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Tiger
Woods of
the
United
States
plays
his shot
from the
14th tee
during
the
final
round of
the TOUR
Championship
at East
Lake
Golf
Club on
September
23, 2018
in
Atlanta,
Georgia.
(Photo
by Sam
Greenwood/Getty
Images) |
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Tiger
Woods
caps off
amazing
comeback
with a
win
By
DOUG
FERGUSON
AP
Sports
ATLANTA
- 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,
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
two-shot
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.
And
that
brought
a new
version
of
Tigermania.
After he
hit his
second
shot to
the
par-5
18th
safely
in a
bunker
in front
of the
green,
the
crowd
came
through
the
ropes
and
followed
behind
in a
chaotic
celebration.
It was
like
that
when he
walked
from the
left
side of
the 18th
fairway
at the
1997
Masters
he won
by 12.
It was
reminiscent
of that
walk up
the 18th
fairway
later
that
summer
at the
Western
Open in
Chicago.
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.
Several
players,
from
Zach
Johnson
to
Rickie
Fowler
to
Horschel,
waited
to greet
him. It
was
Johnson
who
unveiled
red
shirts
at the
Ryder
Cup two
years
ago in
the team
room
that
said,
“Make
Tiger
Great
Again.”
“They
knew
what I
was
struggling
with,”
Woods
said.
“It was
special
to see
them.”
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
was
becoming
a legend
on in
video
highlights.
And
then he
brought
it back
to life
this
year,
especially
the last
four
days at
East
Lake.
The
players
who have
turns at
No. 1
during
his
absence
caught
the full
brunt of
Woods in
control.
McIlroy
faded
early.
Justin
Rose
faded
late.
All
that was
left was
the
42-year-old
Woods in
that red
shirt,
blazing
brighter
than
ever,
and a
smile he
couldn’t
shake
walking
up the
18th to
collect
another
trophy.
“The
80 mark
is a big
number,”
he said.
“It’s a
pretty
damned
good
feeling.”
He
finished
at
11-under
269 and
won
$1.62
million,
along
with a
$3
million
bonus
for
finishing
second
in the
FedEx
Cup.
The
only
disappointment
— a
minor
one
under
the
circumstances
— was
realizing
as he
came
down the
18th
that
Rose had
made
birdie
to
finish
in a
three-way
tie for
fourth,
which
gave him
the
FedEx
Cup and
the $10
million
bonus.
Without
that
birdie,
Woods
would
have won
his
third
FedEx
Cup
title
after
starting
at No.
20 going
into the
Tour
Championship.
“Congrats,
Rosie,”
Woods
told
him.
“World
No. 1,
hell of
a
season.”
Actually,
former
world
No. 1
for
Rose.
His four
bogeys
over the
last 10
holes
cost him
the No.
1
ranking
back to
Dustin
Johnson,
who shot
67 and
finished
third.
But
this
wasn’t
about
the
FedEx
Cup or
even the
world
ranking.
This
is
Tiger’s
big day,
and
nothing
was
going to
change
it.
Woods
had
never
lost
when
leading
by three
shots or
more
going
into the
final
round.
That was
when he
was
regularly
winning
multiple
times
every
season,
compiling
trophies
at a
rate
never
before
seen in
golf.
Was
anything
different
having
gone
more
than
five
years
without
winning?
Rose
had said
it was a
bit more
unknown,
and
“there’s
a lot on
it for
him” as
well as
everyone
else.
But
this was
still
Woods’
arena.
The walk
from the
putting
green
snakes
some 80
yards
across
the road
and
through
a
gallery,
and
everyone
could
hear him
coming
from the
procession
of
cheering.
And
within
the
opening
hour,
the Tour
Championship
had that
inevitable
feeling.
No
one
brings
excitement
like
Woods,
even
when he
plays so
good and
so smart
that he
eliminates
any
potential
for
drama.
The
buzz was
endless.
A couple
of
teenagers
climbed
into a
tree to
see him
made a
10-foot
birdie
on the
first
hole.
When the
putt
dropped
and
cheers
died,
there
was a
wild
sprint
some 200
yards up
the hill
as fans
tried to
get into
position
for the
next
shot. He
tapped
in for
par, and
another
stampede
ensued
to line
the
third
fairway.
On
and on
it went.
No one
wanted
to miss
a shot.
A
year
ago,
there
was no
guarantee
anyone
would
see much
of
Woods,
much
less
Woods
winning.
He’s
back
again.
This
victory,
his
first
since
the
Bridgestone
Invitational
at
Firestone
in
August
2013 —
1,876
days, to
be exact
—
brought
him to
No. 13
in the
world.
Not bad
for a
42-year-old
with
four
back
surgeries
who
returned
to
competition
in
December
at No.
1,199 in
the
world.
The
next
stop for
Woods is
to board
a plane
with the
rest of
his U.S.
teammates
for
France
and the
Ryder
Cup.
After
that?
There’s
no
telling.
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