Unstoppable in Red: Tiger Woods and Nike at the Masters

When Tiger Woods locked in on the final day of the Masters in 2019, it felt just like the sporting world had stepped right into a time machine. The 43-year-old golfer — 11 years faraway from successful his final main event — was combating towards a collection of devastating accidents and a wholly new era of competitors however with each precision shot he was reminding the world what he as soon as was.

Driving the purpose house, maybe greater than any side of his play, was the truth that Mr. Woods appeared nearly precisely as he had in his different 4 wins at Augusta, the final of which was in 2005.

As he walked the tree-lined course, his arms and chest had been extra muscular than they’d been in his 20s, with pants tailor-made to be a bit extra comfortable, however the uniform remained his uniform. Atop his head was a black hat with a white Nike swoosh. His pants, belt and sneakers had been all black. And his shirt, in fact, was crimson.

“It goes again to my mother,” Mr. Woods is quoted as saying in “By no means Settle,” a e book by the ESPN reporter Marty Smith. “My mother says that my energy colour is crimson.”

When Mr. Woods held on to win what can be his final Masters title, at the very least to date, it impressed hope that his days as a dominant golfer weren’t over. However a car accident in 2021 lower that comeback brief, leaving him three main titles in need of matching Jack Nicklaus’s document of 18.

The truth of his now having entered a decidedly totally different section of his life and profession — one through which he’s extra of a {golfing} mentor to his son, Charlie, than he’s an energetic golfer — was pushed house, with emphasis, this week when Mr. Woods ended his 27-year relationship with Nike. That relationship, which stretched again to 1997, months earlier than his first win on the Masters, had begun with a $40 million guess by Nike on a prodigy who was predicted by many, fairly accurately, to be the one who would revolutionize golf.

Over his years with Nike, Mr. Woods would experiment with various looks — on and off the course — and would incessantly sport his personal TW emblem, somewhat than the corporate’s signature swoosh. However on Sundays, particularly on the Masters, the uniform was the uniform.

1997

In his first skilled look at Augusta — he had performed the Masters twice as an beginner — Mr. Woods grew to become the youngest champion within the event’s historical past. In his Sports of The Times column, Dave Anderson requested a collection of questions concerning the younger golfer’s future. Amongst them:

“Will his revenue, notably his $40 million Nike contract, dampen the flame of his aggressive need?”

(It didn’t.)

2001

In contrast to in 1997, when he ran away with the Masters title, Mr. Woods faced some competition on the final day of the 2001 event, needing to carry off David Duval and Phil Mickelson to win. And sporting a barely darker shade of crimson, he did simply that, capturing his fourth consecutive main title.

2002

Along with his third Masters win in a six-year interval, Mr. Woods had develop into so dominant that writers and opponents had been struggling to say something concerning the second, as a result of they had been so centered on what his accomplishments could mean about his future. The win got here so rapidly after his 2001 victory that images of him from the 2 tournaments are nearly indistinguishable.

2005

Mr. Woods struggled some heading into 2005, at the very least by his personal lofty requirements, and his fourth Masters win had practically slipped away from him on the ultimate day. His eventual win proved to be satisfying in an entirely new way. Going again to a brighter shade of crimson, and buying and selling in a polo for a Dri-Match collarless shirt, had him, and his recreation, wanting refreshed.

2019

In what was immediately thought-about one of many best comebacks in sports activities historical past, Mr. Woods’s inconceivable victory on the Masters in 2019 was set in movement with a collection of occasions on the twelfth gap of the ultimate day that featured, amongst different issues, a devastating glare from Mr. Woods, who was dressed prefer it was 2005 and enjoying prefer it was 1997.

“It was excess of a golf gap,” Invoice Pennington wrote of Mr. Woods’s performance on the 12th hole. “It was psychological drama, the moment a former champion reclaimed his area, and the form of seminal second that helps rewrite a sport’s historical past.”

Tiger was, at the very least briefly, Tiger as soon as once more. And his Nike uniform, because it had accomplished on so many different nice days of his profession, drove that time house to perfection.