He did it. He absolutely did it. Tiger Woods is your 2019 Masters Tournament Champion. His 5th green jacket has been placed around his shoulders, as I assume they already had his jacket size ready to go. After a final round 2-under 70, Woods finished atop the Masters leaderboard at 13-under, one shot ahead of a three-way tie for second at 12-under.
Tiger Woods now has 15 total majors, four behind the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus.
His first Masters win was in 1997, I was born on the day of the 3rd round and Woods was 22 years old back then. From 1997 to 2019, Woods was back in the same familiar position, getting the green jacket put back on him.
I had chills watching his final round and seeing his putt on the 18th hole go in, clinching the major win. How did he do it? Well, it was not easy, as was his road to this victory.
Not one, not two, not three, but four back surgeries have hindered Tiger's play over the years. We all remember his win at the 2008 U.S. Open when he defeated Rocco Mediate on one knee.
In March 2016, Tiger missed The Masters while he recovered from a back surgery in September 2015. He still showed up at the Masters Champions Dinner, not knowing when he would be back playing professional golf. Woods missed all four majors that year, then in December 2016, Tiger had another back surgery. He was out a total of 15 months and the world of golf really missed Tiger playing week in and week out.
Fast forward to 2017, Tiger was easing his way back into professional golf and his back was still bothering him as he tried his best to compete. A week before the 2017 Masters, Woods announced he would miss the tournament again citing his back issues even after those surgeries. Woods did not feel that he was ready to play tournament golf.
In April, Woods had his fourth! back surgery, otherwise known as his spinal fusion surgery, and missed all of golf the rest of the year in 2017.
Woods returned to action in early 2018 and was back in contention in a tournament on a Sunday, finishing tied for second at The Valspar Championship and was in contention again later at the Open Championship in sixth place.
Again, Tiger played well at the 2018 PGA Championship, finishing two shots behind winner Brooks Koepka. Woods shot a 64 which was his lowest score ever on a 4th round in a major.
After multiple top finishes, people were asking, would Tiger ever win a tournament again? Well, Woods answered that question with a victory at the 2018 Tour Championship with a final score of 11-under. Look at this scene of him and Rory McIlroy walking up the 18th green at East Lake Golf Club, people following him like when Jesus would preach and the masses would follow.
Woods was back on top of a tournament leaderboard, and now everyone could ask the real question, will Tiger Woods win another major championship?
Now we move to the 2019 Masters Tournament this week in April. Tiger mentioned awhile back that his kids had never seen him win a major, they only knew their Dad and his accomplishments by Youtube highlights.
Every year, whenever I am involved in a major tournament challenge, I always pick Tiger. I've been a Tiger guy from the beginning, through his infidelity and through his injuries. Did I think he would win this weekend? Probably not but I was still hopeful.
Tiger opened this year's tournament with a two-under score of 70, and that was four shots off of the lead behind day one leader Brooks Koepka. Woods missed a few putts and some fairways but overall it was an encouraging start to the weekend.
Friday's round two was a great day for many golfers out on Augusta National and that day was also very good to Mr. Woods. He carded six birdies, but the day could have been even better. Woods missed a few birdie putts and that would have contributed to an even higher day two score. After a four-under 68 (6-under total, Woods was tied for sixth place but could have easily been leading heading into moving day on Saturday.
Vintage Tiger came to play on Saturday. Woods finished with a 5-under 67 and still again left a couple birdie putts out there on hole 17 and 18. Here was Tiger's sixth birdie of the day at hole-16 in round 3 with the exaggerated step in as the ball hit the bottom of the cup.
Woods was back into the mix of a major championship, officially tied for second, two shots behind leader Francesco Molinari.
With potential storms on the horizon, the Masters decided to push all of the tee times forward so that the entire fourth round would be finished on Sunday. Tiger was asked by CBS's Amanda Balionis after his Saturday round, how his Sunday would start with the earlier tee time at 9:20am ET. Woods said that he would wake up at around 3:45 to get his body ready, and man was he ready.
Here was the scene at the first tee where Tiger was wearing his traditional red and black, ready to potentially win his fifth green jacket. Woods got off to a slower start while he birdied the third hole, but also bogeyed the 4th and 5th holes. Molinari was playing it safe most of the first nine, knowing he had a two and then a three shot lead. Somebody was going to have to beat Francesco, I immediately said, because he does not beat himself. I was sadly mistaken.
Flash forward to the par 3, 12th hole, where it all fell apart for Molinairi. He left his tee shot so short, that it went straight into the water hazard. Tony Finau, who was also in contention, followed Francesco into the drink. Woods played it safe, and landed on the green. From that point on, Woods had to know he was in great position to win.
Molinari and Finau began to fade and Tiger began to soar. He followed the 12th with a birdie on 13, par on 14, and another birdie on the 15th hole. The 15th was not so kind to Molinari as after his tee shot, he hit his second shot off of a tree branch and into the water. From that point on, Molinari was for all intents and purposes done.
The group then advanced to the par-3 16th hole, that was good to players most of the day. The par 3 already had two hole-in-ones thanks to Bryson Dechambeau and Alabama product Justin Thomas. That good mojo stayed with Tiger when he hit this glorious shot, that almost followed Dechambeau's and Thomas into the cup. He birdied and then, Woods and the gallery knew that no one was stopping Tiger, much like he did in his prime.
Knowing he just needed a bogey, on the 18th hole, Woods did just that and secured his fifth green jacket. The crowd went wild, Woods went wild, Tiger's caddie Joe LaCava went wild, it was a great scene. After some screams and Tiger patented fist pumps later, Woods started walking towards his family.
The same way he hugged his Dad in 1997, Tiger picked up and hugged his son, Charlie, in an emotional moment. Tiger then went onto embrace his daughter, Sam, his mother, his girlfriend Erica Herman, along with multiple other people close to him. He gave high fives to some members of the gallery and before he got to sign his scorecard, many golfers were there to salute him.
Bubba Watson, Trevor Immelman, Bernhard Langer, and Zach Johnson, were the former Masters winners who met Tiger and other stars like Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka congratulated Woods.
Tiger was back inside Butler Cabin sitting with low amateur Viktor Hovland and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed as Reed got to put the jacket on his idol, Tiger Woods. Tiger put it on, and said, "Oh it fits."
I, as assuming many others did, had chills when that final putt went in and the celebration roared on. Tiger Woods is officially back on top, winning his 15th major. Is Jack Nicklaus's 18 total majors streak in reach? As it seems like forever, people have wondered will Tiger get there. This Masters is his first major since that 2008 U.S. Open, can he get four more to beat Jack?
Live on Golf Channel, his longtime friend Notah Begay III., gave us a glimpse of Tiger's journey as he remembers going to Tiger's home, after his fourth back surgery. He could not walk under his own power, Tiger needed Begay to drive so Woods could pick his kids up from school. Begay mentioned, he never knew whether Tiger would play professional golf again, much less win a major.
The whole sports world noticed from Stephen Curry, Tom Brady, Serena Williams, J.J. Watt, and even former President Barack Obama, and current POTUS Donald Trump congratulated Woods as well.
Some would like to say that Tiger moves the needle when it comes to golf. However, I like how ESPN's Michael Collins puts it, "Tiger does not move the needle, he IS the needle, he is also the stand the needle stands on, and the carrying case it all comes in."
Tiger Woods's career has had many ups and downs, on and off the course. He just completed one of the greatest comebacks in all of sports. That is true because of the magnitude of the player, and the platform that is Augusta National he performed it on.
That is what makes this comeback so unique. Tiger Woods, of the world's most polarizing athletes, was at rock bottom after his four back surgeries. Now he is back to his former self and is now a Masters Tournament champion once again.
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The Athlete Staff
Sources:
Golf Channel
ESPN
PGA.com
Masters.com and Twitter
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