The Masters: Tiger Woods completes comeback of a lifetime

Tiger Woods has completed the comeback of a lifetime, coming from two shots down at the start of Sunday’s round to win his fifth Masters title. It might be the greatest round of golf he’s ever played.

Tiger Woods is the 2019 Masters champion.

I mean, if that lede doesn’t do the job for you, I don’t know what will. I always let my heart believe that Tiger would return to major-winning form, but I don’t know that my head ever truly understood what it would take for him to actually get there. Sunday at Augusta National, his comfort zone when he’s returned from personal issues and injuries in years past, we found out.

He got some breaks down the stretch, sure. Francesco Molinari found Rae’s Creek on No. 12, then dunked it again on the par-5 15th, taking himself out of contention. Tony Finau was never quite right all afternoon. On the second nine the leaderboard got more crowded than ever before, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay making a run at it. But through it all, Woods found a way to persevere.

He did what Molinari had done so well in the prior days, avoiding damaging mistakes and making birdies when the opportunities presented themselves. But we can examine the mechanics of Tiger’s victory another time. This is a time to reflect on true generational greatness. The type we’ve rarely seen, and last saw from…well, Tiger himself, some 14 years ago.

On Wednesday, Woods was honored with the Ben Hogan Award for his comeback from potentially career-ending injuries. Two years ago, he truly believed he might never play competitive golf again. But that’s the thing about Tiger that made him the game-changing force that he was in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He brought a competitive fire to the game that created the very players who will take the mantle from him someday.

Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and more – all were, in some way or another, impacted by what Tiger Woods has brought to the game of golf. Rest assured, after today, there will be even more to come. 11 years have come and gone since Woods won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. And today, on one of the most storied courses in all of golf, he added at least one more chapter to a book many already thought was closed.

This win is historic for a number of reasons. The fifth Masters victory moves Tiger ahead of Arnold Palmer, and one behind the great Jack Nicklaus in Augusta history. A 15th major title gives Woods at least a chance to catch Jack at 18, and an 81st career win moves him within one of Sam Snead’s all-time record. But even those are just numbers.

I’ve always been of the impression that the story of Tiger Woods wasn’t complete with the Torrey Pines win. It was legendary, no doubt. Winning a 19-hole playoff on a destroyed knee is something that you’d think only Tiger could do. But ever since then, it felt like he never quite reached his true potential. Is that crazy to say about a 14-time major winner, and the greatest golfer of at least a generation? Maybe, but even if this Masters is the last tournament he ever wins, it feels like he would end on his own terms. Healthy, happy, and purely in the moment.

Tiger Woods is the 2019 Masters champion. In a career that has been defined by otherworldly excellence, it might be his greatest achievement ever.