The Greatest Sporting Achievement Ever
Tiger Woods’ s victory at the 2019 Masters was the greatest victory ever and it taught us more about life than sport
Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters and anyone who said they knew he’d do it was a liar.
Because he came out of nowhere to do it.
Imagine if you can that you’ve been broadcast all over the internet as some form of washed-up role model in world sport when you’re supposed to be in your prime.
Prior to his downfall, Woods did great things for golf as a black man who broke through and dominated one of the most difficult games to play and led the way for millions of others to believe that anything could be done. And then as the Black Lives Movement was simmering in the background, Woods who had recently been seen as being at the top of the gentleman’s sport was then viewed as a drugged-out criminal by everyone around the world.
Just another black American that many viewed had wasted his talent.
From being one of the most admired men in world sport to be being one of the most joked about, Tiger Woods had some fall from grace.
Because when Woods was pulled over in May 2017 and police officers discovered that he was in bad mental and physical shape it looked like his brand and his personal reputation were in tatters forever.
He had suffered physical pain from a series of injuries and had been taking sleeping drugs, painkillers, and marijuana before he was discovered. After a toxicology report, it turned out that Tiger had an opioid pain medication by the name of Hydrocodone, Hydromorphone which is another type of painkiller, Delta-9 carboxy THC, Alprazolam, a sleep drug Zolpidem, and an anxiety drug were also found in his system.
By the time he was locked up behind bars, his thoughts were probably more chemically controlled than freely constructed and so it was probably best that golf supporters never heard him speak in front of the camera.
He was soon ranked outside the top 1,000 golfers in the PGA tour and everyone thought his successful career was over.
But when the next year rolled around he made a comeback.
Because when he played in the 2018 Hero World Challenge and walked down the 18th fairway at East Lake Golf Club Tiger Woods felt loved.
His fans cheered him and he noted at the time that this was something special as he said it was for him one of the:
“…most special moments I’ve had as a player in my entire career.”
And of the atmosphere, he noted it was different for him on that day. It made him feel electric and appreciate how well he was feeling at that time.
He went on to explain then that:
“I was in bad shape for a couple of years, and my back wasn’t very good, and my life was tough to deal with, with the nerve pain.”
And anyone that’s experienced neural pain like that will know that it’s an intense nonstop pressure that ceases the capacity to think logically.
I know, because I`ve had that chronic spinal pain myself. And that’s why I can understand how Woods sought out extreme pain killers if only for moments of reprieve to give himself a chance to think rationally for a while.
But of course, drugs may mask the pain but can change the way you think and make choices too.
Thankfully though for the world of sport and golf Tiger roared again and that happened loudly in 2019.
Because in the following year Tiger Woods did the unthinkable.
On the Sunday of the 2019 Masters, he shot a two-under 70 score. He left the great Brooks Koepka , Xander Schauffele, and Dustin Johnson in his wake to win his fifth green jacket in Augusta.
He entered into the final day being two strokes behind the leader Francesco Molinari who eventually finished in fifth place. In the 12th hole on that day, Woods’s safety-first approach meant he pared the hole where Molinari hit the water instead. That meant that although Woods was two shots down on that tee and he was level by the time both men walked to the 13th tee.
By the time he putted at the 18th golf history was well and truly made.
The last time Tiger had been on top in a Major was in 2008 when he won the US Open. The next 11 years of his career and life had turbulence.
In 2008 he was 32 years old. By 2019 he was a middle-aged man.
At 32 he was married with children and seen as the ideal picture of athleticism and vigor in the world of sport.
In the years between 2008 and 2019 Tiger had gone to hell and back and dragged his fans with him. But on that day in Augusta in April 2019 he had achieved the greatest golf victory ever and one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time.
Those who thought they’d seen the Tiger’s tail wag for the last time couldn’t catch up with him to see he was roaring on the other end.
And as he walked from the 18th green to the Butler cabin to claim the green jacket all golf fans roared with him too.
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