WATCH: When Tiger Woods recalled the time he forced Mark O'Meara to "leave the course"

Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara have a long-standing friendship that dates back to the former's early days in professional golf. And O'Meara had the opportunity to watch the 15-time major champion shoot the best score of his life a week before winning his first Masters title.

Woods was in such great form at the time that he "forced" O'Meara to leave the course the next day. The incident occurred during a practice round, not an official tournament, and Woods himself explained a few years ago why O'Meara left him alone.

Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara, The Masters, 2015 (Image via Imagn).

Golf Digest resurfaced the video and posted it on its X (formerly Twitter) account this Friday, November 29. The post received more than 35,500 views in just two hours.

This is the anecdote told by Tiger Woods:

"I was playing with Mark O'Meara, this is '97, and so it's a week prior to The Masters, and we teed off on the back nine at Isleworth and I parred 10, birdied 11 and 12." [0:10 - 0:11]

He added:

"I eagled 13, I birdied 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 1, and I had a 3-iron into number 3-the par 5-I made par. I had a 5-iron into number 7-the par 5-and I made par, and I still shoot 59. So, I had the opportunity to shoot something even really lower." [o:12 - 0:31]

What happened the next day, according to Woods, was this:

"We teed off on 10 again, and I birdied 10 and then made a hole-in-one on 11, and then Mark left (laughs)" [0:38 - 0:44]

Woods stated that this score of 59 is the best he has ever shot in his life, and he has only shot it once:

"It was a hell of a two days. I've never shot a 60 in my life. I've shot 61 a bunch of times, but I've never shot 60, and I've only shot 59 once." [0:46 - 0:55]

Mark O'Meara had a 40-year career in professional golf. He won 16 PGA Tour events, including two majors. His best season was 1998, when he won the Masters and the Open Championship.

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A week later, Tiger Woods won the Masters Tournament

One week after the above story, Tiger Woods teed off at the 1997 Masters Tournament. It was his seventh appearance in a major championship, his third at Augusta National Golf Club and his first as a professional.

Woods shot a 2-under 70 in the first round. He finished in solo fourth place, three shots behind leader John Houston. The next day, Woods shot a 6-under 66 to storm into first place.

Tiger went even lower in the third round, carding seven birdies and no bogeys for a 7-under 65 and an incredible nine-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard.

Woods completed his outstanding performance with a fourth round of five birdies and two bogeys to finish on 18-under 270, 12 shots clear of Tom Kite. The score was the tournament four-days record until 2020, while the margin of victory is the largest ever at The Masters.

Mark O'Meara finished this edition of The Masters in a tie for 30th place at 6-over, 24 shots behind Tiger Woods.