As the ball left the club, it was evident something special was about to happen.

The ball, which was on the edge of the rough, lands on the green and looks like it’s going to run, then on the third bounce slows down suddenly. Despite being 15 feet upslope from the hole, it brakes almost 90-degrees. It rolls slowly and the camera zooms in on the ball. It is rolling so slowly now that the writing is visible, then just before the ball drops in the hole, it stops.

As fans at Augusta and across the nation … and in the Alvis’ garage exhaled, it rolled in.Explosive celebration commenced.

No words can explain the amount of hype this Tiger Woods fist pump brings.

Fans go nuts; even two of them start wrestling in the gallery.

Some fans even run around their garages, scaring the dogs and slapping five with their father in amazement.

The reason for the excitement is that Woods’ celebration is one of pure emotion. It’s instinctive. No other golfer is yelling with his caddie on the greens.

Not since the Deion Sanders’ “Prime Time” end zone dance has a sport celebration been so cool.

Watching The Masters on Sundays for hours only added to the anticipation.

Every putt.

Every chip.

Three hours for a Woods’ fist pump is well worth the wait.

The connection Woods has with the fans is different than that of any other athlete.

Woods hits a bad shot and the microphones pick up a “Damn it” or the cameras show Woods slam his tee into the ground with his driver.

Some say this behavior has no place in the most gentlemanly of sports, but golfers throughout the country can relate with a, “Hey, I’ve done that.”

The only difference is that those poor shots usually don’t end in a par saving putt.

The Woods fist pump, which was done twice in the final round, ranks right up there with the Ray Lewis pre-game dance and the Antoine Walker Shimmy and the best celebrations in sports.

And The Masters ended just like it should, with Woods sinking putt for the win.

——————————————————————————

Robert Alvis can be reached at [email protected]