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20 Years Ago, Tiger Woods Made His Grand Entrance

Gabriel Hjertstedt made history as a rookie on the PGA Tour, becoming the first Swede to win a tournament. In any other season, he would have stood out among his fellow first-year players. But it was 1997, when everyone — first-year players and veterans alike — became a footnote to Tiger Woods, whose four victories in his first full season as a professional included his record 12-stroke rout at the Masters.

Twenty years later, it is easy to forget that when Woods showed up at Augusta National Golf Club for his major debut as a professional, the only person predicting that he would win 14 majors was his father, Earl.