During Masters Week, we’ve been counting down the greatest players to win at Pinehurst BEFORE they won The Masters. At No. 2, it’s Tiger. But what did he win here?

IT WASN’T THE NORTH & SOUTH AMATEUR. It wasn’t either the 1999 or 2005 U.S. Opens (although he came very close), and Woods did not appear in the 2014 U.S. Open.

But Woods is a Pinehurst champion.

“It’s just at some tournaments. It hasn’t been nationwide. I’m not that big yet.”
TIGER WOODS, 17, AT THE BIG I AT PINEHURST

In what seems like a bit of quaint history, two years before he became the youngest at the time to win the U.S. Amateur, Woods won the “Big I” on Pinehurst No. 7 in 1992. The tournament’s formal name was the Independent Insurance Agents Youth Golf Classic, and at the time it was one of the elite junior tournaments in the world.

Tiger was 17, his largest gallery was about 75 people and at one point, he was inadvertently knocked to the ground by a woman who grabbed his shirt while seeking an autograph. Woods had an ice pack on his wrist afterward, and speaking to reporters, said, “The price of fame, I guess.”

Woods was asked about his notoriety, even then. “It’s just at some tournaments. It hasn’t been nationwide. I’m not that big yet.”

Yet.

To celebrate Masters week, we’re counting down the greatest players to win at Pinehurst BEFORE they won The Masters. For No. 3, for No. 4, go here, for No. 5, go here, and for Honorable Mentions, go here.