The Tiger Woods Comeback Is Now A Reality

Tiger Woods comeback is complete after finally winning a major tournament on Sunday, more than a decade after his last major triumph in 2008.

Tiger Woods won his fifth green jacket on Sunday, eleven years after his last major tournament win, and 14 years after his fourth win at Augusta National.

The time between Masters’ wins, it should be noted, is the longest in the history of the tournament.

On Sunday, the final round got off to an early start and included threesomes rather than the traditional final round pairings because of poor weather expected late in the afternoon in Augusta, Georgia. Tiger had said after his third round that he’d be up around 3:45 am to get his body and mind ready for the early round. And, after a final round 70 to finish 13 under, it was clear both were indeed ready.

The final group included Woods, Tony Finau, and the leader heading into Sunday, Francesco Molinari. The top of the leaderboard was bumper-to-bumper during the final groups’ back nine, but Tiger got a bit of help on the 15th when Molinari’s approach shot clipped one of Augusta’s signature pine trees and splashed into the water. Molinari never recovered after dropping two strokes on the hole, and Tiger took full advantage. Brooks Koepka had a chance, and Dustin Johnson finished very strong with four birdies on the back nine to finish at -12, tied for second with Koepka.

Xander Schauffele also had an impressive weekend and final round at only 25 years of age, finishing tied for second at 12 under.

Only four other players have eleven years between two major wins — no other player has a longer drought.

But this isn’t about the numbers or the come-from-behind win, this is about Eldrick “Tiger” Woods, the most dominant golfer of my generation’s lifetime, coming back from serious injuries, adversity, and addiction to put on yet another green jacket — one that puts him only one shy of Jack Nicklaus’ record six. While every analyst and personality wanted to write his career off as past tense, fans everywhere kept the faith along with Tiger, and it paid off Sunday at the Masters.

Make no mistake, this is an absolutely remarkable major tournament win for the 43-year old golf veteran. Looking forward, Tiger has won major tournaments at both Bethpage Black and Pebble Beach, where the PGA Championship and U.S. Open Championship, respectively, will be held later this year.

Golf fans everywhere rejoiced on Sunday, because the best player of their lifetime, and possibly of all time, won another major tournament after years of wondering if he’d be able to finish a major without an injury, let alone a win.

Tiger put the past-tense chatter to bed with this win. The redemption story and dominance are now just a part of this golfer’s tremendous story. We had been hoping his downfall-extended wasn’t the final chapter, and now we can breathe easy knowing he can still be the best golfer in the world when the lights shine brightest.

The win, while his 81st on the PGA Tour, was the first of its kind; Woods had never won a tournament when trailing after three rounds and never leading heading into Sunday.