The images from 10 years ago remain fresh in the mind.
Tiger Woods, in his fire-engine-red sweater, capping his unfathomable 12-shot victory in the 1997 Masters with a final four-foot putt, punctuated by his now-famous post-victory fist pump. Then, head down to hide his welling emotions, Woods walked off the green and into the embrace of his since-deceased father, Earl.
"A win for the ages," said Jim Nantz of CBS, as millions of viewers around the world watched with awe.
For as long as great performances in sports are celebrated, the video clip of Woods' historic triumph a decade ago this week will be replayed and replayed. And for as long as human achievement, drama, and complicated father-and-son relationships mean anything, when it airs we will pause and watch and maybe dab a tear from our own eyes.
Even Jack Nicklaus, a six-time Masters winner whose records Woods is still chasing, acknowledged we were all seeing something and someone special.
"It's a shame Bob Jones isn't here," Nicklaus said at the time, referring to the legendary amateur and founder of Augusta National Golf Club. "He could have saved the words he used for me in 1963 for this young man, because he's certainly playing a game with which we're not familiar."
Woods has so totally dominated golf for the last decade, it's almost hard to recall him a decade ago as a scrawny 21-year-old kid playing in his first Masters as a professional.
Despite his youth, he was already being heralded as a can't-miss superstar, having won three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles, followed by three straight U.S. Amateur titles and three PGA Tour tournaments in only nine months since he had turned pro the previous August.
But Woods was still so wet behind the ears, who expected him to win his first major championship as a pro, let alone decimate a star-studded field with a record score (270, 18 under par) by a record margin (12 shots)? In all, Woods set 18 Masters records that week, plus he tied six more.
More important, Woods not only became the first African American to win the Masters or any major championship, he more than lived up to the incredible hype that already surrounded him, and he set the tone for a career that is on track to rewrite every record in the game.
What a beginning it was.
