Woods blown away by reaction to Masters win

With just over a month to go before the first major of the year tees off at Augusta National, the 2019 winner Tiger Woods spoke with the media about his year as reigning Masters champion.

The five-time winner spoke at length about his comeback victory and the overwhelming worldwide reaction that followed.

It’s easy to forget that when Woods won his last major at the 2008 US Open, almost no-one owned a smartphone and the likes of Twitter and Facebook were in their infancy and Instagram was two years away from being invented.

If you wanted to see the Masters, you likely sat down and watched it on TV in real-time. But fast-forward to 2019 and things have certainly changed.

“I had just an amazing amount of e-mails and texts that were flowing in, but I was more surprised the amount of videos of people watching the Masters and seeing their reaction when I hit the shot on 16 or when I made the putt, whether it was on airplanes or in airports or restaurants,” said Woods.

“Seeing the amount of reactions and the amount of people that were riveted by the Masters…that’s what blew my mind.”

“I even had a few people that said to me, “We didn’t watch it. We went and played golf and we had it on DVR. So we were able to watch it when we got back,” – because most people have mobile devices and alerts and all the different ways that people get reminded, but a few of my friends just didn’t watch it [live].”

On the personal side of things, Woods’ life has changed just as dramatically since his last major win.

In 2008, Woods was a married man with a young child and a decade later he is a divorced father of two.

And it is Woods’ children, who have lived through the highs and lows of their father’s career, who really made the Masters victory so special for him.

“I think what made it so special is that they saw me fail the year before at the [2018] British Open. I had got the lead there…and ended up losing to Francesco,” said Woods of his disappointing 6th place finish at Carnoustie.

“So to have them experience what it feels like to be part of a major championship and watch their dad fail and not get it done, and now to be a part of it and when I did get it done, I think it’s two memories that they will never forget.”

“Just watching them fight over the green jacket on the airplane was pretty funny. “I want to wear it; no, I want to wear it,” and that’s something I certainly will never forget.”

Amongst all of the revelations about overcoming a decade he would rather forget, the 44-year-old also revealed the menu for his Tuesday champions dinner.

“Being born and raised in SoCal, having fajitas and sushi was a part of my entire childhood, and I’m going back to what I had in 2006.”

“So we’ll have steak and chicken fajitas, and we’ll have sushi and sashimi out on the deck, and I hope the guys will enjoy it.”

“I’m debating whether or not to have milkshakes as deserts because that was one of the most great memories to see Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead having milkshakes that night in ’98.”