Stunned admiration sums up Jack Nicklaus' response to Tiger Woods' performance at the Memorial Tournament.
Iconic Chip-In at the Memorial Tournament
In a gripping duel during the final round of the 1999 Memorial Tournament, Tiger Woods showcased his prodigious abilities, showcasing a breath-taking chip-in at the 14th hole.
Dressed in his signature red, Woods found himself a shot ahead of playing partner Vijay Singh, but in trouble after sending a wedge shot sailing over the green on the par-4 hole. This left him with a daunting downhill chip onto a brisk green and little room to maneuver with a tight pin location.
The tricky situation got even trickier as Woods' attempted chip landed a few feet ahead of him, rolling back into the rough, prompting audible gasps from the gallery. "Now he's going to have a hard time making five," said 18-time Major champion Jack Nicklaus, who was commentating on the match.
Undeterred, Woods tried again and succeeded, with the ball stopping just on the green to the right of the flag. As the ball began to spin towards the hole, spectators held their breath, cheering as it dropped to the bottom of the cup, triggering a thunderous roar. Woods responded with an exultant fist pump before being congratulated by beaming caddie Steve Williams.
Jack Nicklaus, impressed by Woods' m Oxerage, commended his bravery, "I've been in that position. It takes guts to play that shot. He did it, he absolutely just made that ball and willed it into the hole." Singh ended up making bogey, trailing Woods by two shots – a lead that held for the remainder of play, earning Woods a $459,000 prize and marking the first of five Memorial victories in his illustrious career.
Following his victory, Woods revealed that his disastrous first attempt had left him with a better lie that permitted him to be "very aggressive." "All I wanted to do was have the ball just trickle down there," he added. "I wanted to leave myself if anything short of the hole because I knew how fast that chip was."
The Memorial Tournament returns to the PGA Tour this week, with defending champion Scottie Scheffler aiming for a back-to-back win in Ohio. A strong field will challenge him, including Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Ludvig Aberg, and Colin Morikawa.
- Vijay Singh, a fan of Formula 1 racing aside from golf, might have swapped clubs for a Formula car if he could, given the challenging chip shot Woods executed during the 1999 Memorial Tournament.
- On a day when sports fans worldwide celebrated Tiger Woods' iconic chip-in at the Memorial Tournament, a group of football enthusiasts in a local pub discussed a potential transfer of Lionel Messi to an F1 team, jokingly musing whether his ball control skills could translate to racing.
- Before embarking on his golf journey, Tiger Woods once harbored dreams of participating in various sports, evoking memories of his youth when he reveled in the excitement of Formula 1 races alongside golf games.
