To watch the Masters Tournament, held every spring at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, is to be caught between times. On the one hand, there is the usual 21st-century sports futurism, as in every golf tournament. Players are forever driving the ball farther with more refined equipment, the cameras that capture them do so in higher and higher definition, and tracing lines appear on-screen to track the flight of the ball. On the other hand, the Masters and its broadcast partners take pains to create the illusion that time’s forward march has been suspended, at least there. The same oversaturated shots of azaleasand pine trees appear annually, and announcers’ tranquil voices refer to the same scenes at Amen Corner and Butler Cabin. The patrons—not “fans,” pointedly—are barred from taking their cellphones onto the course.
On Sunday, the sense of temporal displacement was amplified by orders of magnitude. With a bogey putt on the 18th green that gave him a score of 13-under for the tournament, Tiger Woods won his fifth Masters and 15th major overall. At 43, he became the second-oldest winner in Masters history. It was his first victory at Augusta since 2005 and his first major title since 2008—before an infamous car crash, a public airing of the lurid details of his infidelity, four back surgeries, a DUI arrest, and numerous other ailments that threatened to permanently derail what once looked destined to be the most accomplished career in golf history. Asked to put the victory into words, Woods said, “Just unreal, to be honest with you … Winning [the first time] in ’97 and then come full circle 22 years later, to be able to do it again. This has meant so much to me and my family, this tournament, and to have everyone here, it’s something I’ll never, ever forget.” A chorus emerged, calling it one of the greatest comebacksin golf history.
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Sunday’s round was captivating in its combination of familiarity and difference, the ways in which it held to and diverged from elements of the Tiger legend. Each of the previous 14 times Woods had lifted a major trophy, he had entered the final day with at least a share of the lead; his reputation was for hope-snuffing dominance, not come-from-behind heroics. This time, he began his day—at the unusually early hour of 9:20 a.m. ET, to get ahead of an approaching storm—two strokes behind the leader, Francesco Molinari. At his peak, Woods was the unquestioned best athlete on the course, his strength allowing him to launch drives other players could only chuckle at. Down the stretch on Sunday, he found himself followed by Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Tony Finau on the leaderboard, young bombers (and Woods acolytes) who all beat his driving numbers.
Read: The never-ending story of the Tiger Woods comeback
The pivotal moment—and maybe, for those inclined to look for it, proof of aged wisdom—came on the 12th hole, a short par-3 with the green lying just beyond a ribbon of water. As many of his main competitors—Koepka, Ian Poulter, Molinari, and Finau—dumped their shots in the creek, Woods lofted his safely onto the middle of the green. It was hardly a highlight in and of itself, setting up as it did a ho-hum two-putt for par, but as the other scores climbed, it gave Woods a share of the lead he would never relinquish. “It helps to be experienced,” he said of his thought process. “That’s all I was concentrating on. Don’t be fooled.”
More conventionally Tiger-esque displays followed. Woods made birdies on the par-5 13th and 15th: smashed drives, on in two, it might have been the year 2000. On the par-3 16th, the lead now his alone, he hit a tee shot that felt like a souvenir for the delighted crowd. Using his 8-iron, he spun the ball far past the flagstick and into a ridge that fed it back; it rolled within a foot of the hole and settled within two for an easy birdie putt.
After the tap-in on 18 made the win official, celebration came from all corners. Woods threw his arms in the air and then walked off the green to hug his family. The crowd roared. Former Masters winners put on their green jackets and lined up to congratulate him. Stephen Curry, Serena Williams, and Tom Brady tweeted their praise. Woods’s history has not been a wholly noble one, of course—the sight of his daughter and son was a reminder of the real human stakes attached to the past decade’s tabloid fervor—but on Sunday it hit the last big beat of the American comeback story, and the country indulged.
As Woods walked off the 18th green, CBS’s Jim Nantz did the announcer’s duty and looked forward to approaching majors, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, held at courses where Woods has won before. It seemed for a moment as if the past 11 years hadn’t happened, as if a mothballed trajectory could be dusted off again. The power of this performance, though, was that it wasn’t that; it was something else. Back on the ninth, when Woods still trailed, a poor approach shot had left him with a 70-foot birdie attempt. He tapped the ball and looped it down a dangerous decline, over 20 long seconds, to within inches of the cup. It was a virtuosic putt, but one that, 15 years ago, observers would have been disappointed not to see drop—a missed opportunity for magic. On Sunday, they went wild. Things are different now.
"That was 22 years ago, when my dad was there and then now my son's there, my daughter was there, my mom's there. My mom was there 22 years ago and the fact that she's still around, still kicking, still fighting, goes to show you her resiliency.
"It's hard to comprehend right now. I mean, honestly it's only been a few hours out of winning the tournament. I'm still trying to enjoy it and figure out that I actually won it.
"I know I have the green jacket on but it's just, it's still, I think it's going to take a little bit of time to sink in."
The battle for glory
Midway through Woods' fourth round, it was a dream that looked like coming up short. Francesco Molinari -- the American's scourge at the 2018 Open Championship -- looked like holding him off yet again.
But as the Italian found water on the perilous 12th hole and Woods located the heart of the green, it represented a changing of the tide rarely seen. A path opened up and the atmosphere on the famous old course changed as Augusta's patrons began not just to hope, but to believe.
Woods, of course, had never lost faith. Champions always believe, and there have been few serial winners more ruthless than this golfer, whose significance has long-since transcended the game of golf.
"I did think it would come," the 43-year-old told CNN of his everlasting dreams of a 15th major.
His battle with Molinari at Carnoustie had given him that belief. He had also finished second behind Brooks Koepka at Bellerive in the 2018 PGA Championship.
"I knew it was in me, now did I know it was going to be this week? No. But I had a good feeling that the way I was shaping the golf ball that I was going to be in the mix," Woods, who will now climb to No.6, added.
"Now being in the mix and winning a championship are two totally different things. The last two major championships, yeah I was in the mix, but I didn't win.
"It all flipped at 12 you know when Franky made a mistake there. He just let everyone back in the tournament. And with six or seven guys with a chance to win the championship it got a little complicated but fortunately I was able to hit some of my best golf shots all week."
Catching Nicklaus...
Sunday's thrilling victory puts the former world No.1 just three majors behind the all-time record of Jack Nicklaus.
Only fellow American Nicklaus has won more Masters, with six. Woods also joins Nicklaus as the only player to have won the Masters in three different decades after he clinched his first as a 21-year-old in 1997.
"It's overwhelming just because of what has transpired," Woods added in the Green Jacket ceremony in the Butler Cabin.
A big “well done” from me to @TigerWoods! I am so happy for him and for the game of golf. This is just fantastic!!!@TheMasters
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"Last year I was very lucky to be playing again. At the previous Champions Dinner I was really struggling and missed a couple of years of not playing this great tournament and now I'm the champion."
"It's been an epic Sunday here at the Masters and a great day for golf, just one of the most amazing days in our history," said Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.
Greatest ever?
Many wrote off Woods' career as the injuries took their toll on his form, world ranking -- he plunged to outside the top 1,000 in 2017 -- and quality of life.
He admits he struggled with everyday tasks such as getting out of bed, driving and taking his kids to school, and is widely reported to have confided at the pre-Masters Champions Dinner a couple of years ago: "I'm done."
But after seeing a specialist in England, Woods underwent fusion surgery, his fourth back procedure, in the US. However, if things looked bleak from a playing point of view, Woods looked to have hit rock bottom when he was arrested on a driving under the influence charge in May 2017. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was put on a diversion program, but from that nadir, Woods' trajectory has reached sky high.
The question facing Tiger Woods upon his return in 2018 from a two-year injury hiatus was not when he would win another major title but if he would add to his stockpile of grand slam victories, a total that had been stalled at 14 since 2008.
Now that Woods has answered that question with his win Sunday at the Masters, we might have to switch up our query again — namely, is Woods finished winning majors at age 43 or does he have a few more left in him? Considering he has finished no worse than a tie for sixth in the past three grand slam events, it’s a valid question.
And the next two majors on the calendar will be held at courses Woods has completely shredded in the past. Yes, those titles came years ago, when he was at his absolute peak, but the schedule could be shaping up nicely for a Summer of Tiger. Remember, he needs three more major titles to equal Jack Nicklaus, who holds the record with 18.
Here’s a quick look ahead.
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PGA Championship, Bethpage Black, May 16-19
The PGA Tour’s schedule-tinkering means we only have to wait a month before Woods is back on the course at a major, and it’s a course at which he’s thrived. Woods led wire-to-wire at the 2002 U.S. Open here and was the only golfer to finish the tournament under par at the public course on Long Island. He also won the Masters that year. Hmm.
The U.S. Open returned to Bethpage Black in 2009, and Woods, the defending tournament champion that year, salvaged a tie for sixth even though he was 15 strokes off the pace at one point on Sunday. Woods eventually finished four strokes behind champion Lucas Glover. The tournament was marred by persistent rain that changed the composition of the notoriously difficult course, making the greens much less diabolical than they usually are.
“The USGA has gotten the short end of the stick on the weather both times we’ve been here,” Woods said after the 2009 tournament. “It rained in 2002, too. We have yet to play it hard and fast in either of the years it’s been here. This is a great golf course, but we haven’t seen what it’s supposed to be.”
U.S. Open, Pebble Beach, June 13-16
Two years before dominating the field at Bethpage Black, Woods atomized the competition at the famed seaside course in California, winning the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 strokes (a record for a major championship), finishing as the only golfer below par and becoming the first U.S. Open champion to end up double digits under par.
It actually was Woods’s second win at Pebble Beach that year: At February’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he trailed by seven strokes with seven holes to play yet won with a final-round 64.
The U.S. Open returned to Pebble Beach in 2010, and Woods shot himself into contention with a third-round 66. But a final-round 75 doomed his chances, and he finished tied with Phil Mickelson for fourth, three strokes behind winner Graeme McDowell.
“The golf course has always had a special place in my heart,” Woods said after winning the 2000 U.S. Open. “One, for its pristine beauty and another [for] its mystique . . . the [dramatic] finishes that we’ve had in tournaments over the years on this golf course . . . I’ve always absolutely loved playing here, from the time I was 13. And I’ll always continue to love it.”
British Open, Royal Portrush, July 18-21
Woods and many others in the field won’t have much experience, if any, at the site of the year’s final major. Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland last hosted the British Open in 1951 (it did host the 2012 Irish Open, with a number of current pros competing). But it’s not like Woods hasn’t conquered a links course before: He has hoisted the Claret Jug three times, twice at St. Andrews (his 2000 title there was by eight strokes, the biggest margin of victory at the British Open since 1913) and once at Royal Liverpool.
“It’s my favorite type of golf to play,” he said of links golf before last year’s tournament at Carnoustie (he finished tied for sixth). “I love playing here, this type of links golf . . . because it is creative. We’re not going to get the most perfect bounces. And I think that’s the fun challenge of it.”
What about 2020?
After Woods defends his title at next year’s Masters, the next grand slam event on the 2020 PGA Tour calendar will be the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Woods won a WGC event there in 2005, beating John Daly in a playoff, and went 5-0 in match play there during the 2009 Presidents Cup.
Next year’s U.S. Open is at Winged Foot in suburban New York, a course at which Woods has found less success: He missed the cut at the 2006 U.S. Open and finished tied for 29th at the 1997 PGA Championship.
Finally, the 2020 British Open will be at Royal St. George’s in southeastern England. Woods tied for fourth in his lone British Open appearance there in 2003 (he missed the 2011 tournament because of a knee injury).
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