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What Happened in the 1996 PGA Championship

1996 pga championship final scores, popular posts from this blog, 2024 masters tournament winner and final scores.

Ryder Cup Captains: The Full List

24 Famous Golfers Who Were Photographed in the Nude

1996 PGA TOUR RESULTS, SCHEDULE

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Breaking News

Milford chief releases additional arrest footage of man who later died in police custody.

Mercedes Championships Jan. 4-7 Carlsbad, Calif.

Winner Score Winnings

Mark O’Meara 271 $180,000

Tournament Dates Location

Nortel Open Jan. 11-14 Tucson

Phil Mickelson 273 $225,000

Bob Hope Classic Jan. 17-21 Palm Desert, Calif.

Mark Brooks 337* $234,000

Phoenix Open Jan. 24-27 Scottsdale, Ariz.

Phil Mickelson 269 $234,000

National Pro-Am Feb. 1-4 Pebble Beach, Calif.

None, tournament not completed

Buick Invitational Feb. 8-11 La Jolla, Calif.

Davis Love III 269 $216,000

Hawaiian Open Feb. 15-18 Honolulu

Jim Furyk 277 $216,000

Nissan Open Feb. 22-25 Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Craig Stadler 278 $216,000

Doral-Ryder Open Feb.29-March 3 Miami

Greg Norman 269 $324,000

Honda Classic March 7-10 Coral Springs, Fla.

Tim Herron 271 $234,000

Bay Hill Invitational March 14-17 Orlando, Fla.

Paul Goydos 275 $216,000

Freeport-McDermott Classic March 21-24 New Orleans

Scott McCarron 275 $216,000

Players Championship March 28-31 Ponte Verde Beach, Fla.

Fred Couples 270 $630,000

BellSouth Classic April 4-7 Marietta, Ga.

Paul Stankowski 280 $234,000

The Masters April 11-14 Augusta, Ga.

Nick Faldo 276 $450,000

MCI Classic April 18-21 Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Loren Roberts 265 $252,000

Greater Greensboro Classic April 25-28 Greensboro, N.C.

Mark O’Meara 274 $324,000

Houston Open May 2-5 The Woodlands, Texas

Mark Brooks 274 $270,000

Byron Nelson Classic May 9-12 Irving, Texas

Phil Mickelson 265 $270,000

MasterCard Colonial May 16-19 Fort Worth, Texas

Corey Pavin 272 $270,000

Kemper Open May 23-26 Potomac, Md.

Steve Stricker 270 $270,000

The Memorial May 30-June 2 Columbus, Ohio

Tom Watson 274 $324,000

Buick Classic June 6-9 Rye, N.Y.

Ernie Els 271 $216,000

U.S. Open June 13-16 Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Steve Jones 278 $425,000

p – won in playoff * – five-round tournament

* June 20-23: St. Jude Classic(Memphis).

* June 27-30: Canon GHO (Cromwell).

* July 4-7: Western Open (Lemont, Ill.).

* July 11-14: Michelob Championship (Williamsburg, Va.).

* July 18-21: British Open (St. Annes, England).

* July 18-21: Deposit Guaranty Classic (Madison, Miss.).

* July 25-28: Charity Classic (Sutton, Mass.).

* Aug. 1-4: Buick Open (Grand Blanc, Mich.).

* Aug. 8-11: PGA Championship (Louisville, Ky.).

* Aug. 15-18: Sprint International (Castle Rock, Colo.).

* Aug. 22-25: World Series of Golf (Akron, Ohio).

* Aug. 22-25: Greater Vancouver Open (Surrey, British Columbia).

* Aug. 29-Sept 1: Greater Milwaukee Open (Milwaukee).

* Sept. 5-8: Canadian Open (Oakville, Ontario).

* Sept. 12-15: Quad City Classic (Coal Valley, Ill.).

* Sept. 13-15: Presidents Cup (Lake Manassas, Va.).

* Sept. 19-22: B.C. Open (Endicott, N.Y.).

* Sept. 26-29: Buick Challenge (Pine Mountain, Ga.).

* Oct. 2-6: Las Vegas Invitational (Las Vegas).

* Oct. 10-13: Texas Open (San Antonio).

* Oct. 17-20: Oldsmobile Classic (Lake Buena Vista, Fla.).

* Oct. 24-27: Tour Championship (Tulsa, Okla.)

* Nov. 7-10: Kapalua International (Lahaina, Hawaii).

* Nov. 14-17: Shark Shootout (Thousand Oaks, Calif.).

* Nov. 21-24: World Cup of Golf (Cape Town, South Africa).

* Nov. 30-Dec. 1: Skins Game (La Quinta, Calif.).

* Dec. 5-8: JCPenney Classic (Palm Harbor, Fla.).

* Dec. 12-15: Diners Club Matches (La Quinta, Calif.).

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Tiger Woods' first PGA Tour title, 25 years on: Remembering his win at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational

October 6 marks the 25th anniversary of Tiger Woods defeating Davis Love III in a play-off to win the Las Vegas Invitational, his first of 82 PGA Tour titles.

By Jim McCabe

Wednesday 6 October 2021 07:05, UK

It is sometimes difficult to fathom, but the media circus has travelled with Tiger Woods since before social media dominated our world. As a reminder, harken back 25 years - October 6, 1996, to be exact - when the 20-year-old Woods broke through for his first PGA Tour win in just his fifth start.

While the number of journalists on-site may have been thin compared to this week's Shriners Children's Open - or at least when compared to a month earlier, when Woods made his pro debut in Milwaukee or a few weeks prior when he got into contention at the Quad City Classic in Illinois - the Vegas storylines were plentiful.

Fuelled in large part, of course, by players who were none too happy with the great buzz surrounding Woods. "Everything has been Tiger, Tiger," moaned Fred Funk. "They kind of forget about everyone else out here."

Such chatter did not fluster Woods, who might have arrived at the Las Vegas Invitational too young to partake in the casinos - "I can watch, that's about it," he shrugged - but he was already battle-tested when it came to media scrutiny and more than capable of brushing aside the petty critiques.

Equally impressive was Woods' ability to nonchalantly put behind him the sort of pedestrian opening round that he produced at Las Vegas Hilton, one of three courses used for the five-round Las Vegas Invitational. With a 70, Woods was eight off Rick Fehr's lead.

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By now, Woods already had already demonstrated the explosive talent that lifted him to three consecutive wins in the U.S. Amateur. After a tie for 60th in his debut in Milwaukee, Woods ran off a T11 in Canada, a share of fifth in Quad City, and a T3 at the B.C. Open. He had shot in the 60s in seven of eight rounds prior to Vegas, so no one was shocked when Woods followed that 70 with a stunning 63 at the host course, TPC Summerlin, and a 68 at Desert Inn to push into a tie for eighth, six off Fehr's lead.

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So, sorry, Mr. Funk, but it mattered little that seven players had better 54-hole scores, or that luminaries such as Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson, Payne Stewart and Jim Furyk were in attendance. All spotlights focused on Woods, especially because this was a 90-hole hole tournament, meaning the kid from Stanford had two more rounds to make up the deficit.

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Though the third round had kept Woods in the thick of things, it had left him in pain - mentally and physically. He had, after all, played the front nine in 5-under, so finishing with 68 left him seething. But more importantly, Woods had aggravated a groin injury that he insisted dated back to his U.S. Amateur win in August.

"(With) all the golf I've been playing, I never gave it a chance to heal," explained Woods.

His burning desire to do the improbable - earn his PGA Tour card by finishing in the top 125 on the money list in fewer than 10 starts - had prompted the heavy schedule. It had also ignited some controversy, too, because citing burn-out, Woods had withdrawn from the Buick Challenge and a dinner at which he was to receive the Haskins Award as the nation's top collegiate golfer.

Oh, how that got the troops riled up.

"He'll probably take a little heat for this," predicted Peter Jacobsen, who was correct. Love told reporters, "He's a rookie and rookies make rookie mistakes," while Stewart Cink, a previous Haskins winner, was more direct: "To some degree I think it offends all the players who have won that award."

15 HOF members earned victories at Walt Disney World during their career, including @TigerWoods (2x). This year marks the 25-year anniversary of Woods' 1996 victory at the event (his second win overall as a professional), and he’ll officially be inducted as a HOF member in March. pic.twitter.com/YQWpTGfiV7 — Golf Hall of Fame (@GolfHallofFame) October 1, 2021

A week later, Woods was in Vegas and let the criticism ride. "I got some messages from the guys who said they didn't exactly say what was written," he told reporters. "Those guys have been very nice to me."

His diplomatic skills notwithstanding, Woods had another persona once it came time to peg it up for real. Competitors already noticed the ferocity of his focus.

Nursing that painful groin injury, Woods turned a quiet round into something very intriguing when he eagled the par-five 16th Saturday to shoot a five-under 67 and get within four of the leader, Ronnie Black.

Then, the magic that Woods had shown as an amateur and which would become his calling card as a professional poured forth at TPC Summerlin in the fifth round. A birdie at the first got the fans into an early frenzy, then came an eagle at the par-five third to kick it up another notch.

Woods kept his foot on the pedal. Birdies at the ninth, 11th and 13th were electric. A birdie at the 14th pulled him into a tie and a two-putt birdie at the 16th gave him the clubhouse lead. From the practice range, Woods got word that Love had made a late eagle and birdie to pull into tie, at 27-under.

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Months earlier, young and brash, Woods had told Love that it was his dream to go head-to-head down the stretch and beat the established superstar, to which Love had replied something like, "Good luck, I hope you get the chance."

Much to Love's chagrin, that chance arrived at TPC Summerlin and Woods wasted little time in cashing in. A fairway-splitting three-wood at the 18th hole, followed by a nine-iron to 20 feet applied the sort of pressure that would soon become his calling card.

"He would know I was in position for birdie," Woods said, confirming that it was his strategy to hit first into the first play-off hole.

The kid's maturity already uncanny, he was correct; Love couldn't match the shot, delivering an 8-iron into a left bunker. After Woods deftly two-putted for par, he watched Love miss a six-footer, so hats were doffed and handshakes exchanged.

The oversized mock check for $297,000 still hangs in Woods' office. But what resonates more profoundly is the post-game quote from Love, then 32 and at the height of his career.

"As disappointed as I am, I'm that much happy for him," said Love. "He's a great player and he's great for the TOUR."

True then. True still, 25 years later.

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PGA Tour, 1996 : official media guide of the PGA tour

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Tiger Woods: Career Timeline from 1996 to Today

• Author: Associated Press

Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Here is an overview of notable moments from the extraordinary career of 15-time major championship winner Tiger Woods

 The timeline of memorable events in Tiger Woods ’ career:

• August 1996 — Wins third straight U.S. Amateur and turns professional the following week.
• October 1996 — Wins the Las Vegas Invitational for his first PGA Tour victory in his fifth professional tournament.
• April 1997 — Wins the Masters at age 21 with a record score (270) and a record margin of victory (12 shots) to become its youngest champion.
• June 2000 — Wins the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots, the largest margin in major championship history.
• April 2001 — Completes the “Tiger Slam,” winning the Masters to become the only player to hold all four professional majors at the same time.
• October 2004 — Marries Elin Nordegren.
• June 2007 — Nordegren gives birth to their first child, daughter Samantha, a day after Woods finishes runner-up in the U.S. Open.
• June 2008 — Wins the U.S. Open in a playoff at Torrey Pines for his 14th major, four short of the record held by Jack Nicklaus . A week later, he has reconstructive surgery on his left knee to repair a torn ACL and two stress fractures in his left tibia. He is out for eight months.
• February 2009 — Wife gives birth to their son, Charlie.
• August 2009 — Loses a two-shot lead in the final round of the PGA Championship to Y.E. Yang, the first time Woods has lost a 54-hole lead in a major.
• November 2009 — Crashes his SUV into a tree and a fire hydrant outside his Windemere, Florida home. Within a few weeks, his personal life unravels with reports of multiple extramarital affairs and he loses major sponsorship endorsements. He spends 45 days in a clinic and does not return to golf until the 2010 Masters.
• August 2010 — His divorce is finalized.
• March 2012 — Wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his first PGA Tour victory since the scandal in his personal life.
• April 2014 — Has back surgery a week before the Masters and misses Augusta National for the first time.
• August 2014 — Misses the cut in the PGA Championship and says he will take the rest of the year off, including the Ryder Cup , to get healthy.
• February 2015 — Looking like an amateur with his short game, shoots 82 in the Phoenix Open to miss the cut. A week later at Torrey Pines, withdraws after 11 holes. Announces he is taking time off to work on his game, saying that “my play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf.”
• April 2015 — Returns at the Masters, his chipping issues gone, and ties for 17th.
• June 2015 — Shoots an 85 in the third round of the Memorial, his highest score as a professional.
• August 2015 — Misses the cut in his third straight major at the PGA Championship.
• September 2015 — Has a second back surgery.
• October 2015 — Has a third procedure on his back.
• December 2015 — In a somber press conference at his Hero World Challenge, Woods says of his future, “So where is the light at the end of the tunnel? I don’t know.” He says he wants to play again and anything else he achieves will be “gravy.”
• January 2017 — Makes first PGA Tour start since 2015 and misses the cut at Torrey Pines.
• April 2017 — Has a fourth back surgery, this one to fuse his lower back.
• May 2017 — Arrested and briefly jailed in Jupiter, Florida, on suspicion of DUI. Police find him asleep behind the wheel of his car in the early morning with the engine running. He attributes it to a bad combination of pain medication.
• October 2017 — Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving and agrees to enter a diversion program. Prosecutors drop the DUI charge under the plea agreement.
• December 2017 — Returns to competition at his Hero World Challenge, posts three rounds in the 60s and ties for ninth against an 18-man field, 10 shots behind.
• July 2018 — Takes the lead in the final round of the British Open , only to make double bogey on the 12th hole and finish in a tie for sixth.
• August 2018 — Closes with a 64, his lowest final round ever in a major, and is runner-up to Brooks Koepka in the PGA Championship.
• September 2018 — Wins the Tour Championship for his 80th career victory on the PGA Tour, leaving him two shy of the record held by Sam Snead.
• April 2019 — Wins the Masters for his fifth green jacket and 15th major title, his first in 11 years. He moves within three victories of Jack Nicklaus’ record for major championships.
• December 2020 — Has a fifth back surgery, a microdiscectomy.
• Feb. 23, 2021 — Is in a single-car accident in suburban Los Angeles and is extricated from the rolled over vehicle, suffering leg injuries that require surgery.
• Nov. 21, 2021 — His official social media accounts share a video of Tiger hitting a shot with a wedge.
• Dec. 8, 2021 — Tiger announces he'll play the PNC Championship with son Charlie.

Tiger Woods says PGA Tour, Saudi investors ‘all want the same thing’

Woods, a key player in the talks that could unify the golf world, called a recent in-person meeting with potential Saudi investors “productive.”

Key takeaways

Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed.

• Tiger Woods calls PGA-Saudi talks "productive."
• Negotiations aim to unify golf, still no final deal.
• Woods, Rory McIlroy optimistic about golf’s future post-meeting.
• Woods prepares for U.S. Open at Pinehurst, acknowledges challenges.

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PINEHURST, N.C. — As the PGA Tour and Saudi investors continue their protracted negotiations over the future of professional golf , Tiger Woods called a recent in-person meeting “productive” and said the two sides “want the same thing.”

“Is there light at the end of tunnel? I think we’re closer to that point than we were premeeting,” he said Tuesday.

Woods has emerged as a key participant in the talks that could unify the golf world; he’s one of three players tabbed by the PGA Tour to take part in discussions with the Saudis. He flew to New York for a three-hour meeting with the Saudi Public Investment Fund on Friday.

While progress has been made recently, according to people familiar with the talks, no one seems certain when — or if — a final agreement might be struck.

“We discussed a lot of different endings and how we get there,” Woods said. “I think that [when] both sides walked away from the meeting, we all felt very positive in that meeting. As I said, both sides were looking at different ways to get to the endgame. Both sides shared a deep passion for how we need to get there. And, yes, there are going to be differences of opinion, but we all want the same thing.”

Woods spoke with reporters following his U.S. Open practice round, his first public comments since the PGA Tour’s team of negotiators met with the PIF, which launched the rival LIV Golf circuit in 2022.

Though the two sides announced an initial agreement to end their bitter feud and join forces last June, more than a year has passed and it’s still unclear if the tour and the Saudi investors will strike a deal, which would infuse the PGA Tour with billions and potentially consolidate the PGA Tour and LIV Golf under one operational umbrella — or perhaps reimagine how team golf fits in the sport’s ecosystem.

The negotiations have moved slowly, but people familiar with the talks say last week’s meeting was a notable sign that both sides still share a common goal. The entire PGA Tour team — which also included Commissioner Jay Monahan and veteran Australian golfer Adam Scott — flew to New York to meet with Yasir Al-Rumayyan and PIF officials, with Rory McIlroy joining remotely because he was competing at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.

“There’s positive momentum going right now,” Webb Simpson, a member of the PGA Tour Enterprises board and the tour’s policy board, said Monday. “Both sides seem to not only be engaged but want to continue to be engaged as much as possible. That feels good. It feels good that we’re finally at a place where I think we all want similar things. We all recognize that the game of golf is healthier when we’re moving in this direction.”

Details from the New York meeting have been scarce, but Woods and McIlroy characterized the talks positively. McIlroy called the meeting “very productive, very constructive, very collaborative.”

“Definitely things are heading in the right direction,” McIlroy told reporters Saturday after his third round at Muirfield Village Golf Club. “A lot of progress was made. I can’t really say much more than that, but it was really positive.”

It was the first known in-person meeting among the key negotiators since March, when Woods and others met with Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas. And while last week brought a key face-to-face opportunity, tour officials say there have been multiple calls each week, which McIlroy said have focused on “the financials and the legals and all that.” Friday’s meeting apparently focused on big-picture matters — “talking about the future of the game and the vision,” McIlroy said, “and that was where I thought there was a lot of progress that was made.”

While the two sides have exchanged term sheets in recent weeks, McIlroy said the players are still learning more about what the PIF expects out of a deal.

“You’ve got to understand: They’re a sovereign wealth fund. They invest in companies and in different things, and they want a return on their investment. That’s what they want,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like they’re getting that at the minute within golf. … If things progress and we get to a certain point, then hopefully they see a future where that can happen, they can start to get some returns on their money.”

Tour officials have been hesitant to share any details on the talks but acknowledged Friday’s meeting, saying in a statement: “We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth. We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game’s future.’’

Woods, 48, is in the field this week at Pinehurst, seeking a fourth U.S. Open title. He visited the course last week to squeeze in some extra practice, his first time at Pinehurst No. 2 since the 2005 U.S. Open, when he finished second to Michael Campbell. He knows the week promises to be a tough test, with tricky greens and hot conditions.

“It’s just making sure that I keep hydrated and the mental tax that the heat will bring,” he said. “It’s going to bring it to all of us, not just me. Everyone is going to be tested.”

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Tiger Woods' first win by the numbers

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This week marks the 25-year anniversary of Tiger Woods’ first PGA TOUR victory, a playoff win over Davis Love III at the Las Vegas Invitational – now known as the Shriners Children’s Open.

Of his 82 PGA TOUR titles, Woods’ breakthrough victory in the desert has some anomalies about it. Firstly, it’s the only time Woods won a 90-hole event in his PGA TOUR career. The Shriners Children’s Open played as a five-round event through 2003, before reverting to a traditional 72-hole format in 2004. The last official 90-hole event contested on the TOUR was the 2011 Bob Hope Classic (now known as The American Express).

It also marks the worst opening-round position by Woods in any of his 82 PGA TOUR wins. After the opening round, Tiger was in a tie for 97th place, eight shots behind leader Keith Fergus. The only other time Woods was outside the top-60 after round one and won a PGA TOUR event was at the 2009 Buick Open, when he was tied for 95th place after the opening day.

Let’s look back on Woods’ first victory – and the bolt of lightning that was his Rookie of the Year campaign in the fall of 1996.

Winning Young and Often

Woods’ first career victory came at the age of 20 years, 9 months and 6 days old – making him the youngest winner on TOUR in more than five years. In a precursor of the ties that would bind their careers for a generation, Woods was the youngest to win on TOUR since Phil Mickelson, who did it about 2 ½ months younger as an amateur at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open. Woods was the youngest professional to win on TOUR since Raymond Floyd, who was 20 years, 6 months old when he picked up his first title, the St. Petersburg Open.

Woods’ second win, the Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic later that month, made him the youngest two-time PGA TOUR winner since Ralph Guldahl in 1932. Woods was – and remains – the youngest player to win twice in the same PGA TOUR season since World War II.

Woods’ youth stuck out even more dramatically in 1996 than it would have today. That season, only 14 of 44 official PGA TOUR victories were claimed by players in their 20s. Woods himself accounted for two-thirds of the PGA TOUR wins that season by players under age 25 (Justin Leonard, age 24, won the Buick Open).

In the fall of 1996, Woods joined Ben Crenshaw as the only players to win the individual NCAA Championship and a PGA TOUR event in the same year. Since then, Matthew Wolff (in 2019) has joined the legendary duo. Woods remains the only player to win twice on the PGA TOUR and win the NCAA Division I individual title in the same year.

Woods won the 1996 U.S. Amateur earlier that year, his third consecutive victory in that event and sixth consecutive USGA title after winning the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Woods is the only player in the modern era of the PGA TOUR to win the U.S. Amateur and a PGA TOUR event in the same year. The overall lack of victories by U.S. Amateur champions in recent years speaks to the magnitude of this achievement: since 2010, Bryson DeChambeau (2015 champion) and Viktor Hovland (2018 champion) are the only players to win the U.S. Amateur and go on to win a PGA TOUR event at any point – let alone in the same season.

Power and Precision

The week of his victory in Las Vegas, Woods averaged 322.6 yards off the tee. Not only was that a then-record for longest average driving distance by a winner on TOUR, it hammered the old mark by nearly 10 full yards. Before Woods, the official record was 312.9 yards by Greg Norman at the 1986 Kemper Open. At the time, Woods was just the fourth PGA TOUR winner to average more than 300 yards off the tee that week.

Woods’ iron play showed a glimpse of what was to come, as well. Tiger hit 80% of his greens in regulation for the week, and 16 in each of the last two rounds. Woods has 15 PGA TOUR wins where he hit 80% of his greens in regulation or more. Over the last 40 seasons, no other player has more than 8 (Phil Mickelson).

His short game was equally sharp that week in Nevada, as he scrambled successfully 14 of 18 times. It would be nearly 20 years before another player would average 320 or more off the tee, hit 80% or more greens in regulation, and scramble at a clip of 75% or better in the week they won a PGA TOUR event. Over the last 40 seasons, there have been more than 1,700 official PGA TOUR victories recorded. Only 3 of them pulled off that trifecta: Woods, Jason Day at the 2015 NORTHERN TRUST, and Dustin Johnson at the 2019 WGC-Mexico Championship.

Tiger did not play in enough rounds to officially qualify for statistical titles in 1996, but if he did, he would have obliterated what was then the record for single-season driving distance average. Woods averaged 302.8 yards off the tee in his abbreviated campaign, 14 yards longer than the official 1996 leader, John Daly (288.8). The difference between Woods’ average and Daly’s was the about the same as the official differential between Daly and No. 30 on the list, Andy Bean (274.7 yards). Daly would not pass 300 yards as a single-season average until the 1997 season.

Woods also hit more than 71% of his greens in regulation in the 1996 PGA TOUR season, which would have ranked him sixth on TOUR if he had enough rounds to qualify. No player would officially average 300+ yards off the tee and hit 70% or more greens in regulation on the PGA TOUR until eight years later, when both Vijay Singh and Chris Smith did it.

The wiry 1996 version of Woods was like nothing golf had ever seen before. The following April, in his first major championship appearance as a professional, he would turn the sports world upside-down with a dozen-shot runaway victory at Augusta National. It took Woods less than a calendar year to ascend to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. While the fall of 1996 wasn’t the quite the legend in full flight, it gave the golf world a sampling of what was to come.

Padraig Harrington gets inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame – "It's nice to be part of that crowd"

P adraig Harrington was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame class of 2024. The Irish golfer is one of the most successful golfers in the world, having won three Majors in his career.

Recently, he expressed his happiness about being named to the Hall of Fame and stated that he was elated to join the crowd, referring to his fellow players like Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, and Fred Couples , among others.

Speaking of the incredible achievement, Harrington said (via PGA Tour):

"You kind of look at these guys, and you want to be one of them. You want to be part of it. And many of the guys on the Champions Tour, their careers were a little bit ahead of me so they were actually guys I would have looked up to when I was turning pro. They're guys I would have watched on TV at pro events. So it's nice to be part of that crowd."

Along with Padraig Harrington, other inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame class of 2024 include Bettye Danoff, Helen Dettweiler, Helen Hicks, Sally Sessions, Shirley Spork, and Opal Hill, the founding members of the LPGA Tour .

Over the years, Harrington has received numerous awards for his successful golf career. He was awarded the European Tour Order of Merit in 2006, European Tour Golfer of the Year in 2007 and 2008, European Tour Players' Player of the Year in 2008, and PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2008.

All about Padraig Harrington's career

Born on August 31, 1971, Padraig Harrington is a renowned Irish golfer from Dublin. He grew up playing golf and, encouraged by his father and brother, developed a keen interest in the game, eventually embarking on a career in it.

Harrington had a successful amateur career, winning the Walker Cup while playing for Great Britain & Ireland. He turned professional in 1995 and joined the European Tour a year later. Harrington had an impressive start to his professional career, winning his maiden event in just ten starts on the European Tour at the Peugeot Spanish Open in 1996. He defeated Gordon Brand Jr. to win the event by four strokes.

Harrington has enjoyed a successful career on both the European and PGA Tours. He has won 39 professional tournaments, including six on the PGA and 15 on the European tours.

Aside from his exemplary performance in regular PGA and European Tour events, Harrington has been impressive in the Majors. He has won three Major tournaments in his career, including two Open Championships and one PGA Championship.

He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, where he has won seven tournaments so far. Additionally, Harrington frequently competes in PGA Tour and European Tour events. In 2024, he played in five PGA Tour events but only made the cut in one of them, finishing in the T52 position at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.

Steve Stricker sees AmFam Championship 'slip away,' loses to Ernie Els in playoff

MADISON – Ernie Els got him again.

Steve Stricker and Els have gone head-to-head for nearly three decades, and they’ve had a match-play history dating back that long also. On three occasions, Els bested Stricker one-on-one and once more in a team format.

And though the American Insurance Family Championship is a stroke-play event, the 2024 tournament came down to a duel between the friends over the back nine Sunday at University Ridge Golf Course and Els eventually erased a four-shot deficit over the final seven holes to force a playoff.

Then, Stricker admittedly rushed himself over a short par putt to extend the tournament. It lipped out and Els was abruptly the tournament champion.

“He feels bad winning like that and I feel bad giving it to him like that, but he played well,” Stricker said. “He strung together I think three birdies on that back side when he had to and he kind of answered the call when he had to because I had a three- or four-shot lead and kind of just let it slip away.”

When he learned of their final round pairing on Saturday, Stricker had mentioned how Els chased him down in the 1996 World Match Play Championship , as Els made seven birdies over the final 16 holes to erase a six-shot deficit . And he acknowledged he felt that again at University Ridge Golf Course.

“I thought about it again today, I'm like here we go again,” Stricker said. “It's like I had him down and that was the times, especially like on 13, 14, 15, 16 where I could have kind of closed the door. That's what I should have done and I just didn't do it. I didn't hit it in there close enough, didn't make the putts and hats off to him, he did.”

Els had also bested Stricker in head-to-head competition at the 2009 World Golf Championship Match Play and the 2013 Presidents Cup.

“I wanted to stay close to him because I knew Steve was going to be the guy,” Els said. “He's such a classy player. But I got so angry with myself bogeying (the sixth hole), the par 5, and then bogeying seven, which is such a soft bogey, and then not birdieing nine, then my putts started slipping by the hole. I was a little frustrated, but somehow I kept hitting good shots and then started making putts. Then it became a two-horse race from back nine on 12, 13.

“Then we kind of, you know, hung in there, made birdies on the same holes and had a first playoff hole. It was basically the guy that made the first big mistake was going to lose.”

It is the second consecutive tournament title for Els, who now has five times on the PGA Tour Champions.

Stricker was kicking himself for letting the tournament end the way it did as his par-saving putt on the 18 th unexpectedly stayed out of the cup.

“I was like you guys, I was in shock,” Els said of the sudden end. “He's the best putter we have probably in the world and as I said, conditions were tough. The short putts when that gust comes, it throws you off a little bit, so it can happen to the best of us.”

Earlier in the afternoon, it looked as if Stricker was about to become the tournament’s first back-to-back champion. He made a nervy par on the fourth hole with a tough up-and-down from behind the green, and it was Els who blinked first with bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes to fall two behind.

Stricker then gave himself some breathing room with a birdie on the par-3 eighth to get to 11-under and a three-shot advantage. He pushed it to a four-shot lead after another birdie on the par-5 11 th .

Els would recover, though, rattling off three consecutive birdies on holes 12-14. His long birdie putt on the par-4, 14 th followed a Stricker bogey after he missed the green and made bogey, and the four shot advantage was wholly erased.

“Unfortunate to give it away like that, but all in all it was a good week,” Stricker said. “Got right in there, had some opportunities on that back side that I bogeyed 14 I think it was with a wedge in my hand, and 13, didn't even have a really good look at it. So I had some wedges in my hands, too, that I really should have capitalized on and didn't. Did some good things, but thinking back, a few things that I could have done better with.”

It is the second playoff loss in the tournament for host Stricker, who lost to Jerry Kelly in a three-man playoff that included Retief Goosen in 2019.

Els and Stricker started the day tied at 9-under, and playing David Duval began the round two shots back . He finished with a 2-over 74 however, to finish his tournament at 5-under and tied for 14 th .

Cameron Percy finished at 9-under for the tournament and finished third. Thomas Bjørn, Stephen Ames and Doug Barron tied for fourth at 8-under.

Skip Kendall closes strong, Jerry Kelly battles on

Fox Point native Skip Kendall, making his first PGA Tour Champions start of the year and playing in just his second tournament of the year, finished with a 2-under 70 to claim a tie for 19 th place at 4-under. Kendall now primarily teaches out of golf schools in Orlando and Palm Coast, Florida.

“Honestly, for not playing, you know, I feel like I can still compete out here,” said Kendall, who will be doing some teaching in Milwaukee this coming week. “I did leave some out there. I know if I was playing week in, week out, maybe that wouldn't have happened. Maybe it would have, maybe it wouldn't, but I don't think it would have. It's a nice feeling knowing that I still can compete with these guys and it's a great week to come out and see everyone, honestly. I mean, Steve gets a great field here and I owe him a lot for always having me come back here and play. Always helps me out.”

Kelly, who disclosed earlier in the week that he is undergoing treatment for rheumatoid arthritis while playing this season, struggled home with a 5-over 77 final round.

The two-time tournament champion (2019, 2021) began the day three shots back of Stricker and Els, and while he acknowledged his body didn’t quite feel right the first two days he felt a low number was in him. He hoped he could find it Sunday, but he bogeyed the opening hole and fell 5-shots back in short order.

Kelly finished the tournament at 1-under, tied for 38 th .

University of Wisconsin alumnus Mario Tiziani closed an even-par 72 to finish 1-under for the tournament and tied for 38 th . He will compete in the U.S. Senior Open June 27-30 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Fox Point’s Michael Crowley, the head PGA pro at Morningstar Golfers Club in Waukesha, shot his best round of the tournament with a 1-over 73. This was his first PGA Tour Champions appearance, and he finished 71 st at 7-over.