Masters attempt to restrict Tiger Woods backfired spectacularly; See Here…..

Augusta National bosses were scratching their heads for ways to stop Tiger Woods during his prime – and their move to try and bring the field closer to him didn’t work

Augusta National is widely regarded as one of the toughest courses in professional golf, and winning the Masters is a feat only the lucky few will ever achieve – having taken Rory McIlroy 16 years to win the elusive Green Jacket.

Part of the reason for Augusta National’s difficulty is the dominance of Tiger Woods. The then-21-year-old torched the field at the 1997 Masters, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the tournament. He shot a remarkable 18-under over the four days, the lowest of all time (until 2020), and won by 12 strokes. His margin of victory was the largest in history, and has not been beaten since.

As a result of his brilliance, Augusta officials decided to lengthen the course for the first time in order to up the difficulty. It was the first time in course history that changes had been made to the length, in what was dubbed ‘Tiger-proofing’ at the time.

That move didn’t exactly work, however. While it may not have made Woods’ challenge any easier, it made the course tougher for everyone else as well. The course was stretched ever-so-slightly from 6,925 yards to 6,985 yards in 1999, before Woods won his second Green Jacket in 2001 while shooting a score of 16-under.

That prompted Augusta officials to extend the course once again to 7,270 yards for 2002 – but Woods had no problem blowing away the field and winning his third Masters, defending the Green Jacket.

Speaking before this year’s Masters, which Woods missed due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams discussed the changes made in 2001-02 to attempt to restrict the all-time great.