Tiger Woods wins Tour Championship by two strokes - his first title for five years
Tiger Woods is a winner again. Easy to say, “hard to believe”. Certainly the vast crowds who swarmed here to East Lake to glimpse a rich piece of Tiger history were cast agog by his two-shot victor at the Tour Championship.
It had been five years, 1,876 days and so many setbacks both physically and personally since the 42-year-old last lifted a title. And when he did so again, the golf world swooned and wondered if their eyes were deceiving them.
With the greatest respect to Justin Rose, the world No1 who somehow summoned the courage from the depths of despair to birdie the 18th to deny Tiger the FedEx Cup bounty and so become the first Englishman to scoop the $10 million (£7.6m) jackpot, for the planet at large this day was about Woods and only about Woods. The man, himself could barely credit it.
“At the beginning of this year this was a tall order,” Woods said after his 71 for an 11-under total. “But I proved I could progress and I put it together. I was trying hard not to cry during that final hole. I said: 'Hey I could still blade this thing out of bounds.' Once I got the ball on the green I gave Joey [La Cava, his caddie] a high five because it was done and I could handle that from there. I just can’t believe I’ve pulled it off. It’s been tough. I’ve had a not-so-easy last couple years. It’s just hard to believe I’ve won.”
Woods’s emotion was eminently understandable. He could barely walk a year ago after four back operations in 18 months. He told Jack Nicklaus “I’m done” and the extent of his ambition was becoming mobile enough to play with his two children.
However a spinal fusion last April offered him a ray of light and after beating a dependency on prescription medicines that saw him arrested the following month, so he has magnified that glimmer to shine a spotlight on one of the greatest comebacks sport has ever seen. Goodness knows where he goes from here.
Well, actually he arrives in Paris on Monday as a member of the US team who will try to win their first Ryder Cup on European soil in 25 years. This could not have been a better-timed boost for Jim Furyk. Having Woods the reborn champion in their ranks will surely spread self-belief throughout the US teamroom.
Thomas Bjorn, the Europe captain, will be glad to see Rose becoming the third European winner of the FedEx Cup in six years, although his 73 was hardly the stuff of his wildest dreams, even if the cheque was. Rose looked to have blown it when he made a five on the 16th, his third bogey in six holes. He was suddenly down to third in the complex standings and winning $2m, instead of $10m.
But there was still the par-five 18th and he nervelessly hit the green in two and punched the air when his lagged eagle putt from 20 feet came to rest within a few inches. “That was tense,” Rose said with a laugh. "We're all delighted for Tiger, these are crazy scenes and I'm sure I'm not the most popular guy for making birdie on the last but hey, he's got enough money." A tie for fourth was enough by a minimal margin.
Bjorn will be worried by the form of Rory McIlroy, who played with Woods but shot a 74 to fall from a tie for second into a tie for seventh. This Sunday slump was all too familiar for the Irishman. This was the sixth time has played in the final group this year and on the previous five occasions he had come up short. McIlroy started three behind Woods but finished six strokes off the pace. So much for the showdown of his childhood fantasies.
It turned into a nightmare as soon as McIlroy bogeyed the fourth. Another followed on the fifth and despite a birdie on the sixth a double-bogey came on the seventh and another bogey on the eighth. Over.
By then, the 28-year-old was a mere bystander in the Tiger procession. McIlroy told Telegraph Sport in January that Woods "could stun the world” in his comeback and here his prediction was unfolding in front of him.
This was the Tiger of old, sucking the life out of the competition, leaving them to scrap for the crumbs, gold-crusted though they were. Woods hit to six-foot at the first and then for nine holes shut up shop, knowing that pars were his friend.
The greatest front-runner the game has ever seen was on his way to his 43rd win from the 46 times he has held the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour. Astonishing.
There was a late wobble when he bogeyed the 15th and 16th and missed the green on the 17th. Billy Horschel was in the clubhouse on nine-under after a 68 and within two, but Woods made his up and down and duly parred the 18th.
As he walked up the fairway the galleries crowded in behind and followed, just as they used to at the Open Championship. It truly felt so much more important than an end-of-season dollar-fest. From outside the top 1100 in the world, to reclaiming his majesty in the less than 10 months.
Woods stood on the green with both arms aloft before the hugging started. First La Cava, the bagman who stood by him and waited and refused to take another employer, then Erica Herman, the girlfriend who has restored the stability to his private life.
The Masters cannot come soon enough, but first there are matters in Paris to care of. The Ryder Cup just got even bigger.
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