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AUGUSTA, Ga. >> Tiger Woods spent nearly 45 minutes answering question after question from an overflow media room that was filled with cynics who now believe in miracles.
Al Michaels, where were you when we needed you?
Woods winning the Masters on Sunday had people watching and cheering from all points of the globe as one of the most recognizable figures in sports completed a comeback that not even he believed possible.
Two years ago he attended the traditional Masters dinner for past champions in need of a nerve blocker just to be able to walk into the building. He couldn’t sit, stand or lie down without being in pain, despite three previous back surgeries that had failed to accomplish the goal of returning him to the game he loves.
The fourth one proved to be the charm.
Back fusion surgery, a last resort for those who have a similar condition to Woods’, not only left him pain free from the simple chore of walking, but allowed him to swing a club again as he once did as a youth.
Woods recounted his journey word by word for those lucky members of the press who were at Augusta National not only to cover this prestigious event, but to witness Woods slip into his fifth green jacket dating back 22 years. Only the great Jack Nicklaus has more with six. His last one occurred when the Golden Bear was 46, a defining moment Woods said was seared into his memory as a youth.
He now trails the game’s greatest by three majors to tie and four to become the leader in a category reserved for only the best in the business. One major can make a career for a professional golfer. Imagine winning 15, the last against a generation of golfers Woods helped create.
He spoke of conditioning and living a major part of his life in the weight room as keys to his success. In his early days only he and Vijay Singh pumped iron for strength and conditioning. Now every successful PGA Tour member knows proper diet and lifting weights are important parts of the game of golf.
But that alone is not enough to handle the pressure of the Masters. On the famed back nine, Rae’s Creek once again played a role in deciding an outcome everyone hoped for, but few believed possible. Eventual runner-up Brooks Koepka and 54-hole leader Francesco Molinari made mistakes going at the pin and wound up in Rae’s Creek without a paddle. Resulting double bogeys proved costly for both down the stretch.
Woods played it safe, aiming for the fat part of a narrow green. He two-putted for par and moved on. No hero shot necessary when the gettable par-5s were still awaiting his arrival.
Thanks to a lot of rainfall during the weeks leading up to the first major of the PGA Tour season, patrons were greeted by a lot of mud around the 11th hole and the famed 12th and 13th tees known commonly as Amen Corner. They would have stood knee deep in it just to see Woods walk by, chomping on gum like a Little Leaguer in left field.
His victory certainly came out of it as the crowd moved along with him on this famed back nine. While it was kind of quiet on the more difficult front nine, the closing holes produced those roars your grandmother and grandfather told you about as a youth. How Arnold Palmer made the place what it is today and how Jack Nicklaus carried that mantle like Mickey did for baseball in the 1950s and 1960s.
Arnie’s Army was born and raised here. Ben Hogan defined his own comeback from a nasty car wreck by winning here, something all historians of the game recall. If they let you in, it’s something everyone embraces, including Woods, who has now cemented himself as an equal to the Golden Bear.
Who would have thought it? Who at the champions dinner in 2017 ever imagined Woods would win again 700-something days later? Not many. Not even Woods himself.
All these things he touched upon before dropping the mic in the media room. Tiger Woods has left the building. Let the celebration of this masterful moment never end.
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