"Garland, you're underestimating the shell-shock of 1997, but that's neither here nor there."
Dave -- I've always thought the real shock to Tiger's competitors was the 2000 US Open at Pebble, and the run of four straight majors. Remember that Tiger didn't win a major after Augusta '97 until more than two years later, when he had to grind out a win over Sergio at Medinah in '99. One could arguably think -18 at Augusta as a one-off, not all that dis-similar from somewhat similar major routes by other players over the years.
Tiger's -12 at Pebble, when the rest of the field couldn't better +3, and then his run of three straight majors after that pretty much made every single golfer on the planet say: "Well, I'm screwed for the next..." whatever.