ABOVE PHOTO: Tiger Woods hugs his family after winning the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
By Doug Ferguson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Masters over, Tiger Woods slipped on the green jacket again on the second Sunday in April.
He just wasn’t at Augusta National this year.
Woods got emotional Sunday after CBS re-aired his victory last year. In a video production from earlier in the week, Woods joined network host Jim Nantz to provide commentary during the final round, the first time in his 15 major victories that he came from behind to win.
CBS re-aired last year’s final round Sunday because the Masters has been postponed until November due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the 16th hole, Woods rejoined Nantz on the video screen after his final putt, changing into his green jacket.
His best commentary was talking about the celebration with his two children, his mother, girlfriend and most loyal supporters. Woods had a lump in his throat at one point said, “Now you’re getting me choked up.”
CBS last year quickly put together back-to-back images of Woods hugging his late father, Earl, after his record-setting victory in 1997 when he was 21, and then the embrace with his son, Charlie.
Woods said the embrace with his mother, Tida, was just as special.
“To have mom still there… people remember the hug with my dad, but my mom is here 22 years later with the same hug,” Woods said. “Special for all of us.”
Woods said he didn’t remember some parts of the celebration, just as thrusting both arms in the air and constantly screaming as the gallery chanted his name.
That wouldn’t be the first time. When he won at Bay Hill in 2008, he slammed his cap to the ground and later said he didn’t realize he had done that.
Watching the end of the Masters from his Florida home, Woods told Nantz, “I don’t remember screaming. I don’t remember putting my arms up. It was one of those blackout moments. … I do remember my eyes coming back down and seeing people in front of me. As far as me celebrating? I don’t remember that part.”
He recalls thinking he needed to find Francesco Molinari and Tony Finau and their caddies, and then he was trying to find his own caddie, Joe LaCava.
“I finally found Joey and said, ‘We did it!’” Woods said.
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