The Tiger in Tiger woods is back against the backdrop of negative criticism, which the 43 years old golfer has endured for eleven years.
Woods rose to the ladder on Sunday after winning the 2019 Masters ending his 11 years drought.
Tiger Woods, arguably one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, and is often referred to as the “World’s best athlete.”
Woods got married to Swedish model Elin Nordegren, and the couple had two children together. In late November 2009, a story sparked news of an affair scandal. Following a car incident, at least 10 women were romantically linked to the pro golfer, and since then, Tiger Woods have struggled to get back to the top.
After spending frustrating 11 years in the dark, Tiger Woods made a sudden resurgence following a scintillating performance that earned him the 2019 Masters Cup.
The triumph marks a remarkable comeback in Tiger Woods illustrious career who once dominated golf to become one of the most marketable sporting stars in the world.
Woods finished 13 under par for the tournament, a single shot ahead of a trio of compatriots, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele.
It represented his fifth win at the famous Augusta course, 22 years since Woods’ first Masters victory. The victory puts him just three behind the all-time record of major championship victories held by Jack Nicklaus.
“It’s overwhelming, just because of what has transpired,” said Woods during presentation of the green jacket, the prize handed to the annual tournament’s winner.
“Last year, I was lucky to be playing again to now be the champion, 22 years between wins, it’s a long time. But it’s just unreal for me to experience this” Woods said.
Golf fans all over the world rose as one as they knew the champion they once knew and loved is back. It was one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.
In 2015, Tiger Woods was struggling for form and many golf experts had written Woods would never return to the champion again.
Greg Norman was among many experts who wrote the 2019 US Masters champion off when asked by TMZ Sports if Tiger would return to previous form he simply replied “No”.
It would have been easy for Tiger Woods to concede defeat and announce his retirement and it very nearly happened at a champions dinner two years ago when he was overheard whispering to another Masters champion, ‘I’m done. I won’t play golf again.’
Despite the golfing world writing him off and series of injuries that almost crippled his career; Tiger Woods fourth back surgery in a final attempt to resurrect his golf career.
After a six months recovery period, Woods returned to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. He shot rounds of 69-68-75-68 and finished tied for 9th place. His world ranking went from 1,199th to 668th, which jumped his world rankings.
On Sunday, March 11, 2018, he finished one-shot back and tied for second at the Valspar Championship in Florida, his first top-five finish on the PGA Tour since 2013. He then tied for sixth with a score of five under par at the 2018 Open Championship.
Woods finished second at the 2018 PGA Championship, two shots behind the winner Brooks Koepka. It was his best result in a major since 2009 (second at the 2009 PGA Championship) and moved up to 26th in the world rankings. His final round of 64 was his best ever final round in a major.
At this point, fans and experts could feel that there was a small chance that Tiger could be back, but it was all still a dream.
Woods got back in the winner’s circle for the 80th time in his PGA Tour career on September 23, 2018, when he won the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club for the second time and that tournament for the third time. He shot rounds of 65-68-65-71 to win by two strokes over Billy Horschel.
Lining up for his chance to win his 5th green jacket Tiger was confident he could return to old form but the bookies had him at long odds and experts weren’t convinced he could mix it with the young talent at the Masters.
“WOOOOOOO!!!” Tiger Woods screamed as he headed for the scoring room with chants of “Tiger! Tiger! Tiger” echoing as loud as any of the roars on the back nine at Augusta National.
“It’s overwhelming just because of what has transpired,” Woods said. “I could barely walk. Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t walk. Couldn’t do anything.
“To have the opportunity to come back, it’s one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had for sure.”
The raw emotion that was shown was not only due to the excitement of overcoming all of the obstacles he had experienced in the past but also a sign of relief that he had denied the critics and doubters.
It was not only fans all over the world that were excited for Woods but also the players that had grown up following the 5-time champion.
“You want to play against the best to ever play — you want to go toe to toe with them,” Koepka said.
“I enjoy the battle. I enjoy everything that goes on with it. He got the better of me this time, and it’s fun and I’m sure he’s ecstatic about it, but hopefully there will be more.” he added.
The victory also drew the awe of US President, Donald Trump who will award Woods with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom.
Tiger Woods is back and golf lovers are hopeful he remains up there for a long time, but we will have to wait for the P.G.A Championship coming up in May to see if Tiger will continue his resurgence.
Anthony Nlebem
@ AnthonyNlebem
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