The 1997 Masters helped mark Tiger Woods’ arrival as golf’s new dominant force. It was a week before that dramatic win at Augusta, however, when Tiger played the greatest round of his life, in his opinion.
Playing with fellow pro Mark O’Meara at his home course of Isleworth Country Club in Windermere, Fla., Woods was on an absolute tear, shooting a 59. He says it is two strokes better than any other round he’s ever played.
“We teed off on the back nine at Isleworth, and I par 10, birdie 11 and 12, I eagle 13, I birdied 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 1,” Tiger recounted in a video for Golf Digest.
Amazingly, the round could’ve been even better. Woods says he had opportunities for birdies on the par-5 third and seventh holes, and wound up with pars on both.
His torrid play continued the next day, leading O’Meara to up and quit the round.
“Well, we teed off on 10 again, and I birdie 10 and then make a hole-in-one on 11. And then Mark left,” Tiger said. “So it was a hell of a two days.”
Just days later, Woods absolutely dominated the field at The Masters, winning by 12 strokes with an 18-under-par 270. It was the first of 15 Major wins for Woods, who went on to win his first of 11 PGA Tour Player of the Year Awards in 1997, just his second year as a professional.
