He's back – Tiger wins his first Masters since 2005



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AUGUSTA, Ga. – The ground shook, the pines swung and the playground of Augusta National was back to his. Tiger Woods, climbing the 18th fairway, an unlikely win in his field of vision, barely translating a hint of emotion, was on the verge of becoming a great champion.

For the 15th time.

Fourteen years after his last Masters win, eleven years after winning what many believed to be his last major league triumph, Woods is at the top of the golf world, wrapping up an unexpected comeback in one of the most respected places Game.

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A nervous and daring 70 – under – parade game with three birdies in his last six holes was enough to catch 54 – hole lead Francesco Molinari and shut down one shot Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka.

For the first time in his career, Woods overcame a deficit in the third round to win a major tournament. He set the record for the longest period of time between the victories of the Masters, previously held by Gary Player.

Woods, 43, who shot 13 cents for the tournament, won a final major title in 2008 at the American Open. He has not won a Masters since 2005.

Woods has now won 15 major championships, just behind Jack Nicklaus, who is 18 years old. When Woods was 14, it seemed obvious that he would pass in front of the Golden Bear. But personal problems and four back surgeries broke his momentum.

Now Woods has his fifth green jacket, still in the second place of Nicklaus' six. Woods became the second oldest player to win the Masters, again behind Nicklaus, who was 46 when he won in 1986.

Nicklaus responded quickly to Woods' victory on Twitter.

It was a grueling and tiring day, even more painful for Woods, who woke up early, because of the imminent storms that forced the departure for more than five hours. With all his back problems, Woods goes through a long process to prepare to play a round of competitive golf.

But it was derisory compared to the treacherous return that Woods had endured in recent years as he was trying to recover from multiple surgeries.

The most recent of these events dates back almost two years, just two weeks after Woods attended the champions dinner at Augusta National, needing a pain relief injection just to make the trip.

Woods was so frustrated by his situation that he confided to some previous champions that he thought his career was over, that he would never play golf again.

"I was done at that time," Woods said earlier this week. "To be able to attend dinner, I had to get a nerve block just to walk and come to dinner.

"It was so important for me to be part of the Masters and to come to the Champions Diner. I did not want to miss it. It was difficult and uncomfortable. I ended up going to England that night, I saw a specialist; Unfortunately, for me, the only way to get rid of the pain I was going through was to undergo spinal fusion surgery. & # 39;

Six months later, he was allowed for the first time to change clubs. On Sunday, he was fighting for a fifth green jacket and his first major title since the epic win in the playoffs against Rocco Mediate at U. Open of 2008.

Woods started the day in the final group, 2 shots behind Molinari, the reigning Open champion, who played Sunday with the Purple Woods t-shirt at Carnoustie to hoist the Claret Jug. He did it without doing any bogey.

And it looked a lot like the same Sunday, while Molinari remarkably ran his series without a boguey up to 49 holes before finally making some mistakes. Schauffele, Koepka, Johnson and Tony Finau were also in the game, as were Jason Day and Patrick Cantlay. Woods made three bogeys through 10 holes and got two shots back at that time.

But Molinari, who hit his tee shot in the water on the 12th, changed everything, giving Woods the openness he needed. Woods made a birdie of two strokes, then added birdies to the 13th and 15th holes to take the lead on the last day of the Masters for the first time since his last win here in 2005.

Then came what was perhaps his tournament shot, a perfect 8 par-3 16th – where two aces were made Sunday – that landed perfectly on a slope and sank down a slope and just slid through the hole . He did the 4 feet for birdie and a 2-stroke lead.

A perfect shot in the 17th resulted in an easy game, and then the impressive 18th-minute send-off with a 3-wood on the right-hand side put him in the position to carry out a remarkable victory.

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