Eldrick Tont Woods, more commonly known as Tiger Woods, pulled off one of the most masterful comebacks in sports history this past Sunday, winning the fifth Masters title in his illustrious PGA career.
After being one of the most feared and dominant golfers in the history of the sport during the late 1990s and early 2000s, he suffered major personal and professional setbacks in 2009 and into the early 2010s. He had a marital infidelity scandal as well as several surgeries, including major back surgeries. Tiger had zero PGA wins from 2014 through 2017 – one of the greatest ever was not the same player he once was, or so we thought.
Then in 2018, Tiger won the Tour Championship. If you’ve never seen one of the most iconic golf photos of all time, just Google “Tiger walking up 18 2018 Tour Championship.” The result will likely amaze you. Tiger was being followed by a crowd of hundreds, maybe a thousand, people on his way to the 18th green at the tournament. He had been working feverishly to get back to victory, and on that day, we saw a glimpse of the greatness that once was Tiger Woods.
Fast forward to the second weekend of April 2019 at The Masters at Augusta, arguably, golf’s most prestigious and lauded course and tournament. CBS announcer Jim Nantz quips during The Masters broadcast whenever he can, calling the Masters “a tradition like no other”. It is, indeed, a tradition like no other. A stage like no other. A stage for one of golf’s greatest ever to make history – and on Sunday, Tiger Woods did just that.
Tiger was 11 under par heading into the final round. He was near the top of the leaderboard, but Francesco Molinari had the lead and Brooks Koepka was playing very well, among others. It would be an uphill battle for Tiger, but he would make the climb. He shot 2 under par during the final round, which was good enough to win the tournament by one stroke over Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele.
Tiger was back. Twitter erupted; the announcers couldn’t believe what they saw, but Tiger was calm and confident. He knew he could get to this point with hard work and that iconic swing that PGA fans have marveled at for over two decades.
US sports fans love feel good victory stories. A few have happened in the past year – Virginia winning the NCAA Basketball Tournament after getting knocked out in the round of 64 last year. Clemson defeating the dominant dynasty, Alabama, in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in January. And now, Tiger winning his fifth Green Jacket. The all-time winningest golfer in PGA history is at the top again. Something tells me he’s not done quite yet.