TIGER’S BACK!
Woods wins 80th title to complete a sensational turnaround in fortunes
TIGER WOODS is a winner again, capping off one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history.
More than five years after his last win, after four surgeries on his lower back that left him wonder if he could ever play again, Woods ended his comeback season with a dominant victory at the Tour Championship.
He nearly won the FedEx Cup, too, until Justin Rose survived a late meltdown with a birdie on the final hole.
But neither Rory McIlroy nor Rose were able to lay a glove on the immaculate Woods, who has now achieved one of the greatest comebacks in modern sport after being crippled by injury. After his win, Woods said: I knew I could do it again. I was having a hard time not crying on that last hole.’
The field were bowing to Woods’ comeback
THE overwhelming majority of fans at the Tour Championship were cheering for Tiger Woods all weekend, but yesterday they finally held their breath.
After five years in the wilderness, and looking desolate and broken for long periods during that time, the greatest player in the modern history of the game reclaimed ‘true greatness.’
And in the company of Rory McIlroy, as a final pairing on the last day of the Tour Championship, fans could not have dreamed up a more fitting manner for Woods to prove he was back.
With a three shot lead overnight, he wasted no time in extending his advantage at East Lake in Atlanta.
Chasing a first win since 2013 and the 80th PGA Tour title of his career, the 14-time major winner made the ideal start by splitting the fairway on the first hole, hitting his approach to nine feet and converting the birdie putt.
‘Simple math says that if I play a clean card the guys behind me have to shoot 67, so that helps,’ a relaxed Woods told reporters prior to his final round.
‘I don’t have to shoot 63 or 64 and hope I get help. That’s a big difference.’
And through the early holes, math certainly seemed to be serving Woods well.
McIlroy knew that he would be centre stage in a slightly crazed final contest prior to the Ryder Cup in Paris next weekend.
But Justin Rose and McIlroy both dropped shots on the fifth and fourth holes respectively, and Woods was an impressive five shots in front in the middle of his front nine. He almost made that six shots but his lengthy putt on the 442 yards par five came up agonisingly short of the hole.
McIlroy dropped a further shot on the same hole, showing no signs of charging in on Tiger’s party.
McIlroy’s hopes of winning the Tour Championship for the second time in three years suffered a major blow when he failed to get up and down from that greenside bunker on the fourth, and then three-putted the fifth.
And, although he did manage his first birdie of the day on the parfive sixth, that still left him five adrift of Woods, who made par after fluffing a difficult chip from over the green.
The closing holes of the front nine, however, effectively brought the McIlroy challenge to an ignominous close — he double bogeyed the par four seventh and dropped a further shot at the next hole, and arrived at the turn five under par and an unhealthy eight shots off the pace set by Woods.
The remainder of the field were also bowing to Woods’ comeback, with nobody dashing up the leaderboard.
McIlroy finished five over for the day — four under for the tournament and while Rose bogeyed the 16th, Woods kept his composure on one of the most emotional days of his life.
He bogeyed the par four tenth, but took that shot back on the 13th and although he had some nervy moments over the final few holes, he made certain of his 80th career title with a final round of 71 to finish two shots ahead of Billy Horschel amid truly incredible scenes around the 18th hole.
Rose had an equally momentous finish to his round, picking up a superb birdie on the last to hold on for the Fed-Ex Cup and a staggering $10million first prize.