Tiger made the ultimate sports comeback at the 2019 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga. The last time he won a major tournament was in 2008, and it has been a long road back to the top. A lot has taken place over those 11 years, from both suffering all time personal and professional lows.  

The fall from grace wasn’t pretty. The climb back to the mountaintop wasn’t always easy. There was his well-publicized infidelity scandal. The result of that was a divorce from his wife, Elin Nordegren, which came to a head on the infamous night of Nov. 27, 2009 where Woods crashed his Cadillac into a fire hydrant and Nordegren smashed out one of the windows with a golf club.

Golf fans have had mixed reactions to Woods’ success.  After watching the final round, Chelsea Feldman was “happy for him and for his fans.” Feldman said those feelings didn’t extend to her personally. She hasn’t forgotten Woods’ messy personal life. She said she “thinks it’s awesome his wife beat him up with a club.

While his personal life unraveled, his professional life was damaged severely. He lost major sponsors, and the injuries piled up for a person who was unstoppable since his unbelievable run at his first Masters win in 1997. Over that time he won 14 major championships over 70 PGA tournaments. During his last major championship win in 2008, we was playing on a torn ACL, which led to one of many surgeries over the years Those procedures included three back surgeries and spinal fusion surgery. Doubt crept into everyone’s mind as the years went on and he played as a shell of his former self.

Chirag Shah was “happy” and “celebrated with a Tiger fist pump” after he won.  Fans range across the board. Some love him. Some hate him. Some love to hate him.

All that doubt was put to rest at the 2019 Masters. What is now one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, Tiger’s legacy is no longer in doubt. He is back on top of a mountain we never thought we would return to. What the future holds, nobody knows, but at this moment, Tiger Woods is a 15-time major champion.

It was summed up best by Delia Jobst as she went on to say that, “regardless if you like or respect him, he had to walk through the fire to get there again.”  That he certainly did.