The most identifiable image from Tiger Woods' first Masters Tournament victory wasn't some miracle chip shot or turning-point putt celebration.
Tiger Woods hugs his father, Earl, after winning the 1997 Masters with a record-breaking 18-under-par. "I'm proud of you..." Earl Woods said in his son's ear.
(Associated Press)
It was a hug.
The long, tearful embrace behind the 18th green with his father, Earl Woods, was the everlasting picture of 1997. It was all the more poignant because it almost never happened.
Just weeks before Woods' milestone first major victory, Earl Woods was gone. Complications from a heart attack and bypass surgery almost robbed the father from seeing the son realize the greatness he had predicted.
The father whispered into the son's ear: "I'm proud of you, and I just love you so much for just being my son."
Tiger Woods still cherishes that moment above all others.
"It was a special moment because he was actually dead and came back," Woods said of his father. "He wasn't supposed to go to Augusta that year. The doctor said he can't travel. He said, 'Piss off; I'm going.' "
Woods wipes his eyes after talking about his father at the green jacket ceremony of the 2005 Masters. Earl Woods hasn't been able to attend any of his son's tournaments since the 2004 Target World Challenge.
(Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff)
That same irascible fighting spirit is keeping Earl Woods alive today. Cancer spreading through his body has confined the elder Woods to his home in Cypress, Calif. For the first time in his son's 12 Masters starts, Earl Woods could not even travel to Augusta.
"He's a very stubborn man, which is good," Woods said after making an impromptu cross-country trip before The Players Championship to check in on his ailing pop. "He's fighting as hard as he can. It was good to see. At least he's trying to hang in there, which is a very positive sign."
Woods and his dad, 74, understand their time together is short. Last year, Earl Woods came to Augusta but didn't feel up to going to the course, missing the chance to greet Tiger after he ended a 10-major drought with a playoff birdie against Chris DiMarco.
"This is for Dad," said Woods through tears on the practice putting green as he accepted his fourth green jacket. "Every year he's been here to give me a hug. He wasn't here today. I can't wait to get home to see him and give him a big bear hug."
Earl Woods hasn't attended any of his son's tournaments since the 2004 Target World Challenge. Woods spent several weeks in the off-season, including his 30th birthday, visiting his father.
"It's hard," Woods said in January before the Buick Invitational. "He's my best friend. My dad is my best friend, and not too many people can say that. Our relationship goes from chairman to president to best friends to father-son to mentor. It encompasses so many different aspects of life and we have so much respect for one another, and it's taken my entire life to develop that.
"Now here we are. It's hard for me not to have dad there at times because I'm used to having him there. It's tough at times."
Mark O'Meara, Woods' closest friend on the PGA Tour, sees the strain that shows ever so slightly to spectators.
"Tiger cares for his father a lot, and he knows how much impact his father had on his life," O'Meara said. "It's a tough time for Tiger right now, and who knows if (his father is) going to be here for his next birthday. I know it's wearing on Tiger a little bit. You only have one father."
"The situation for our entire family is obviously not easy," Woods said two weeks ago. "But hey, it's just one of those things you have to deal with. Everyone has to deal with that at some point in time in their life, and unfortunately right now it's our time."
As the world's top golfer , Woods just has to deal with it in the public eye. He remains very private regarding his personal life.
"Just because he's the No. 1 golfer in the world, when it comes down to something like that you're just an ordinary person and you don't want to discuss it with the world," said Padraig Harrington, who withdrew from last year's British Open after the passing of his father.
Despite the relapse of Earl Woods' cancer in 2004, Tiger has continued his pace to eventually eclipse all of golf's championship records. He won two majors last year and reclaimed his No. 1 ranking in the world. Already this season he's won three times and comes to Augusta to defend his title as a heavy favorite.
The mental toughness of his father, a former Green Beret, is paying off in a different way.
"He definitely gets his calmness from me," Earl Woods said in an interview with the Charlotte Observer last year. "Under pressure I go into a zone and time slows down. I feel very cold. I just do things and do them right. I felt that in combat and before in competitive athletics... He can put himself on whatever level he wants. That allows him to handle any situation that comes up."
Despite what's ahead, Tiger and Earl consider themselves blessed. The father almost missed it all. The four Masters, the 10 majors, the career slams, the Tiger Slam of 2000-01, the more than 50 worldwide wins, the predicted domination of his peers, the marriage and the landmark opening of the Tiger Woods Learning Center.
Everything Woods has done in golf and life is that much more precious because his best friend has been here to see it all.
"We did it together," Tiger Woods said. "I say that because if you look back, my dad and I used to practice and we competed against one another. I had to try and somehow beat him. He was never going to let me beat him. That's why I say we did it together."
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.