How did Tiger Woods come back from almost getting out of the golf to win the Tour Championship and create an unlikely Ryder Cup team?

2 related

Spectators who invaded Woods and shouted his name as the last moments unfolded at East Lake were just another reminder of Woods' popularity and the history of the takeover that s & # 39; Is held in 2018.

The fact that he won the Tour Championship and achieved a remarkable return to competitive golf this year with his 80th PGA Tour victory is simply magical.

While two of the top championship winners of the year, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka, finished near the bottom of the rankings, with the longtime foe and now Phil Mickelson, finalist for TV, Woods came top on Thursday . with a 65, remained tied through 36 holes, then won on Saturday, never to be tied again.

Even though Sunday's performance was not dominant, it was the memory of a time when Woods consistently took the lead, then played golf accurately, while others hesitated. He shot 71 and made only two birdies, but his closest opponents could not push him.

And to think that Woods himself, just 18 months ago, thought he was "finished," the constant pain of back and nerves that made him unhappy. Golf was an afterthought.

"Probably the weak point was not knowing if I could still live without pain," said Woods. "Will I be able to sit, get up, walk, go to bed without feeling the pain? pain that I felt? " in. I did not want to live like that. That's how the rest of my life is going to be? It's going to be a difficult rest of my life. And so … I was beyond playing. I could not sit I could not walk I could not go to bed without feeling the pain in my back and in my leg. It was a low point for a very long time. "

The fact that Woods managed to exit after a spinal fusion operation in April 2017 and win again is just as impressive as some of his biggest wins. Golf may not be as transcendent as its victory in 1997, nor as impressive as its title in 2000 at U. U., nor as spectacular as his victory in 2008 to the American team on a broken leg. But it is undoubtedly among his greatest victories.

"I guess you do not put anything behind him – he's capable of everything, I think that's where the hope lies – nothing will surprise you."

Steve Stricker

And to think, just a few weeks ago, there were a lot of questions to know, at age 42 he should be a captain choice for the US Ryder Cup team.

Not long ago, Woods was innocently questioned about the hypothetical possibility that he could play just enough to get the consideration of one of the choices of Captain American Captain Jim Furyk. Having already been named vice-captain, what would Woods appreciate more as an assistant captain or player?

"Why can not I have both?" Said Woods.

Pressed to pick one, or he could even do both, Woods stood by his answer.

"I like both," he said.

to play

The PGA Tour's No. 80 win was an added bonus for Tiger Woods, who waited more than 1,800 days to return to the top.

It was nearly eight months ago, and some 5,600 miles from the Genesis Open, near Los Angeles, where Woods made his second start in 2018. He had played a total of four rounds of golf, tied for in 23rd place at Torrey Pines. after which he was ranked 539th in the world. He was 104th in the points of the Ryder Cup.

Now, look at it.

Woods has played 64 laps since that day at Riviera, making a total of 18 tournaments in 2018. He is ranked 13th in the world and finished 11th in the Ryder Cup final standings – and would have been eighth with points only in 2018. Were If there was no minimum tournament divisor used in the formula for the world ranking, Woods would be ranked # 1.

Furyk announced it as one of his captain's picks on Sept. 4, but nearly six weeks earlier, when Woods led the Open in the final round and tied for sixth place, it was obvious that he was going to play. assistant – on this team at Golf National as he tries to win for the first time in Europe since 1993.

"It's unbelievable, that's really the case," said Woods, "go back to the beginning of the year and have achieved a goal like this, be part of this team and become a player – it's more that special. & # 39;

In truth, when Woods was named in January as one of Furyk's vice captains, the idea of ​​playing nine months later would have seemed absurd. Furyk did not name him thinking that Woods would be a player. In fact, David Duval replaced Woods as vice-captain, which means that a dual role was not planned in the plans.

A few days later, Woods did not realize much better that he had missed the cup at Riviera.

But he slowly climbed the ladder of the FedEx Cup and the Ryder Cup, as well as the world rankings: finishing 12th at Honda, tied at Valspar and tied for fifth place at Arnold Palmer. Then he finished in 32nd place at the Masters, followed by a tie at 55th in Wells Fargo, which showed that there was still work to be done.

In June, at the US Open, where Woods had missed the cup, he was ranked 79th in the world – high hopes of winning an event, being part of the Ryder Cup team, quietly shutting down.

But since then, Woods has finished five of the top six, including Sunday's win, in eight events and has not missed a cut. He has played two major tournaments, including a second place at the PGA Championship.

"What I really like about everything Tiger is not a ceremony ending in his career," said Paul Azinger, captain of the American Ryder Cup. Still game. This is not a ceremonial walk, not at all. & # 39; & # 39;

to play

Bob Harig explains how Tiger Woods won the PGA Tour Championship and how was the mood on the course.

And who would have thought that? Certainly, Woods had his doubts. Last September, at the Presidents Cup, where he was Steve Stricker's assistant captain, Woods said he did not know "what I'm planning for the future". was it.

Even last week, Woods remembered his absence from the game, prior to the fusion surgery, while he seemed to have tried everything to alleviate back problems.

"I did not think I could play again," he said. "When I was lying on the ground and I could not move for several months, golf is what worries me the most."

Then there was the arrest of Memorial Day 2017 for impaired driving. Woods had taken a mixture of sleeping pills and painkillers that had finally sent him to a drug rehabilitation center. Although he did not talk in detail about the incident or its fallout, it was prudent to ask what impact it might have on his game.

Given all the physical and mental problems, the lack of golf in the past two years, the abundance of talent that the game currently produces, it would have been reasonable for Woods to simply play golf this year, regardless of the results. .

But win?

"I guess you're not putting anything behind him," said Stricker, who is vice-captain of the Ryder Cup team this year, was Woods' partner in the Ryder Cup six times. Cutting team. "He is capable of everything, I think it is there that lies the hope." Nothing would surprise you.

"I did not write to him by all means, it's good to see him again, great to see him excited to play and how engaged he is, not just with [Presidents Cup] team last year, but with the fans and with the team again this year. It's cool to see. It's fun to be around him and see how excited he is.

The Woods Ryder Cup record will remain a source of conjecture. He has only 13-17-3 in his seven games, playing only one winning team in 1999. (He missed the 2008 US victory after a knee surgery.)

Could it have more impact? Certainly. He went to 1-3-1 in his first Ryder Cup in 1997 and the United States lost by one point. He was 2-2-1 in 2002, when the United States lost by 3 points. It would be hard to put losses on Woods in 2004 and 2006, the latter where he went 3-2. Same thing in 2010, a defeat of a point at the K Club, where Woods scored 3-1 as the captain's choice.

His last Ryder Cup, in 2012, was most likely his most painful. With Stricker as a partner, they lost all three games of the team. For the first time, Woods sat as a spectator Saturday morning.

And then, on the last day, he saw the first leg with Francesco Molinari – Woods in first place – becoming helpless, the Europeans celebrating their victory on the 18th green while Martin Kaymer won his match against Stricker. win.