Tiger captures first tournament win in five years
Woods completes comeback, summons up his old-school dominance to take Tour Championship in Atlanta.
ATLANTA – Wearing shades, his black Nike hat on backward and a black tank top that revealed massive arms, Tiger Woods, carrying his Sunday red in one hand, strolled to the East Lake Golf Club clubhouse for the final round of the Tour Championship.
It was a picture of confidence, an intimidating one at that, an image of a man who was in total control and knew what lie ahead.
Six hours later, and after a wardrobe change, Woods was posing with the championship hardware, a portrait that seemed impossible 18 months ago.
With a two-shot victory in the PGA Tour season finale, a win reminiscent of so many from his best days of yesteryear, Woods capped a comeback for the ages and completed his climb out of an abyss of physical agony, mental anguish and spiritual loss. The 14-time major champion also continued his remarkable climb up the official world rankings, all the way to No. 13 after starting his comeback ranked No. 1,199th.
“I had a hard time not crying coming up the last hole,” said Woods, who finished second in the FedExCup standings and won a $3 million bonus. “The people who are close to me saw the struggles and what I was going through, and some of the players that I’m pretty close to, they’ve really helped throughout this process the last few years.
“I’ve explained throughout the year that I just didn’t know whether this would ever happen again. If I could somehow piece together a golf swing this year, I felt like I could do it. My hands are good enough, and I just didn’t know if I could piece together a golf swing. But somehow, I’ve been able to do that, and here we are.”
Woods wasn’t the only winner at East Lake. Despite finishing in a tie for fourth, world No. 1 Justin Rose finished No. 1 in the FedExCup standings and won the $10 million bonus. Knowing he needed to make birdie on the 72nd hole, Rose produced a titanic drive, knocked a
7-iron onto the green and two-putted from 30 feet for the FedExCup title, or
$333,333.33 a foot.
But this day belonged to Woods and his legion of fans who have been hoping it would come for some time. Woods was among those who didn’t know if this day would come, his body punished enough to require four surgeries to his left knee and four surgeries to his back.
Seventeen months removed from fusion surgery to his spine and 16 months after he hit rock bottom and the world saw the alarming mug shot following his arrest for suspicion of DUI, Woods was a picture of health and joy after PGA Tour victory No. 80 and his first since 2013, or in 1,876 days.
“Eighty is a big number,” Woods said. “I’ve been sitting on 79 for about five years now, and to get 80 is a pretty damned good feeling.”
After starting his latest comeback with tempered expectations and doubts about how long he could play, Woods steadily pieced together his swing and game. First there were baby steps, then small strides with his swing.
A key moment came in February after Woods missed the cut in the Genesis Open. It was then that Woods realized he was healthy enough to add a tournament to his schedule instead of subtracting, which he feared he’d have to do at the start of the year.
With each passing month, Woods tinkered with his equipment to coincide with his swing. Late in the year, he used three different putter models in three consecutive starts. Before the FedExCup Playoffs began, he changed the shaft and loft of his driver, losing a tad of distance but gaining accuracy and assurance.
After opening with a 65 to grab a share of the lead and then a 68 to maintain it, Woods assumed command with a Saturday blitz in which he birdied six of his first seven holes.
Armed with a three-shot lead after 54 holes, Woods became the Woods of old, keeping his pursuers at bay with a conservative approach that was still lethal as others scrambled to make birdies. After making birdie on the first to stretch his lead, Woods aimed for fairways and the middle of the greens and two-putted the field into submission.
Woods pumped his lead to five shots, but it was down to two after bogeys on holes 15 and 16. He parred in and strolled to victory with thousands of fans walking behind him on the 18th fairway. After his final stroke, he raised his hands in the air and then hugged his caddie, Joe LaCava; his girlfriend, Erica Herman; and his playing partner, Rory McIlroy.
Woods finished at 11 under with a 71. Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedExCup champion, shot 66 to finish second. Dustin Johnson (67) was third, and Rose (73), Hideki Matsuyama (65) and Webb Simpson (67) tied for fourth.
Just as it was back in his heyday, Woods with the 54-hole lead is money and extremely hard to catch. He is 54-4 when he holds at least a share of the 54hole lead and 24-for-24 when that lead is at least three shots.
For this week, Tiger Woods was Tiger Woods again, the best player on the planet who knew he was the best player on the planet.
In a series of tweets, Jack Nicklaus, his record 18 majors a bench mark Woods has been pursuing his entire career, congratulated Woods.
“I never dreamed @TigerWoods could come back and swing the way he has, after surgery,” Nicklaus tweeted. “I think you could argue he’s swinging better than he has ever in his life.”
Phil Mickelson said Woods’ latest win wasn’t a shock: “He’s played such good golf all year that it’s not surprising. It was just a matter of time before he won. He’s playing so well on a difficult golf course and we all expected it.”