Masters Memories: Tiger Woods Cards a 10 on Hole 12

Approaching the 12th hole during the final round of the 2020 Masters, Tiger Woods’ spirits were low as he was 2 over for his round and well out of contention. His tee shot at the 12th hit the bank and rolled back into Rae’s creek, then his third from the drop area zipped back into the creek again, and then for safety, he hit his fifth over the green from the drop area into the back bunker.

Now lying 5 after rinsing two balls, Tiger would have to get up and down for a quadruple-bogey 7. With the ball well below his feet in the back greenside bunker, Tiger took a mighty lash with a wide-open club face hoping to land a soft spinner on the green that wouldn’t roll out much.

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Instead, he skulled it over the green and into the creek for the third time. Tiger would drop seven in the bunker, hit his eighth on the green, and two putt for 10. A septuple bogey 10 on the par 3 12th moved Tiger to 9 over for his round and 4 over for the tournament. Shocking.

One could only imagine the difference a year can make, where on the 12th hole in 2019, Tiger safely hit his tee shot onto the green and made par after watching Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau, and Francesco Molinari all fail to fly Rae’s creek. Last year the 12th hole was the turning point in the Masters Tournament as Tiger seized the lead and never looked back. That right hole location is so tempting, but with the swirling winds, the smart/prudent play is to hit it over the front bunker 40 feet left of the hole and get out of there with 3.

After his final round of the 2020 Masters, Tiger remarked on how he “misjudged the wind” and referenced the wild journey as simply being the nature of the game, or in his own words, “that’s just golf.” He’s right, that is golf, but the six holes he played after the twelfth hole exist as a reminder of what makes Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods.

For a 10-handicapper, being 9 over through 12 holes in tournament conditions at Augusta National would be miraculous. For Tiger Woods, this was nothing short of disastrous. After making 10, Tiger could’ve easily thrown in the towel, lazily playing his last 6 holes in haste and without thought just in order to get out of there as quickly as possible.

The tournament was over, Tiger wasn’t going to win, and to your average viewer, it felt like he had nothing to play for.

After making that 10, I texted my buddies, saying, “Watch, I bet you he still breaks 80.” While I must admit that my choice of words reflected feelings of hope that he’d battle back in comparison to feelings that he definitely would, I also can say that I’ve seen this tape before.

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A struggling Tiger takes another punch to the gut but refuses to go down. His pride was on the line. If anyone else found themselves in the same position Tiger confronted as he approached the 13th tee, I don’t think anything better than 79 or 80 would’ve been the result of their round. In order to merely break 80, however, Tiger would have to play the remaining 6 holes in 2 under or better, which was no small feat considering he just played one hole in 7 over par.

With an aching back and a scorecard with a double-digit score for one hole on it, Tiger teed up his ball on 13, pissed off.

The average golfer who gets angry after a bad shot or hole has a difficult time forgetting about it, and his or her inability to let go oftentimes leads to even worse play. In golf, you must have a short memory, learn how to take one shot at a time, and understand that an 18-hole round isn’t a sprint but a marathon. You must not dwell on the past or look too far into the future.

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Failure to do so will decrease your chances of performing to your best in the now, which is the only thing any of us can control in golf and in life; the present. It’s critical to pace yourself, stay patient, understand that everybody makes bad swings, and try and approach each and every shot the exact same way.

No matter your score, no matter the hole, no matter the competition, no matter the course, and no matter your feelings, never giving up is paramount. It’s why Tiger Woods managed to play his last 6 holes in 5 under par to post a 4 over 76 for the day and a score of 1 under for the tournament. A champion like Tiger simply wouldn’t allow that 10 define his day.

He would proceed to stripe it down the middle on 13, make birdie, par 14, then birdied 15, 16, 17, and 18, all to shoot a seemingly meaningless 76. Some may wonder why the billionaire in Tiger Woods would even care to grind out a tournament, he had no chance of winning.

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The answer lies in Tiger’s stature as an unparalleled competitor who possesses an uncanny ability to approach each shot or the next shot as the most important shot of his life.

It’s no mystery that Tiger Woods loves golf. He loves the thrill of competition, the heat of the battle, and the satisfaction of victory. He also understands that in order to be great, one must overcome obstacles. One must learn to fail before they prevail, and one must learn to fight before they can be a soldier.

Tiger Woods is a fighter, a grinder, a true competitor who never takes a shot off mentally because that’s just who he is. Tiger Woods is the golfing equivalent of Rafael Nadal, who approaches each point the exact same way, whether it be match point in the finals at Roland Garros or love-all in the first game of the first set of the first match of the tournament.

Tournament golf is tournament golf in Tiger’s mind, and if he is standing over a putt to win a tournament or a putt to merely make the cut, he’s going to give it his very best. The approach doesn’t change. No matter the circumstances, Tiger will stick to his routine, pick his shot or spot, commit to it, and try to execute it as best he can.

The average golfer does the aforementioned sparingly, and it doesn’t make sense to them why a “routine” and “commitment” is critical in hitting consistent golf shots. A consistent pre-shot routine allows the mind, body, and soul to relax prior to striking the ball, which, in turn, affords the golfer with greater inner belief in what they are trying to execute.

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Commitment to the shot involves pinpointing your target, the ball flight you are trying to attain, and instilling the belief in your head and heart that you can execute the shot. Often, I’ll hear amateurs mutter to their buddies something along the lines of “well, let’s see where this one goes” or “hopefully, we will be able to find this one” prior to hitting a shot.

Negative energy or negative reinforcement decreases our chances of hitting good golf shots, and getting angry only wastes the energy you need in order to focus for your next shot. Positive self-talk plays an enormous role in forming an effective pre-shot routine. Through that lens, commitment to your next shot also plays a role in increasing the probability that you’ll hit a good one.

Golfers of all abilities have attempted the above, but none have done it while displaying the marked level of consistency and excellence that defines the mind of Tiger.

Tiger Woods is not the greatest golfer to ever live because he could hit the ball farther than everyone he played against while possessing a better short game than the rest, too. He is the very best because he’s the most mentally tough athlete to ever walk the earth.

As the commercial goes, one time, when Earl Woods was speaking to his son, he told him, “Tiger, you’ll never meet another person as mentally tough as you in your entire life.” Tiger hasn’t, and he never will.

Cover Image Via Golf.com