1997 PGA Season Was Etched With Memories

A season that started as a solitary portrait of Tiger Woods ended as a complex collage in tribute to the depth of talent on the PGA Tour. The images that linger should be pasted in a scrapbook--1997 was a keeper.

The warmth of Tiger’s smile and the determination of Justin’s scowl. The elegance of Ernie’s swing and the magic of Davis’ rainbow.

The exuberance of European Ryder Cup fans.

Memories of Hogan.

Woods brought unprecedented attention to golf, but the game produced the moments that made the year memorable.

The season started with Woods’ near hole-in-one to beat Tom Lehman at the Mercedes Championships, setting off a Tiger frenzy that continued through his 12-stroke victory at the Masters and follow-up win at the Byron Nelson Classic.

“Phil Mickelson won four tournaments last year,” Woods said about the possibility of winning the Grand Slam. “It’s just a matter of winning the right four.”

But after winning three of his first eight tournaments this year and shooting in the 60s in 20 of his first 34 rounds, Woods was victorious once in his final 12 starts and shot in the 60s only 15 times in 47 rounds.

“Realistically, it’s next to impossible to win all four,” Woods said in August when asked again about the Grand Slam. “How about just being in contention.”

One indelible memory was the exquisite tempo of Ernie Els’ swing on his 5-iron on the 71st hole at the U.S. Open, a swing that had all the urgency of someone hitting balls on the practice range.

The purity of that swing was matched only by the look of anguish on Lehman’s face as his 7-iron second shot on the same hole bounded into the water.

“I’d give anything in the world for a mulligan,” Lehman said after Els won.

After the 21-year-old Woods won the Masters and Els, 27, won the U.S. Open, it seemed only fitting that Justin Leonard, 25, would win the British Open.

With his hat stitched with the word “Hogan” pulled tightly against the British breeze at Royal Troon, Leonard attacked the course with a face that never betrayed anything except concentration.

The key shot came on the 71st hole when he made a 35-foot birdie putt to take the lead for the first time all week, pulling one ahead of Jesper Parnevik.

“I just knew from about 3 feet out that it was right in the center of the hole,” Leonard said. “That’s when the hair on the back of my neck stood up.”

Shortly after returning home to Texas, Leonard received a handwritten congratulations note from Ben Hogan. The note took on even greater meaning on July 25--five days after the British Open--when Hogan died.

The sorrow at Hogan’s passing gave way to the pure joy of hearing stories told and retold about the greatest shotmaker the game has ever known.

An eerie replication of the magical link between Leonard and Hogan occurred the next month when Davis Love III won his first major title at the PGA Championship, a tournament played several times by his father, a teaching pro who first exposed his son to the game and who died in a 1988 plane crash.

“The son of a PGA member,” Love said just moments after he walked beneath a glorious rainbow onto the final green at Winged Foot. “Who would have thought?”

Love, Leonard and Woods took only 2 1/2 of a possible 13 points at the Ryder Cup and Europe won 14 1/2-13 1/2 at Valderrama in Spain. The pain felt by the Americans was matched by the exhilaration of European captain Seve Ballesteros.

“It’s a dream come true, not only because the Ryder Cup was played in Spain but because we won,” said Ballesteros, who fought to bring the Ryder Cup to his homeland.

U.S. captain Tom Kite blamed the loss on a lack of local knowledge.

“I honestly think the only reason we got beat was because they knew the golf course and the weather conditions better than we did,” Kite said.

There were other memorable moments in 1997:

--Fuzzy Zoeller’s ill-advised jokes. A TV deal that will double purses. David Duval’s three consecutive victories after going 92 tournaments without a win.

--The new World Golf Championships. Costantino Rocca defeating Woods in the Ryder Cup. Steve Jones admitting he was not up to the pressure of making the Ryder Cup team.

--Lehman wanting it more than anyone at the Ryder Cup. The duel between Woods and Mark O’Meara at Pebble Beach. And thousands of drenched fans swarming behind the last group at the Ryder Cup singing “Ole! Ole! Ole!”

Indeed. It was that kind of year on the PGA Tour.