Just doing what is necessary to win ... yet another amazing chapter in the rookie tour of Tiger Woods.

Before an enormous, enthusiastic, supportive gallery of 85,000 screaming fans at the final round of the 1997 GTE Byron Nelson Classic, Tiger Woods grinded out a two-shot victory over Lee Rinker, working his way through a final round 68 for a total of 263 (-17), which tied the 1995 record effort of Ernie Els.

"Winning like this means a lot," said Woods, who became the tour's leading money winner this season after pocketing $324,000. "It shows if you think well and have a short game, you can win a lot out here. This was a learning experience. I hung in there and relied on my chipping and putting."

Woods, who began the day with a lesson from his swing guru Butch Harmon, came out firing. With the wind behind him, Tiger launched a driver at the green 385 yards away on the opening hole. The shot went off line to the right, striking a fan standing near some trees short of the green. Following a pitch that went across the green, Tiger got up and down as he would all day, chipping to five feet and sinking the putt.

Harmon, who saw some things on TV during the third round about Tiger's swing that he didn't like, worked on his posture and take away position. "I didn't feel comfortable with the changes until the sixteenth hole," said Woods after the round. "I wasn't hitting the ball well today. My short game bailed me out."

Still adjusting to his changes, Woods unleashed your classic weekend golfer slice into the water on with a three wood on the par 4 third hole and ultimately bogeyed the hole.

Lee Rinker took the lead after making a birdie on the par 3 fifth hole at 15-under. Rinker, who birdied the opening hole by chipping in from seventy feet, said on the front nine "everything I looked at went in. I just couldn't hit a fairway." He had a two shot lead after adding another birdie on the seventh hole.

Four-time Nelson winner Tom Watson also mounted an early charge. Watson fired a 31 on the front nine, making birdies on holes 1, 6, 7, and 8. However a costly double bogey on the eleventh hole was too much for him to overcome as he finished tied for third with Dan Forsman at 13 under. Forsman had a chance late but bogeyed the final two holes.

Bob Tway, who had the low final round (66), was tied for fifth at 268, -12 with Andrew Magee, Chris Perry, Paul Stankowski, Brad Bryant, Mike Standly and Jim Furyk.

Woods kept to his strategy of hitting greens and taking his chances with the putter. "I kept gutting it out. I stayed patient and gave myself opportunities to make birdie putts."

The first birdie for Tiger came on the par 5 seventh hole. He hit a flop shot to nine feet and made the putt, pumping his fist in the air for the first time during the round. Woods missed birdie putts on the next two holes.

The tenth hole was the turning point according to Woods. After running the ball through the green, Woods realized he would be two shots back if he failed to get up and down from the bunker, where he had a bad lie. This would have forced him to become more aggressive because he believed Rinker would probably add a birdie on the par 5 sixteenth hole. However Tiger was able to record a par after sinking a six-foot putt.

On the eleventh hole, Woods hit the fairway for the first time all week and parred the hole. At the next hole, he hit a 9 iron approach shot to 10 feet and rolled in a birdie after watching David Berganio putt from a similar position, which tied him with Rinker at 16-under.

Woods later took the lead back when Rinker bogeyed the fifteenth hole after missing an eight-foot putt.

The tee shot of Woods on the fourteenth hole landed just inches in front of a drain in the right rough. "It was a perfect lie, which is why I didn't drop," said Woods. The wind kept gusting, causing him to change clubs twice. His six iron hit in front of the green and ran eight feet past the hole. Woods missed the birdie however when he pushed his putt.

Heading into the last three holes, Woods was feeling good because he had a one shot lead but was still grinding because he didn't know if Rinker birdied the sixteenth hole. However he was overcome by the noise from the gallery which was reminiscent of crowds seen in this area only at Texas/OU football games or from the old Reunion Rowdies. "It was hard not to smile and have fun," said Woods.

Rinker knew he needed to birdie the closing hole but hit his drive behind the new Byron Nelson tree on the left side of the fairway. With the pin on the left side of the green, Rinker said "it was hard to hook it that much" and he finished with a par, two shots behind Woods at -15.

"There's a ton of positives (finishing second)," said Rinker, who earned $194,000. "I've secured my card."

Woods unleashed the longest drive of the day on the par five sixteenth hole, and again hit driver from the fairway into a swale to the left of the green. He chipped up from sixty feet, missing the eagle attempt by inches, and then sank the five-foot putt, raising his fist as the ball rolled to the hole and setting off a tremor in Las Colinas.

With the two shot lead, Woods played a safe tee shot over the water to the back of the seventeenth green and rolled the downhill birdie putt to within a foot. Woods then thrilled the gallery by launching a drive into the wind on the closing hole. Tiger almost uncharacteristically smiled and laughed during his victory march down the last hole. From the right rough, he safely hit the green and sank his second putt for the victory.

The victory was the second in a row for Woods, who took a five-week layoff after his Masters victory in early April. It was his fifth victory in just sixteen professional tournaments. Woods became the tour's leading money winner ($1,290,350) and the youngest ever to earn $1 million in a season. He also became the first three-time winner in 1997 while taking over first place in Ryder Cup points.

Woods, who first played the TPC when he was fifteen, says he will always remember how the people in Dallas have treated him with respect, kindness and graciousness. "If this is Southern hospitality, then I sure do like it," Woods told the crowd during the awards ceremony. He finished his speech by promising the fans "I will see y'all next year!"

"I have never seen galleries like this in my life," said Woods. "Because of this, golf is going to grow and become one hell of a sport."

As a new magical era in golf continues to unfold, Tiger Woods one again showed the world that at the age of twenty-one he is already one hell of a player.

Don Dowell is the Editor/Publisher of Golf in the SouthWest
(May 18, 1997)©