How it unfolded
Eight months after turning professional, 21-year-old Tiger Woods opened with four-over 40 through nine holes — then shot 30 on the back nine for 70 and followed with 66, 65 and 69 for 270 at 18-under. Tom Kite's 282 left a 12-stroke margin, then the largest in Masters history, at the lowest winning score to that point, by the youngest winner ever at 21 years three months. Woods averaged 323 yards off the tee and played the par 5s in 13-under for the week, attacking Augusta with wedges on the 15th where others laid back. That the first Black and Asian major champion donned a green jacket at a club that did not admit Black members until 1990 was reported as widely as the golf itself.
Why it still matters
Four days rewrote golf's scale. Ratings, purses and equipment deals surged; new audiences entered the game; courses began lengthening in response — Augusta itself added yardage toward 7,500 feet often cited as 'Tiger-proofing.' Athleticism and distance became central assets here, not at the margins.