Tiger Woods did before hitting a tee shot at the Masters which Paul Casey said was one of the coolest things he’d ever seen
Tiger Woods certainly made a claim to be considered the most talented golfer of all-time, with the 49-year-old winning 15 majors during his illustrious career. No player has won more events on the PGA Tour than Woods.
You could understand if many of his peers were almost resentful of what Woods was capable of at times. He could win tournaments in third gear, while there was little hope for anyone else if he brought his best stuff to the course each day.
However, that is also the reason why so many from that era seem grateful to Woods. He brought a completely new audience to the game, and it was because of Woods that the riches within the game just increased at a rapid rate.
There is also a recognition that he was capable of doing things that few others could manage – and not just when it comes to some of the shots he would hit.
Speaking on Subpar in 2020, Paul Casey shared an incident from the Masters where Woods managed to leave both the Englishman and Aaron Baddeley stunned without even hitting a shot.
“A weird one that people wouldn’t have seen probably, but there was an incident on the 13th tee at Augusta National at the Masters one year, and I think it was Aaron Baddeley was the third, and we’re on the 13th tee. And he loads up and he’s in full load, top of the backswing on his way down, and a bird, one or two birds flew overhead, and the shadow passes through the golf ball and his stance and distracts him. And he stops,” he said.
“And so, he’s literally on full, how do you explain it, he’s on the way down. And he manages to stop before he gets to the golf ball. It was the most unbelievable: one, to have the awareness, the speed of the shadow, to make the decision, ‘oh s—, I don’t want to hit this, I want to stop’, and then have the physical capabilities of stopping it. What on earth. He stopped, and I was jaw wide open, so was Badds. And I’m like, ‘I’ve seen some cool stuff, but that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen’.”
Woods’ career record at the Masters is, unsurprisingly, incredible. He has now played in the first major of the year on 26 occasions, and made the cut in 25 of those visits to Augusta National.
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That missed cut came in 1996 – the year before he set the record for the largest winning margin amidst the Georgia pines.
Woods has been awarded the green jacket on five occasions, while he has 12 top fives. And between 1997 and 2011, his worst finish was a tie for 22nd. He missed out on the top 10 three times during that run.
It was often at Augusta National where Woods appeared to be in complete control of his game. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that he somehow managed to stop abruptly even at the remarkable swing speeds he was reaching.
