Tiger Strikes Back ‘Fore’ the Win

Tiger Woods, one of the most prolific athletes of our generation, is officially back. For the first time since 2013, Woods won a tournament, beating out the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and several others to claim the 2018 Tour Championship.

Despite arguably being the greatest golfer of all time, Big Cat has had his fair share of ups and downs.

Tiger began his rise to greatness in 1996, when he started his professional career. Less than a year later, Woods had already won three PGA tournaments and the first major of his career, the 1997 Masters Tournament.

He shattered the tournament record, winning by 12 strokes and placing himself as the number one ranked golfer in the world.

Woods would go on to dominate  golf in the following years. Throughout his career, Woods won 14 major championships, second only to Jack Nicklaus with 18.

At the age of 25, Woods became the closest to achieving a modern-era Grand Slam by holding all four major championships simultaneously. Woods won each tournament consecutively within 365 days, but not within the same calendar year.

He holds the second most PGA tour wins with 80, second only to Sam Snead.

Woods is the highest paid golfer of all time, earning over $111,182,697 and counting in career earnings.

Woods’ controversy started in 2009 when the National Enquirer published a story alleging he was having an affair. Two days later, Woods crashed his Cadillac into a fire hydrant around 2 a.m., leading to several questions about the cause of the accident. Following several reports of multiple affairs, Woods and his wife eventually split.

Woods’ off-the-course scandal took a toll on his game, leading to a long hiatus from golf. Several of Woods’ sponsors parted ways with him after the news came out. In April 2010, Woods made his return to competitive golf, but wasn’t the same player by any means.

After a two year drought, Woods finally won a tournament, scoring birdies on his final two holes to win the 2011 Chevron World Challenge in thrilling fashion. Woods would string together a couple more tournament wins throughout the next couple of years, but never returned to full form.

In 2017, Woods was arrested on a drunken driving charge following his fourth back operation. Woods was found unconscious in his SUV with five drugs in his system and damage to the driver’s side of the vehicle. Woods issued a statement saying he had been attempting to treat his insomnia and pain  without medical assistance.

In 2018, Woods, at the age of 42, has been gradually working his way up to this thrilling Tour Championship win. After narrowly missing out on the BMW Championship, he bounced back by shooting 11 under to win the Tour Championship, his first win since 2013.

Woods’ path to greatness wasn’t straight. He went through scandals, injuries and an arrest, but he didn’t let his faults define him, and is finally back to enjoying golf.

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