Legendary caddie Steve Williams has revealed a previously unknown detail about Tiger Woods‘ famous chip-in during the final round of the 2005 Masters.
Woods hit one of the most memorable shots in the tournament’s history, when, holding a one shot lead over Chris DiMarco in the final round, he holed his chip from behind the 16th green.
“Oh wow, in your life have you seen anything like that,” was the iconic line from Verne Lundquist in commentary, almost as famous as the shot itself.
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What wasn’t known until now is that neither Woods, who was playing in his 11th Masters, nor Williams, caddying for the 19th time, had ever set foot on that part of the course.
Williams had first caddied at Augusta for Greg Norman in 1987. Known for his thorough preparation before every tournament, Williams would scour every part of the course where he thought his player could possibly hit the ball.
The only problem was he’d never considered it likely Woods would end up going long and left at the par-3 16th.
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Speaking to golf journalist Evin Priest on his Chasing Majors podcast, Williams said he watched in horror as Woods’ tee shot at the 16th flew the green.
“The ball’s only in the air for a few seconds, and I went, ‘Oh God Tiger’ and I’m thinking it’s in the bunker, then I’m thinking that’s in the water, then I thought, no it’s over the green,” he said.
“All he wants to know is what’s over there, and I said, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never been over there.’
“I don’t know what’s over there because you never hit it over there.
“Tiger’s ball was way left of where he was aiming.”
Woods was faced with what many thought was a near-impossible shot, made even more difficult by the realisation that DiMarco was in an ideal position to make birdie. Many thought Woods would be lucky to make par.
“There’s a good chance he doesn’t get this inside DiMarco’s ball,” said Lanny Wadkins on the CBS coverage.
Williams confirmed that Woods had only a small target to aim at.
“It’s a very difficult shot that Tiger’s got,” he said.
“There’s only one way to play that shot, he’s got to play it left, it can’t get to a point where it’s got too much speed on it and it runs onto the fringe.
“He said, ‘You see that ball mark up there? If I only get it halfway up the hill it shouldn’t be going that far where it can roll off the fringe.’
“Amazingly, when he hit the shot, it landed right on the ball mark and the rest is history.”
The ball slowly rolled down the hill, pausing briefly on the edge of the cup as if positioned to give maximum exposure to Nike, and then dropped in as the crowd went wild.
Williams, who also caddied for Adam Scott when he became the first Australian to win the Masters in 2013, said that chip-in was one of the best shots seen at Augusta.
“Under pressure, it’s a remarkable shot,” he explained.
“He could stand there for the rest of his life and never do it again.
“It was hit perfect but there’s a lot of luck for it to go in. It was pandemonium.”
What’s often forgotten is that Woods then bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes, needing a playoff to defeat DiMarco and claim the fourth of his five Masters titles.
Chasing Majors is hosted by golf journalist Evin Priest. The first series is co-hosted by Steve Williams, covering the 13 major titles he won with Tiger Woods. The first eight episodes are available now via Spotify or Apple.
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