Golf legend Tiger Woods shot a 6-over round of 78 on Sunday at Augusta to finish far down the leaderboard and cap a weekend when numbers hardly mattered to fans.
He finished at 13 over for the week, his total of 301 by far his worst at the Masters and one shot off his worst 72-hole score ever as a professional.
The 47th-place finish belied the thunderous applause Woods received as he walked up the 18th fairway. Woods, in a red shirt synonymous with final-round charges, removed his cap and acknowledged roars from Augusta National patrons.
“Thankful, as I alluded to. I keep saying it, but I am. I really am. I truly am. Just to get to this point,” Woods told reporters after Sunday’s final round.
“Just to be able to play, and not only just to play, but I put up a good first round. I got myself there. I don’t quite have the endurance that I would like to have had, but as of a few weeks ago, didn’t even know if I was going to play in this event.”
This was Woods’ comeback tournament that came just over a year after the car crash that nearly cost him his right leg, or worse. He said coming into the Masters that just getting back was an accomplishment.
Woods was limping throughout his final round, and the limp seemed much worse Sunday than it was earlier in the Masters.
Just making the cut and getting through four days on the most famed course in America was its own victory for Woods.
Asked if this weekend’s play marked one of his greatest achievements, Woods said: “For not winning an event, yes. Yes, without a doubt.”
“To go from where I was to get to this point, I’ve had an incredible team that has helped me get to this point,” he added.
The 15-time major champion’s mere presence at Augusta National Golf Club was a boost for the sport which has been looking for its next attention-grabbing, crossover hit to fill the star void — left by Woods, himself.
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He last played a competitive, individual round of golf at the 2020 Masters, held in November that year instead of its normal spring tee off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 46-year-old Woods did swing a club in December at the PNC Championship, a 36-hole father-son competition in Florida where he and 13-year-old Charlie Woods finished second to the team of John Daly and John Daly II.
Woods playing in a major event like the Masters seemed like an impossible task last year, after a Feb. 23 wipe out on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County.
That’s when he rolled a Genesis GV80 near Hawthorne Boulevard at Blackhorse Road, on the border of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, officials said.
No one else was hurt other than Woods, who suffered significant injuries to both legs.
There were no signs of impairment, L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene said, though a blood test was never taken.
He was driving more than 80 mph, nearly double the posted 45 mph speed limit, officials said. Woods was still going 75 mph when he hit the tree as the SUV went airborne.
Although the SUV’s front end was almost totally smashed apart, much of the driver’s compartment remained intact and Woods was wearing a seat belt.
A deputy at the time said it was “very fortunate that Mr. Woods was able to come out of this alive.”
The cause of the crash was deemed to be caused by “driving at a speed unsafe for the road conditions and the inability to negotiate the curve of the roadway” and no charges were filed.
Woods has acknowledged that he’ll never play full-time on the PGA Tour again.
His 82 tournament titles is tied for most in PGA Tour history, with Sam Snead. Throughout much of storied career, it was considered slam dunk that Woods would someday overtake Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.
But in recent years, age, injuries and off-the-course issues have slowed Woods, whose name is usually mentioned top of any sentences — along with Nicklaus and Ben Hogan — debating who is the sport’s greatest player.
His storied career has drawn comparisons to Jackie Robinson, who broke MLB’s color barrier, and fueled hopes that golf can attract a more diverse player pool.
Andrew Blankstein contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
