A look back at Tiger Woods’ 2001 Player Championship, which put a famous putt on TPC Sawgrass’s 17th on the road to victory, a putt described as’ better than most ‘in a memorable statement from Gary Koch at NBC
Last updated: 09/03/21 4:31 pm
Tiger Woods brought a minute of magic on the 17th green at the 2001 Player Championship
Tiger Woods has achieved many memorable moments during his career and 20 years ago at TPC Sawgrass he grabbed a putt that was “better than most”.
That’s how the Woods monster was placed on the 17th green during the third round of the March 2001 Players Championship explained by NBC reporter Gary Koch.
Woods only tied for eighth after two rounds, but moved on Saturday with a round of 66, and his eunie’s favorite was the 17th. He resisted a 60-foot, downhill, three-legged break from the island’s green back edge for a birdie and few would have expected him to do so.
Woods entered the event as a World No. 1 and looking to win the Players for the first time
Woods kicked his ball to the right of the hole before moving left down the slope and then turned sharply right before finding the right edge of the cup and letting it in, all with three hints of “ better than most ”from Koch in the comment box.
Koch then commented on the PGA Tour website: “It hits the putt and first Johnny (Miller) says, ‘how does that look?’. The first came, ‘better Then, as he went down the slope, he went it was clear to me that the ball was far enough to the left, way more than any other ball on it. That was when the next one came, ‘better than most,’ and then, of course, he went into the hole. ‘Better than most’ It was the time of a classic Tiger. “
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Crowds swarmed around the 17th wild after the ball fell in with Woods smiling raising his arms above his head before raising his right fist to greet the cheers. Woods was later asked and admitted that he had Fred Funk to thank for such success.
He said: “The fact is I had a bit of a tutorial before that push. We were delayed there on the 17th tee, and Fred Funk was playing right in front of us. He hit up the top shelf and he quadrupled the hole so I saw how he came over the elevation and how he started to go to the right, how far he got up.
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“It almost wiped him out of the green. He actually put him out of the green. So I knew how fast he was, so I gave him a little more. He broke a lot at the top with it. the old green and then hit just to the right. “
Woods finished third in a run of second place with Vijay Singh, two behind Jerry Kelly, following his 66th.
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Due to bad weather the last nine holes were played on Monday, with five under 67s proving enough to give Woods a one-shot victory over Singh – that birdie putt proved to be ‘ better than most ‘when it came to providing its narrow margin.
Was it ‘as well as most’ Woods who put the biggest image in his PGA Tour career? Click on the video above and judge for yourself!
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