 to Woods' 71. They finished at 12-under 276 for the tournament, the lowest winning total since Woods' 272 in 2001.
"Twelve under is usually good enough to win, but I was playing against Tiger Woods," DiMarco said.
Woods and DiMarco played 28 holes Sunday, finishing the final nine holes of their rain-delayed third round early in the morning, then playing the final 18 holes and a playoff hole that afternoon.
It was on Sunday morning that Woods put himself in position to win.
At the close of Saturday's play, through 45 holes of the tournament, Woods trailed DiMarco by four shots, and that was only because Woods shot 31 on the first nine holes of his third round while DiMarco had 33.
On that Sunday morning, as he completed the final nine holes of the third round, Woods had four consecutive birdies to start the round and shot 34 for 65. DiMarco had 41 for 74.
Just like that, Woods had a three-shot lead.
The four consecutive birdies to start the back nine gave Woods seven in a row for the round, tying a Masters record. He set a tournament record for most birdies (16) in consecutive rounds (the second and third).
Woods, who opened the tournament with 74 and followed with 66-65-71, finished with 24 birdies, one off the record set by Phil Mickelson in 2004 (Woods' playoff birdie didn't count in the official total).
One of Woods' birdies is already considered one of the greatest pressure shots in tournament history. It came on the 16th hole in the final round, when he holed out a 40-foot chip that gave him a two-shot lead.
"Under the circumstances, it was one of the best shots I've hit," Woods said.
Woods did have 12 bogeys and finished 49th out of the 50 players who made the cut in driving accuracy - he hit only 32 of 56 fairways on the non-par-3 holes but averaged 292.3 yards in driving distance.
When Woods missed fairways, he was able to manufacture creative shots to make up for it. He still hit 54 greens in regulation and needed only 115 putts, which tied for 10th in the field.
"The things he does on a golf course is even fun for professionals to watch," said Joe Ogilvie, who tied for 25th place in his Masters debut.
With the victory, Woods matched Arnold Palmer's feat of winning four green jackets; only Jack Nicklaus has more, with six.
Woods erased a Nicklaus record with his 2005 victory. He became the youngest player to win four Masters titles.
Woods was 29 years, 3 months and 10 days when he won.
Nicklaus was 32 when he won his fourth green jacket in 1972.
Palmer was 34 when he won his fourth green jacket in 1964.
"I think it's pretty neat for me to have an opportunity to have won four before the age of 30," said Woods, whose other victories came in 1997, 2001 and 2002.
"No one's done that, so to do something that no one has ever done is pretty neat."
At the time, the victory put him halfway to Nicklaus' major championship record of 18 victories. Three months later, he won his 10th major at the British Open, which happened to be Nicklaus' final major-championship appearance.
"Man, I tell you what, when I first started playing the tour, I didn't think I'd have this many majors before the age of 30," Woods said at the time. "There's no way. No one ever has.
"Usually the golden years are in your 30s for a golfer. Hopefully that will be the case," said Woods, who turned 30 Dec. 30.
Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
