What Tiger Woods said about CBS’ Verne Lundquist as Masters broadcaster set to retire

Think about great shots in the Masters and the announcers whose calls immortalized them, and familiar names come rolling down memory lane.

Among the creators are Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods and among the narrators is Verne Lundquist.

Lundquist’s retirement after working his 40th Masters this year prompted the flashbacks, and Woods said with a smile Tuesday, “Yeah, I’ve heard that call a couple of times.”

Of course he has.

It’s 2005 and Tiger, nursing a one-shot lead in the tournament’s final round, sent his tee ball long on the par-3 16th hole. Meanwhile, Chris DiMarco put his shot into the middle of the green. Announcer Lanny Wadkins suggested Woods might not be able to get his shot closer than DiMarco’s.

Long story short: Woods made the impossible-looking chip. The ball hugged the slope and crept toward the hole before seeming to stop — Nike logo showing on the CBS broadcast — at the cup’s edge before toppling in for a birdie.

Lundquist: “Well, here it comes ... Oh, my goodness. ... Oh, wow! ... In your life, have you seen anything like that?”

The call belongs alongside Lundquist’s “maybe ... yes, sir!” description of 17th hole birdie that help fuel Nicklaus to his final Masters triumph in 1986.

Woods went on to win the fourth of his five Masters in a playoff after Lundquist’s 2005 description, and he said Thursday, “(Lundquist) has just an amazing ability to bring in the audience and describe the situation and just be able to narrate in a way that is poetic but it’s also — he describes it with emotionality.”

In their ways, Woods and Lundquist share a common trait. They are masters of their craft. They have provided moments to remember and admire.

Lundquist, 83, has decided that 40 Masters tournaments are enough. Woods, 48, carries on.

Woods, whose 15 major championships include five Masters titles, talked at length Thursday about his physical ailments that limit preparation time, noting that neither his body nor his game were ready for tournament competition before this week.

“The body just ... the things that just flare up,” he said. “Again, the training we have to do at home, it changes from day-to-day basis. Some days I just feel really good, and other days ... not so much.”

Then, this: “The back, the knee, other parts of the body have to take the load of (his ankle), and just the endurance capability of walking a long time and being on my feet a long time.”

It’s his 26th Masters appearance, and he called Augusta National “one of the more hillier walks that we have on Tour. ... I think I’ve done just over six and one half miles here.”

Is that retirement talk?

Perish the thought.

“If everything comes together,” Woods said, “I think I can get one more.”