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American Morning

Tiger Woods Wins The Masters

Aired April 09, 2001 - 09:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, yesterday, a moment that may define a generation of golfers. At age 25, Tiger Woods dons the green jacket at the Augusta national for a second time. Now add this to the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship from last year, and Woods become the only golfer in the modern era to hold all four components of the Grand Slam at the same time.

We have sports author John Feinstein on the phone to talk about Tiger Woods' achievement. The title of some of John's books are an indicator of his knowledge of golf. They include "A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour"; "The Majors: In Pursuit of Golf's Holy Grail"; and "The First Coming: Tiger Woods: Master or Martyr." John's on the phone right now.

John, maybe perhaps yesterday answer the question you posed in the last book. Master or martyr?

JOHN FEINSTEIN, SPORTS AUTHOR: Well, wrote that book four years ago, Leon, and I think the question has been removed. I mean, he is the master of the game and maybe of all sports. I mean, this, to me, is one of the most extraordinary achievements in any sport, much less just in golf. I just got through writing a little while ago that to win four major championships in a career makes you a Hall-of-Famer. He has now won four in less than a year. That's just -- I'm out of adjectives. It's beyond words.

HARRIS: Well, then what do you think then about this debate about whether or not this is a grand slam. Do you think this -- the debate at all diminishes what he's done?

FEINSTEIN: Yes, I don't think it should even be brought up. It's not a grand slam. The grand slam is when you win four in a same calendar year. It's like saying if Mark McGwire were to hit 35 home runs in the second half of one season and 36 in the first half of the next season, that would break the home run record.

But by even bringing it up, you act as if some there should be asterisk next to what he has done, and there shouldn't be. He's won four straight major championships. The only person in history to even win three was Ben Hogan back in 1953. Of course, Bobby Jones won the old grand slam when two of the majors were amateurs -- amateur championships back in 1930, but that's a completely different kind of thing because of the time and because of the competition. HARRIS: Right. And don't forget there also is the issue of the so-called fifth major, the PGA. He's also won that one. And no one -- in fact, some are speculating that no one will ever hold all five of those at one time, and he does right now.

FEINSTEIN: Well, he does hold all five of those. Again, I -- the players' championship is not a major. It's a very important tournament, but it is definitely on the second tier. But it's a little bit, to me, like when Steffi Graf won the grand slam in tennis in 1988 and then added an Olympic gold medal to the grand slam at the end of the year. That was a remarkable accomplishment, the way this is a remarkable accomplishment.

HARRIS: You want to talk about -- and let me tell you about a remarkable picture that I saw from yesterday. It is something I know that I never thought I would ever see. But did you see the jacket ceremony, and did you notice the fact that you were looking at two men of color here in this ceremony, one handing the jacket to another one?

FEINSTEIN: You know, what's great about that, Leon, that when Vijay Singh won The Masters last year, there -- it wasn't even an issue that he become the second man of color to win The Masters. When Tiger first won The Masters in '97, of course, it was a huge cultural breakthrough, given what Augusta national had been in terms of segregation years and years ago. And now Vijay Singh wins The Masters 2000, Tiger Woods it on '01, and we're talking about what it means for golf, and I think that's a major step forward.

HARRIS: Yeah, exactly right. It makes his dad look like a prophet right about now, too. It's exactly...

FEINSTEIN: Well, his dad got some things right. There's no question about that.

HARRIS: John Feinstein. Thanks much, buddy. Good to talk to you again. Take care.

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