Tiger triumphant in fairytale finish
After five years and four ops, Woods the miracle man is a winner again
The best story conjured up in the world of sport this year was rendered complete yesterday when Tiger Woods capped his extraordinary comeback with a tense victory in the Tour Championship.
With world No 1 Justin Rose playing in front and Rory McIlroy — the most decorated player the game has seen since Tiger — by his side, the 42-year-old gleefully accepted the perfect scenario to mark his return to the winner’s circle for the first time in five years.
What a way to usher in the week of the Ryder Cup.
This was Tiger’s 80th victory on the PGA Tour and perhaps the most meaningful after his 14 majors. All told, 1,877 days had passed since he claimed his 79th triumph at the Bridgestone Invitational. Long days where there appeared no respite on many occasions from the seemingly endless ritual of back discomfort and pain. In between Tiger’s last success and this one, no fewer than 118 players won titles on the PGA Tour.
As he has reminded us over the past eight weeks, however, there is only one Tiger Woods. Only at the end did the magnitude of his achievement weigh heavy. Four shots clear, he bogeyed the 15th and the 16th and furrows appeared on his brow as he missed the green at the 17th. But a delicate chip steadied the nerves and a par at the last meant a two-shot success over fellow American Billy horschel.
Up ahead, Rose (above) was fighting his own demons. The $10million bonus for winning the Fedex Cup — a play- off series covering the last four events — appeared his for the taking heading into the back nine. But three bogeys in six holes changed everything. With the third one, he dropped from first to third and his projected Fedex winnings fell by $8m. eight million! Now he needed to birdie the par-five 18th to move back into first place.
Two magnificent blows, and he was home and dry. he blew out his cheeks in a huge sigh of relief. It had been mighty close, but he got his money with a two-putt birdie.
For McIlroy, the final- round match-up he’d been wanting since he had pictures of Tiger on his bedroom wall was little short of a nightmare. This was the sixth time this season he had been in the final group on Sunday, and the sixth time he’d gone backwards. In the two years that have passed since his victory in the 2016 Tour Championship, McIlroy has won just once, and there is not much hope of improvement until he resolves what is inhibiting him on Sundays. With the Ryder Cup so close, it was hard not to see the day’s momentous events as a considerable fillip for the American team. Woods had begun with only a three-stroke lead over europe’s leading duo but neither came close to laying a glove on him.
Since contending for the Open in July, Woods has got better with virtually every tournament. his stroke average for his last five events has been a shade over 67 shots. It is 120 miles from here to Augusta National and now he’s a winner again, he’s going to be short odds to return to the majors trail at the Masters next April.
Woods had led 23 previous tournaments by three shots or more going into the final round in his illustrious career — and won all 23 of them. The only question, therefore, was whether his nerve would hold after such a long time without a win. It didn’t take him long to answer that one. About 15 minutes, if truth be told.
In front of another record crowd he struck a wedge approach to the opening green to 10 feet and confidently holed the birdie putt to extend his lead to four. Poor McIlroy lost his swing completely in the middle of his front nine, Rose was making too many mistakes ahead. Thereafter, Woods reached deep into the memory banks and drew on all those occasions when error-free golf was good enough to get the job done. Only at the end did nerves kick in. eighteen months after a fourth back operation, the last vestige of doubt has been removed.
he really is back.
There was victory at the Portugal Masters for Tom Lewis in only his third event as a pro. It continued a trend that has seen englishmen claim five of the last seven tour events in europe, following wins for Richard Mcevoy in Germany, Paul Waring in Sweden, Matt Wallace in Denmark and Matt Fitzpatrick in Switzerland.
Tiger WoodS ushered in the week of the ryder Cup with his first victory in five years at the Tour Championship in atlanta to put the seal on his incredible comeback. The 42-year-old, who has had four back operations, held his arms aloft to spark rapturous scenes among a record crowd. He said: ‘i loved it out there, the fight and the grind but i was trying hard not to cry at one point.’ The other big winner was Justin rose, who won the $10million bonus for the Fedex Cup.