88 golf digest | issue 4. 2020
j.d. c
uban (2)who I’ve grown up idolizing,
who made history, who you’ve
watched do some pretty
unbelievable things over
the years, I almost couldn’t
believe those few moments.
The look on his face as we sat
there waiting... I’ll never
forget. For a guy who has won
so much in his life, to see how
happy he was after he won
another Masters was priceless.
He looked like a guy who had
never won a Masters before.
tiger woods: Fourteen years
between jackets is a long time.
jim nantz: I know there were
some snarky people out there
who said, “Oh, you were trying
to get Tiger to cry.” I’m never
trying to get anybody to cry.
I was trying to get Tiger to
react and express what the
moment meant to him.
tiger woods: If you look
at it, my first 14 wins in
majors, I had the lead in
every one of them, or tied
for the lead. To have the
opportunity to come back
like this, you know, it’s
probably one of the biggest
wins I’ve ever had, for sure.
rocco mediate: Jack’s record
[18 professional major wins] is
still in jeopardy. People have
said, “What? You’re out of your
mind; Tiger can’t play with
these kids.” I’m like, “You’re
not realizing who we’re talking
about. This isn’t just some guy
who won a few tournaments.
He’s about to win the most
ever, and there’s a shot at Jack.
A shot at it.” We’ll see. It’ll be
fun to watch.
brooks koepka: Eighteen is
a whole lot closer than people
think.... You know, you want
to play against the best to ever
play. You want to go toe-to-toe
with them, and you know, I can
leave saying I gave it my all.
He’s just good, man. [Smiles.]
jack nicklaus: He has
another 10 years of major
championships. Another 40
major championships in front
of him.... I don’t want him to
break my records, but I don’t
want him not to be able to play
and not be physically sound to
play. I mean, if he’s physically
sound and it’s his desire to
win and he breaks it, youknow, well done. That’s what it
should be. That’s what sports
is all about.
curtis strange: Can he get
pain-free for 10 or 14 days
going into another major so
that he can play well enough
to win again? Who knows?
It doesn’t matter to me
anymore—I mean that with
respect. Winning at Augusta
was unbelievably good. I wasn’t
sure we would see that again.
I was glad he did it one more
time. So it doesn’t matter if he
does it again.
eilidh barbour (BBC): As the
crowds were streaming out—
they have to walk right past
our studio on the way out—
they were chanting, “Tiger!
Tiger!” And that was long after
he had won. It was such an
“I was there” day.jim nantz: We got into
the encore presentation [after
the live telecast], and about
90 minutes into it, I got word
[from producer Lance Barrow]
that Tiger might be returning
to Butler Cabin. About five
minutes later, into the cabin
walked Tiger and a few from
his delegation, which I thought
was really nice of him to do.
Everybody’s still numb with
what had happened. Still trying
to get our minds around the
historical significance of the
day. And Tiger returned to the
place where a little more than
90 minutes earlier he had been
given another green jacket.
And we had a second Butler
Cabin interview with Tiger,
and this one was unrushed.
We had time to really get
into a lot of really good detail
about the week, the round, his
mind-set, his family. I mean,
it was extraordinary. He was
exhausted, but he hung in
there. In the end, it was one
of the real fulfilling days for
all of us there, whether we were
in the gallery, whether
we were there as a member
of the broadcast team,
watching at home, writing
about it, whatever. It was
just a very special day to be
at Augusta, Georgia, on April
the 14th, 2019.Additional reporting
by daniel rapaport
and john strege.serenading a champion▶ Woods acknowledges the fans at
the 18th before getting his fifth green
jacket and the Masters trophy.