It may go down as one of the most memorable shots in Masters’ history, but for Tiger Woods it was more than that.

The 16th hole will be etched in his memory for the rest of his career because it may serve to be the springboard to yet another pinnacle in the remarkable history of this still-young man’s (still only 29-years-old) game.

On that hole, his lead down to one, he stared down an almost impossible feat.

His ball lay off the green, 40 feet away from the cup, with a roller coaster drop of a slope ahead.

He had only one option. Hit it to a spot and pray it goes in.

When the ball hit square on the Augusta turf, with the sun shining perfectly on the grass like a spotlight, everyone watching had to be thinking the same thing.

It’s Tiger. This has got to go in.

But the way the media has come down on the athlete that used to have a stampede of wildebeests following down the fairways of the Western Open, it had to drive his mind elsewhere.

And because the ball had enough time to stop and get a road map to the cup, Woods had time to think about everything that has happened in his life since his last Major victory in the 2002 U.S. Open.

He had time to think about people constantly criticizing his attempts to tinker his golf swing.

Time to think about the media saying his marriage to model Elin Nordegren put a hex on his career.

And time to think about his ailing father, laid up in a local hotel room suffering from cancer, and wishing he could be there at that moment.

It was almost as if the golf gods said, “OK, screw this. Enough of Tiger struggling, we need him to win, and he needs this victory.”

Sorry Chris DiMarco. Once that ball started its slow roll toward the hole, right then, you were doomed.

Woods will forever be one of the most clutch athletes of all time. At any given moment he can strike.

His dangerously long drives, his ability to read greens, and his ability to ward off hard-charging opponents and chase down leading opposition are unmatched by anyone else on the links.

But while most of the victories Woods has garnered in the past were due to skill, Sunday’s victory at Augusta was destiny.

His destiny was to erase the pressure, erase the scrutiny and erase the failure to win a Major during the previous two golf seasons.

Too many were looking at this putt as a hint of his immortality in golf lore, but for the first time in his career, this tournament signified his mortality.

There was a point in time in golf when the game needed Tiger Woods.

But for the first time in a long time, Tiger Woods needed the game.

As he received the green jacket and approached the microphone to make his first declaration as the 2005 champion, he looked absolutely physically and emotionally drained.

At one time, Woods would finish tournaments barely breaking a sweat after putting his opponents in the rear view and flashing his trademark toothy grin.

But for once, every ounce of criticism and personal anguish in his life had chased him down on the last day of a tournament and caused him to finally let his guard down.

For the first time in his career, Woods was just another guy with normal problems and normal emotions who just happened to excel at and love a sport.

So when that putt dropped on hole 16, the golf gods smiled upon their favorite son and gave a gift to someone who has given the game so much.

That one incredible shot restored Tiger to his rightful throne of the golf world.

One display of emotion let us feel for one of the most beloved athletes of this generation, and understand the hurt he is going through in watching his best friend, his father, suffer.

One slip on of the green jacket put to rest all of the criticism that clouded his play for two-and-a-half years.

And on one incredible afternoon in Augusta, Tiger Woods reminded everyone that he’s still number one and one of a kind.