Tiger Woods wins fifth Masters in an epic comeback

Tiger Woods returned to the top of the golf world on Sunday with a win at the 2019 Masters, his first major competition win in roughly 11 years. Woods earned his fifth green jacket behind a final round 2-under 70 performance.

The 2019 Masters is Woods’ first major win since the 2008 U.S. Open and becomes his 15th major victory, with this fifth win placing him second all-time behind Jack Nicklaus, who holds the Masters win record of six wins. Woods started the day behind Francesco Molinari who led the field of golfers and was two strokes ahead.

Molinari’s victory road was derailed by double-bogeys on the 12th and 15th holes, while Woods birdied the par-5 13th and par-5 15th holes. A strong concluding run from Woods included a birdie on the par-3 16th hole, with an almost-hole-in-one.

As he arrived at the 17th hole, Woods had a two-stroke advantage, closing with a bogey on 18, holding off Brooks Koepka who chased Woods down the stretch but was unable to close the gap.

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“I was just trying to plod my way around the golf course all day, then all of a sudden I had the lead, and coming up 18, it was just trying to make a 5,” said Woods to CBS Sports. “When I tapped the putt in, I don’t know what I did, but I know I screamed. And then I was just looking for Joey. I shook the guys’ hands and then found Joey, and it was a pretty big embrace. To have my kids there, it’s come full circle. My dad was here in 1997 and now I’m the dad with two kids there.”