Two decades later, Tiger’s ‘Better Than Most’ moment lives on

“I don’t think anybody doesn’t know it now,” said World Golf Hall of Famer Retief Goosen, in the field that week. “I think everybody knows. … That line is going to always be associated with Tiger.”

Of course, to coax that line out of Koch, Tiger had to deliver the shot. Thanks to getting “a little teach” from Funk’s initial putt, Woods realized he needed to make a slight adjustment.

“I knew how quick it was, so I gave it a little bit more,” Woods explained. “It broke left a lot at the top with the old green. It broke left a lot at the top and then it just snapped at the right.

“Yeah, I hit my spot and I was just hoping that it would take the break because I saw Fred’s, how much it went to the right at the end, and my putt was not going right. I’m like, would you start breaking? And as soon as it started to break, I’m like, stop breaking. And then it caught the low side of the hole and went in.”

Koch’s call of the shot brought chills to the television audience because of his repetition of the “better than most” line. The first time he uttered it, Woods’ ball has just left the top shelf and was veering left. The second time he said it, the ball had now swung back toward the right. The third time came as the ball found the bottom of the cup. Each time, his voice rose as the dramatic moment played out.

“As it got going down the hill, it was clear to me the ball was far enough to the left, way more so than any other ball had been all day long,” Koch said. “That was when the next ‘better than most’ came out. And then, of course, it went in the hole. ‘Better than most.’

“The great thing to me, if you go back and watch that, no one said a word for probably close to 45 seconds,” he continued. “It was all Tiger’s reaction. And back then, at THE PLAYERS … there weren’t all the corporate hospitality areas at 17. That hillside was absolutely packed with people and they erupted. … When people ask about it, it was a classic Tiger moment.”

Bernhard Langer was inside the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse, having lunch and watching the moment on TV. He still remembers hearing the roars. And he—along with the other players in the field that week—remain impressed by the result two decades later.

“You could put Tiger Woods there 20 times, make that same putt and probably not come close to making another one,” said Langer, who finished solo third that week. “That’s special, that much break and the speed. I mean, most guys would be just thrilled to get within 4 feet. He made it.”

“It started off and goes right, then it went left, and then it went right severely at the end,” added another competitor, Colin Montgomerie. “It was just about to miss but it just hung on. If it had missed, of course, I’m not saying off the green at the front but it was in the fringe because there’s nothing to stop it apart from the hole. But that’s Tiger. That was him, 20 years ago.”

“Everybody missed it down the right bottom,” recalled Ernie Els. “Tiger being Tiger, he gets it right most of the time. He showed us up yet again.”