Woods prevails to cap amazing comeback
Tiger Woods, in his Sunday red shirt, both arms raised in victory on the 18th green.
For so many years, the scene was familiar.
This time, it was surreal.
“I can’t believe I pulled this off,” Woods said Sunday during the trophy presentation at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where he gave thousands of delirious fans at East Lake, and millions more around the world, what they wanted to see, and what they thought they might never see again.
And at that moment, Woods was overcome with emotion and paused.
After two back surgeries six weeks apart, he couldn’t lie down, sit or walk
without pain. Golf was the least of his concerns, so much that he once said anything else he achieved would be “gravy.”
One year ago, while recovering from a fourth back surgery, he still had no idea if he could come back to the highest level of golf.
“Just to be able to compete and play again this year, that’s a hell of a comeback,” he said.
Woods delivered the perfect ending to his amazing return from back surgeries with a performance out of the past. He left the competition feeling hopeless as he built a five-shot lead early and then hung on for a 1-over 71 and a twoshot victory over Billy Horschel.
It was the 80th victory of his PGA Tour, two short of the career record held by Sam Snead that is now very much in play. And it was his first victory in more than five years, dating to the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.
This was pure pandemonium. Fans chased after any inch of grass they could find to watch the ending.
“I didn’t want to get run over,” Woods said with a laugh.
This felt just as big as a major, maybe better considering where Woods had been.
Woods played only one PGA Tour event over two seasons because of his back.
Off the golf course, he had to overcome the embarrassment of a DUI arrest in the early morning of Memorial Day in 2017 when he was found asleep at the wheel, later found to have a concoction of pain medication in his system.
He finished at 11-under 269 and won $1.62 million, along with a $3 million bonus for finishing second in the FedEx Cup.
Champions Tour: Madison’s Steve Stricker won the inaugural Sanford International in Sioux Falls, S.D., for his third title of the year, closing with a 3under 67 for a four-stroke victory.
Stricker led wire-to-wire after rain limited him to only seven pre-tournament holes.
“I’ve never felt so unprepared in my life playing a golf tournament,” Stricker said. “I wasn’t very familiar with it, but all in all, it worked out.”
Stricker finished at 13-under 197, and match Paul Broadhurst for the tour victory lead.
Tim Petrovic (65) and Jerry Smith (70) tied for second.
Brandt Jobe, who shared the lead after two rounds, had a 72 to drop into a tie for fourth.