Woods’ Victory in the Masters Voted Top Sports Story of Year

Tiger Woods’ overwhelming victory in the Masters, which not only broke records but shook social barriers and pushed golf to unprecedented popularity, was voted top sports story of 1997 by members of The Associated Press.

The 12-stroke victory by Woods at Augusta National Golf Club in April won over the heavyweight title fight in June in which Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear. Those two events dominated the voting.

While the ear-biting incident was one of the most shocking events in the history of world championship sports, the Masters apparently won because it affected sports and society in so many ways.

Woods won by 12 strokes, a margin unsurpassed in a major championship since the 1862 British Open. And the only player in the history of the 363 major professional championships played since 1860 to equal Woods’ 18-under-par total was Nick Faldo in the 1990 British Open.

“Cool,” Woods, 21, said from his Windemere, Fla., home when told his Masters victory had been voted the top story.

Asked if he could guess the runner-up, Woods immediately said: “Tyson.”

“I was at both,” Woods said, referring to the fact that he was a spectator at the Tyson-Holyfield fight.

The World Series victory by the Florida Marlins and then the team’s fire sale of high-priced players was third in balloting by AP print and broadcast members.

Dean Smith’s retirement as North Carolina basketball coach and the victory by the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl rounded out the top five.

The auto accident involving three members of the Detroit Red Wings after a party celebrating their Stanley Cup victory was sixth, followed by the Chicago Bulls winning their fifth NBA championship.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire chasing Roger Maris’ home run record finished eighth in the voting. Interleague play in baseball and the Marv Albert sex scandal rounded out the top 10.

Pro football

In the first tie for NFL most valuable player since 1960, Brett Favre earned an unprecedented third consecutive award, sharing the honor with 2,000-yard rusher Barry Sanders.

In balloting conducted by the Associated Press, the Green Bay quarterback and the Detroit running back each collected 18 votes from a nationwide panel of 48 sports writers and broadcasters.

Favre, who easily won the award the past two years, led the league in touchdown passes (35) and was second in yards passing with 3,867. Sanders became the third player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season when he gained 2,053, second most in league history.

Philadelphia quarterback Norm Van Brocklin and Detroit linebacker Joe Schmidt shared the award in 1960.

Winter Sports

Chris Witty won the 500-meter race in 39.40 seconds and set a Pettit National Ice Center record of 1 minute 19.31 seconds in the 1,000 meters at the U.S. Long Track Olympic Trials in West Allis, Wis.

Witty, who earlier this year set a world record in the 1,000 of 1:15.43, bettered Bonnie Blair’s 1995 track record of 1:19.43.

Rebecca Sundstrom of Glen Ellyn, Ill., who finished second to Witty in both races and Moira D’Andrea of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., who was third in both events, qualified for the Nagano Olympics at 1,000 meters.

Qualifying for 1,000 meters on the men’s team were Cory Carpenter of Brookfield, Wis., who won in 1:12.98; KC Boutiette of Tacoma, Wash., who was second at 1:13.21 and had earlier qualified at 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters; and Nathaniel Mills of Washington, third at 1:13.96.

Sergei Shikanov scored with 37 seconds left as Russia avoided an embarrassing loss and tied Switzerland, 3-3, in the World Junior Hockey Championships at Helsinki, Finland. In another game, the Czech Republic beat Germany, 9-1.

Ylva Nowen of Sweden won her second consecutive World Cup slalom race, beating world champion Deborah Compagnoni of Italy and Urska Hrovat of Slovenia at Lienz, Austria.

Boxing

South African Zolani Lepetelo won the International Boxing Federation mini-flyweight championship with a fourth-round knockout of Thailand’s Rattanapol Vorapin in a match in Bangkok, Thailand, that was marred by racial insults.

Rattanapol, who successfully defended his title six times, taunted Lepetelo before the fight by bringing in a Thai covered with black body paint and carrying a club into the ring. The character was straight out of the racial stereotypes seen in Hollywood movies early in the century.

The loss was a blow to the promising career of Rattanapol, who recently signed a five-year contract with promoter Don King and was expected to be showcased to American audiences next year.

Miscellany

Jim Hickey, football coach at North Carolina from 1959-1966 and athletic director at Connecticut for three years, died at his home in Pinehurst, N.C. He was 77. . . . Dale Hodges scored six of her 16 points during an 18-1 run in the third quarter, helping the New England Blizzard to a 68-62 American Basketball League victory over the Columbus Quest before 11,581, at Hartford, Conn. The crowd was the third-largest in ABL history. . . . Taj McWilliams scored a season-high 20 points as Philadelphia overcame an 11-point halftime deficit and defeated the Atlanta Glory, 75-70, before 4,183 at Atlanta. . . . In another ABL game, the San Jose Lasers handed the visiting Seattle Reign its 20th loss in 26 games, 84-75, before 7,014.