Dave Martin / AP file

Tiger Woods receives his first green jacket from Nick Faldo following his historic Masters win in 1997.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13
Faldo, who had missed the cut, was sitting on the bench outside the clubhouse Sunday morning, waiting for the tournament to end so he could present the green jacket to the winner. Camera crews were milling about in the parking lot.

Feherty: It was my first Masters, and I was still wondering what the hell I was doing there. That was when we started to attack players before the round on their way into the clubhouse. My whole career hinged on getting Tiger Woods to say a few words into the camera. He stepped out of the car and ... and I had never seen that look in my life. He looked radioactive. It was like he had a force field around him, like I could hit him in the head with a baseball bat and it wouldn’t reach his head. I thought, ’Who needs this career?’ Because there was no way I was going to go near him.”

Barrow: “I remember coming on the air Sunday and picking up Costantino Rocca and Tiger hitting their second shots on No. 5. Other than a rain delay, that was the furthest we’d ever gone back to show live golf at Augusta. I told our guys that morning, we’re going to walk every step with Tiger.”

Woods: “I kept telling myself all day, ’If I birdie the par 5s and make no bogeys, nobody can catch me. I’ve got too big of a lead, so don’t do anything stupid.’ What do I do? I made bogey on 5 with a 9-iron in my hand. I said that’s enough of this. I got it back with the birdie on 8. That was huge, because it got the momentum back on my side.”

Cowan: “Two shots really stood out that week. One was a chip on the 13th hole Saturday from behind the green with the pin on the top shelf. And the other was 8 on Sunday. He’s behind the mounds on the left, the pin is short right. He would have done well to get that about 10 or 12 feet from the hole. He hits it in there about 4 feet and makes birdie.”

Woods came to the 72nd hole with a 12-shot lead, needing a par to set the Masters scoring record. A camera went off on his back swing and he pulled the ball well to the left. He still only had 9-iron to the green, which he hit about 40 feet from the hole.

Woods: “I hadn’t three-putted all week, and I left myself with the hardest two-putt on the green. To play 71 holes at Augusta with the lead and without a three-putt in your first major as a pro? I kept saying, ’Why couldn’t you hit it to the right?’ The entire time, I was chewing myself out, meanwhile trying to smile, trying to enjoy the moment. But also chewing myself out. ’Stay focused, get the speed right ... I can’t believe you did this ... Get the speed right ... Why couldn’t you hit it to the right?”’

He rolled it 4 feet away, holed the par putt and punched the air with a now famous uppercut. Then he walked off the green and into the arms of his father, Earl Woods, both breaking down in tears.

Woods: “When I hugged him on 18, looking back at it now, I could not have won the tournament without him.”

Nantz: “We knew this guy was special, but this was ridiculously great, a whole new level of greatness. There wasn’t any doubt who was going to win. But there was drama to it, even though he knocked the life out of the competition.”

Finchem: “I was there waiting for the finish. It was a foregone conclusion. He set the stage for the future. From then on it was only a question of details. How many does he win? Does he challenge the big, long-term records? What was in my head was if he stays like this, and plays like this, and stays healthy and challenges the big records — which takes decades — that’s going to be an awesome impact on the game. So I was pretty excited.”

Faldo: “At the time, I thought this was the only major he could win. For one, the golf course suited him. But also because the Masters was the only major that the media was kept outside the ropes. And I thought that was going to be his biggest challenge. But as he showed, he can deal with it. Now it’s his greatest asset. Everyone joining him now on the weekend at a major goes into his world. That’s Tiger’s arena. Other guys will step into that arena one week and go back out. He’s there all the time. And good luck coming into his world.”