sport news Masters 2024: Tiger Woods found redemption on the hallowed ground of Augusta ... trends now
Five years ago, Tiger Woods delivered a Masters Sunday like no other. Woods in his Sunday red was a sight golf fans were well acquainted with. He'd done it four times before after all. But the 2019 Masters wasn't just another major win, it was his greatest.
This was a golfer who had first won at Augusta National by 12 shots at the ripe age of 21, who claimed the 2000 US Open by an incredible margin of 15 and who triumphed on Torrey Pines at the same major eight years later on a broken leg.
To him, the impossible challenges were like matador capes to a bull. But 2019 was more than just a challenge, it was a redemption arc.
And it shouldn't be deemed sacrilege to say it's one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time - one no one saw coming until the final seven holes of golf's hallowed ground.
Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, two members of the new guard inspired by Woods-dominated era, led after Day One at the 2019 edition of the tournament. A suggestion that the sport had moved on from the days of Tiger.
Five years ago, Tiger Woods delivered a Masters Sunday like no other at Augusta National
The golf icon won his fifth Green Jacket in one of the greatest sporting comebacks ever
Yet, in true Tiger fashion, he clung on. With a third round of 67, he clawed his way into Sunday's final grouping alongside leader Francesco Molinari and Tony Finau.
But still the rolling slopes of Augusta National presented a mountain to climb. For Woods to prevail, he would have to break an unwanted record.
Never before had Woods won a major championship from a position of trailing with 18 holes to play. And that's exactly where he found himself standing on the first tee of the final round, two shots back of Molinari.
The group teed off around five hours earlier than usual due to the weather concerns that were expected to sweep across Augusta later in the day.
'The skies are gray but the air is filled with anticipation,' was the iconic line Jim Nantz delivered on the broadcast but even that anticipation couldn't quite set the stage for what was to come.
At first it appeared Woods's latest major championship would follow the same pattern. He fell three shots behind Molinari after two bogeys on his front nine.
Meanwhile, Molinari, the 2018 Open Champion who had lifted the Claret Jug after a final round with Woods at Carnoustie, remained as stoic as ever. That was until he found himself in Rae's Creek and the Italian's cool composure cracked.
The forecasted storms hadn't quite arrived but the winds whipped around Amen Corner. Pathetic fallacy for Molinari but nothing Woods couldn't storm.
The then-43-year-old trailed Francesco Molinari by two shots heading into the final round
The Italian's cool composure cracked when the grouping reached Augusta's infamous 12th
'Amen Corner, where we have no earthly idea what's going to happen,' announcer Frank Nobilo prophesied. How right he was. Golden Bell was the site of carnage as both Molinari and Finau found the water, watching their Masters dreams drown along with their balls.
Up stepped Woods, flicking his tee shot safely on to the green for a steady par. It wasn't just a golf shot. It was a turning point that became a historic moment.
Woods was pitiless as he stared down Finau and Molinari who scrambled to recover from the watery deaths of their tee shots. The familiar relentless edge roared back into Woods' legendary game and remained throughout the remaining six holes.
Two incredible birdies on 15 and 16 saw him close out a final round of 70 for the Green Jacket, holding off the American trio of Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka by one stroke.
'I still had the hands to do it. The body is not the same, but I still had good hands,' said an understated Woods in the Butler Cabin later.
After holing out his final putt for bogey to ensure his one-shot lead on the 18th, Woods flung his arms into
