Golf's biggest and most prestigious tournament is on its final day at Augusta National. As Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Smith battle for the covenant Green Jacket, the other main storyline was the return of Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods finished his play at The Masters early in the afternoon not in contention, but that did not matter.
As Woods walked to the 18th Green, the patrons cheered while standing to respect the man that turned around over to what it is today. As Woods finished the 18th with a par, the crowd gave Tiger a standing ovation from what is a remarkable return to golf and The Masters even though his finished 13 over par for the tournament.
Now, some of you may why a guy gets a standing ovation when he was not in contention? Well, February 23, 2021, is where you start.
On that day in 2021, Tiger Woods was involved in a very scary car accident. An accident that could have taken his life at the age of 45. Driving his Genesis SUV in the hills outside of Los Angeles, Woods lost control in the early hours of the morning as the car struck a curb and uprooted to a tree on a downhill in Rolling Hills Estates. Officers reported to the crash site and said Woods was wearing his seatbelt and was still sitting in the SUV.
Being rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where Dr. Anish Mahajan reported that Tiger Woods suffered "significant orthopedic injuries to his right lower extremity (leg) and had emergency surgery. Woods had open fractures that affected both the upper and lower portion of the tibia and fibula bones. Dr. Mahajan and staff were able to stabilize Tiger's right leg.
Back on December 18, 2021, shortly after turning 46 years of age, Tiger played his first golfing event at the PNC Championship with his son Charlie Woods. Then about four months later, Tiger Woods flies to Augusta National and gets practice rounds in with his son, Charlie and good friend and fellow PGA Tour pro Justin Thomas.
The buzz around Augusta National became bigger and bigger as Tiger would do practice rounds on Monday-Wednesday before The Masters tee off on Thursday.
And then Tiger Woods was playing at The Masters.
Tiger Woods shot 71, one under par in the open round of The Masters and felt pretty good walking the course on Thursday. Friday was a little more challenging as Woods started off bad, but good with two over par round, shooting 74 to be at even. Woods made the cut which was he 22nd time making The Masters' cut and continuing his remarkable record of not missing The Masters cut line.
Then the pain of walking began to show in the third round on yesterday as Tiger Woods had his worst Masters' performance shooting 78 and six over par thus taking him out of contention for the sixth Green Jacket. Today was another horrible performance as he shot another 78 round and six over par day. Finishing the Masters with 13 over par and 301 score.
The mere fact, that Tiger Woods was able walk the Augusta National course for four straight days after what could have been a life-ending accident back in February 2021 is simply remarkable. Over 500 days from competitor golf and Tiger Woods was able to compete for a moment and finish despite being in pain.
What a story for Tiger Woods! What a story for The Masters! What a story for the sport of golf!
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