0
0
The roars began when he entered the 18th tee box, reached a crescendo when he approached the green and rattled the pristine Augusta National course once he sank his final putt and spectators began chanting his name. Tiger Woods has done it again. For the fifth time in his illustrious career, Woods is a Masters champion. How sweet it is!
After an 11-year drought, golf’s most polarizing and popular figure has added another major to his dossier, outlasting a star-studded leaderboard on Sunday by posting a final round 2-under 70 to win the 2019 Masters. It’s his first major win since the 2008 U.S. Open, 15th of his career and first at Augusta National since 2005. With five green jackets now in his Augusta locker, Woods is second all-time at the pristine course behind only Jack Nicklaus, who won six times between 1963 and 1986.
Woods began the day T2 and in the final pairing for the first time since 2007, but he sat two strokes off leader Francesco Molinari, who had been steady all week. Molinari led throughout much of the day, in fact, until double-bogeys on No. 12 and No. 15 opened a small window for Tiger to pounce — and pounce he did. Woods birdied the par-5 13th hole and par-5 15th for the third time this week, then birdied the par-3 16th with a near-hole-in-one. He walked up to No. 17 with a two-stroke lead on Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, and when Koepka missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have put pressure on Woods, Tiger was able to clinch it with a bogey on the final hole.
Woods becomes a five-time Masters winner on Sunday, which stands alone as the second-most in the sport’s history ahead of Arnold Palmer. Only Jack Nicklaus, who won six, has more. The victory marks Woods’ first at Augusta since 2005, when he capped an incredible decade of dominance at the event he also won in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
I am so happy and was emotional after Tiger clinched his 5th green jacket. I never thought I would see him win another Masters and everything on Sunday played itself out for the win. I’ve been a Tiger fan throughout the good years and bad years and we can finally say…… COMEBACK COMPLETE! ✅
