This week’s Masters tournament will be unlike any other since 1994. It will be the first time golfers vie for the coveted Green Jacket in a field that has neither Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson since that year.
Mickelson is passing on playing at Augusta National while tending to a family health matter. Woods has gone into rehab at an international location after a recent arrest following an auto accident that found him charged with DUI.
Woods and Mickelson have accounted for eight Masters wins. That’s a lot of green material and cash.
A look at what the world and Masters was like the last time the tournament didn’t have Woods and Mickelson on the leaderboard.
Jose Maria Olazabal won the Masters
Ozabal shot three sub-70 rounds after an opening 74 to win the tournament by two strokes over Tom Lehman.
Bill Clinton was President of the United States
Clinton officially took office in 1993 and this was his second year as POTUS.
There wasn’t a World Series
Players went on strike in mid-August and MLB announced on Sept. 14, 1994, that the playoffs and World Series were canceled.
Go for Gin won Kentucky Derby
Trainer Nick Zito sent out Go for Gin in the Run for the Roses and the colt won the race as a 9-1 shot. Tabasco Cat won the Preakness for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Tabasco Cat and Go for Gin ran 1-2 in the Belmont Stakes.
New York Rangers won Stanley Cup
The Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win their first Stanley Cup since 1940. They have not won the championship of the NHL since.
O.J. Simpson slow-speed chase captivates
On June 12, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found murdered. Five days later, the police were lead on a nationally televised chase, following O.J. Simpson. It ended at his home, where the running back was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. In the ensuing trial, he was found not guilty.
Houston Rockets won NBA championship
Amid the Simpson chase, an NBA Finals Game 5 took place that saw NBC split coverage between the game and the freeway chaos. The Knicks would win that game but the Rockets won the last two at the Summit to capture their first title.
The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd had huge tours
Pink Floyd went on its Division Bell tour. The Stones were on their Voodoo Lounge jaunt. Additionally, The Eagles played concerts for the first time in 14 years. This run led to the epic “Hell Freezes Over” live album.
‘Schindler’s List’ won Oscar for Best Picture at Academy Awards
Steven Spielberg was one of three producers in the movie that took top honors. Tom Hanks won Best Actor for “Philadelphia,” and Bruce Springsteen earned the Best Song Oscar for his song “Streets of Philadelphia.”
Famous deaths in 1994
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, race car driver Ayrton Senna, former President Richard Nixon, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, actorsJohn Candy, and Telly Savalas died in ’94.
This article originally appeared on The List Wire: What the world was like last time Masters was without Tiger and Phil
