Edmonton Journal

Tiger proves his tale has yet to be completed

Masters win showed he’s back, but what happens next?

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His golf shirts once again hang off him, rather than stretch across his chest. His piercing eyes are often now softer. His body, like most in the room, shows the passage of time. But it didn’t matter. Meeting with familiar faces at a press conference on Tuesday at the PGA Championsh­ip, Tiger Woods was back in his familiar spot on top of the golf world.

What do you ask a man who just answered the only important question?

During his nearly 11 years without a major win, Woods still was able to suck the air out of a golf tournament. An event with Tiger in the field often took on a life of its own. There were always questions to be answered, either about him or his golf game. This week at Bethpage Black, about 40 miles from Manhattan, there are none.

With a win, and a few cards falling right, Woods can reclaim the world No. 1 ranking. He was ranked 1,199 a year and a half ago.

“Because of the nature of the sport, we’re able to hang around a lot longer and still be relevant,” Woods said. “A neat thing about this championsh­ip here is that when Jack (Nicklaus) played in his final PGA in 2000, I played with him, and he said he played with Gene Sarazen in his final PGA.”

Generation­s of sport icons tied together competitiv­ely is indeed a treasure of golf. Aging was a prominent theme on Tuesday as Woods prepared for the season’s second major, beginning Thursday at Bethpage Black.

He explained that more often than not, he feels older than 43. Some days he aches, some days he doesn’t. This is something most people battling Father Time can relate to, even if they haven’t had four back surgeries and four knee surgeries.

For a long time there was nothing relatable about Tiger Woods. When his personalit­y first softened, we wondered whether it was an act, whether he was rebuilding his public persona with the same precision he had rebuilt his golf swing.

As time went by, it was clear the change was deeper. He seemed to feel real gratitude for this last chance, and for the first time he seemed to find joy in something other than winning.

Then he won.

“I’m not going to say it was just like old times, no,” Woods said of his Masters victory. “It was very different. I hadn’t won in a long time there. I’ve been in contention numerous times to have gotten it done, but I haven’t.”

Everything about his fifth green jacket was different. Going off early in threesomes on Sunday to beat the storm had never been done before.

He had never come from behind at a major, winning his first 14 after holding the 54-hole lead.

It was all so different. Woods explained on Tuesday that he wanted to play in the Wells Fargo Championsh­ip at Quail Hollow at the beginning of May but the afterglow of the Masters win was still too much.

“I was feeling good in the gym, but I wasn’t mentally prepared to log in the hours,” Woods said.

 ?? Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images ?? Tiger Woods, right, got a practice round in with Pat Perez Tuesday at the Bethpage Black course on Long Island, N.Y., in preparatio­n for the 2019 PGA Championsh­ip.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images Tiger Woods, right, got a practice round in with Pat Perez Tuesday at the Bethpage Black course on Long Island, N.Y., in preparatio­n for the 2019 PGA Championsh­ip.
 ?? Jon McCarthy Farmingdal­e, N.Y. ??
Jon McCarthy Farmingdal­e, N.Y.

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