Considering how often it’s been replayed, Tiger Woods’ incredible chip-in birdie on the par-3 16th hole at Augusta National might feel like a recent event. However, it actually occurred almost twenty years ago, making it a classic Masters moment that now serves as a common topic for golf trivia. For example, do you know who witnessed Woods’ spectacular chip-in?
For diehards, the answer is an easy one (Chris DiMarco). But for those new to golf, or those with a bad memory, it’s a tough one. Everybody remembers Woods and his former caddie, Steve Williams, going buck wild just off the 16th green. But it’s easy to forget that DiMarco was the one getting daggered, and that he still had a legit shot to win the green jacket after the daggering.
DiMarco, of course, doesn’t forget, which made for a hilarious video shared by the PGA Tour Champions account on Twitter. During the Pro-Am at the Dominion Energy Classic, one of the caddies in DiMarco’s group, in a dead serious manner, asked the 2005 Masters runner-up “Did you ever play with Tiger?” DiMarco schooled the young lad, as well as singer Noah Kahan, in the nicest way possible:
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That was, geuinely, awesome. DiMarco could have just said “yeah” or “don’t wanna talk about it” and ended it there. But he clearly knew that our guy Simon here had zero clue who DiMarco was and even less of a clue of the pain he endured on that fateful Sunday back in 2005. But, as you can tell, DiMarco looks back on that day fondly, as he should. Just as Rocco Mediate would tell you, going down swinging against the GOAT ain’t such a bad thing to have on your resume the rest of your life.
And that’s the other thing most forget – DiMarco went down SWINGING. Woods infamously went bogey-bogey on 17 and 18 and DiMarco almost took advantage, lipping out a chip for birdie that would have wound up winning him a green jacket had it dropped:
That close to altering golf history in a big way. So much so that caddie Simon may have remembered him as one of the guys who beat Tiger on Sunday at a major.
