Golf · 2019 · Augusta, USA
The Comeback
Eleven years and four back surgeries after his last major, Tiger Woods wins the Masters again, having spent years in which a competitive career looked finished.
15th (5th Masters)
Major titles
11 years
Gap since previous major
1 stroke
Margin of victory
By 2017 Tiger Woods had dropped out of the world's top 1000 golfers, had a fourth back surgery behind him, and had been arrested for driving under the influence of prescription medication, with the footage circulating widely. Another major title, let alone a competitive career, looked implausible.
At the 2019 Masters, fourteen years after his previous green jacket, Woods held his nerve through a chaotic final round in which several of the contenders around him found trouble on the par-3 12th hole. He played it safe there himself, and a one-shot win gave him his first major championship since 2008.
The noise off Augusta's back nine as the win became certain was among the loudest the tournament has produced. By the 18th green he was holding his own children, which is how the photograph from 1997 had looked, except that time it was his father holding him.
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