Tiger Woods admires his hardware, the Walter Hagen Cup, after he defeated Stewart Cink to win the Accenture Match Play Championship at the Gallery South Course in Marana, Ariz., on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008. Photo by David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
Feb. 24, 2008: Tiger Woods wins the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain
The list of Tucson’s greatest moments in golf is long and distinguished.
Arnold Palmer, in his prime, shot 15-under par to win the 1967 Tucson Open.
Phil Mickelson, an Arizona State student, won the 1991 Tucson Open as an amateur.
Tom Watson won the 1986 Seiko World Match Play championship at Randolph North.
Golf immortals Ben Hogan and Sam Snead played in the early days of the Tucson Open at El Rio Golf Course. Johnny Miller, setting scoring records, won three consecutive Tucson Opens from 1973-75. Tucsonan Don Pooley won the U.S. Senior Open and Sahuaro High School grad Cindy Rarick won five LPGA championships.
And then there’s a litany of UA All-Americans and national championships, from Annika Sorenstam to Mr. 58, Jim Furyk.
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But the snapshot that best captures the impact of golf in Tucson happened on a Tuesday morning, Feb. 19, 2008. Jack Nicklaus held a press conference at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at The Gallery Golf Club. He updated the progress of the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, a course that would serve as home to the Match Play championships from 2009-14.
As Nicklaus was leaving the media center at The Gallery’s south course, Tiger Woods, then 32 and in his prime, stood at the door, awaiting his press conference.
Nicklaus and Woods saw one another, shook hands and talked privately for a minute or two.
I thought it couldn’t get any better than that, but a day later Woods staged the most compelling comeback victory in Match Play history, a round — and a week — of golf unmatched in Tucson.
Woods trailed J.B. Holmes by three holes as he walked off the 13th green.
Tournament organizers, the Tucson Conquistadores, 12,000 fans and NBC golf executives all cursed the format. Woods was about to be eliminated on the first of five days.
Then came four unforgettable holes:
Tiger made a 14-foot putt at 14. Birdie. Fist pump.
He made a 17-foot putt at 15. Birdie. Fist pump and a shout.
He made a 21-foot putt at 16. Birdie. Fist pump and a much louder shout.
He made a 36-foot putt at 17. Eagle. Many of the golf broadcasts showed the video of that moment for years.
About 500 yards away, watching on TV in the Conquistadores compound near Wild Burro Wash, the tournament’s executive director, Michael Garten, sensed that the week had been saved.
“In the compound, we would hear a roar,” said Garten, “and seven seconds later, which was the TV delay from live action, we’d see Tiger’s putt drop into the cup.”
No one was more thunderstruck than J.B. Holmes, who lost at the 18th hole.
“I think I shot 2 or 3 under on the backside,” said Holmes, who was slow to believe that even his birdie at the 17th lost the hole. “I didn’t choke and I didn’t back down or anything like that.”
I followed Holmes as he retreated from the scene at the 18th green, walking quietly with a security guard down an isolated path to the driving range. He stopped once to sign autographs for three tournament volunteers. The only distractions were distant cries of “Tiger!” “Tiger!”
“You were great today,” one of the autograph seekers told Holmes.
“Great wasn’t enough,” he said.
Four days later, Woods won the Match Play title with the most lopsided victory in the event’s history. He closed out Stewart Cink 8 and 7, meaning that he won on the 29th of 36 possible holes.
He was so dominant that PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and his support crew had to race to the 11th green for the trophy presentation, much earlier than planned.
But it was Woods’ comeback victory over Holmes that became the signature event in the Match Play’s eight years in Tucson, and perhaps in Match Play history.
“I was running out of holes,” he said. “I was pumped.”
Where is he now? Woods never again advanced past the second round on Dove Mountain, losing to, among others, Thomas Bjorn, Tim Clark and Charles Howell III.
How he did it: “He’s never going to mess up. He’s just always in control. He never loses his composure,” Cink said after the 2008 final.
Woods’ victory in Tucson, No.63 in his career, surpassed Palmer’s career total of 62.
Photo: Tiger Woods admires his hardware, the Walter Hagen Cup, after he defeated Stewart Cink to win the Accenture Match Play Championship at the Gallery South Course in Marana, Ariz., on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008. Photo by David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
