Tiger Woods beat all odds to come back and win the Masters on Sunday after being sidelined for multiple years with injuries and bad luck.
Woods, a professional golfer, has previously won the Masters five times. He competed on April 11 to 14 at the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia. The Masters’ grand prize for the champion is worth $11,500,000. Woods had a big slump within the past few years and wasn’t a projected favorite to win.
“I was pleased,” said John Arner, head coach of the Woodside golf team. “It was nice to see a more human side to him.”
Before the Masters, Woods went through a rough patch in his life. He cheated on his ex-girlfriend and then got a divorce. Coming into the Masters, Woods didn’t expect much.
“Actually seeing him joyful and hugging his children… was a moving experience,” Arner stated.
Winning the Masters for Woods was a stepping stone out of his slump, making many proud that he could accomplish these things.
“He’s made his share of mistakes, but it looks like he’s trying hard to change,” Simon Hague, a fan of Woods, observed. “He also had an injury that most people have thought he would recover from. Winning the Masters was the signal that his comeback is complete.”
In December of 1994 he had a surgery on his left knee to remove two benign tumors and scar tissue. On June 24, 2008, he had surgery on his left knee to repair his ACL.
“Since 1997 when he won his first masters, he did things on the golf course then that no one else could do,” Hague reflected. “He was kind of like Superman. As I said before, he made it cool and most of the players on the tour now have Tiger to thank for the popularity of the game.”
Woods used to be a favorite to win by many.
“He was always so mechanical before and it was like he expected to win,” Arner remembered.
Woods was once a phenomenal player with a total of eight victories in 1999 and over 50 victories in the twenty-first century.
“I watch the Masters because it’s the only golf major played on the same course,” Hague declared. “Augusta nationals looks like somewhere Adam and Eve came from. It’s the tournament all the tour players cover the most and therefore players are packed with pressure which makes awesome performances.”
The Masters is an extremely important tournament, during which the contestants come together to play at Augusta National Park. Many fans of golf come to this tournament to watch and support.
“I think it’s really cool that Tiger Woods won, his win was really good for golf,” Reis England, a golf player at Woodside, commented.
Winning this year’s Masters was a big achievement for Woods and his family, and it brought him back to golf.
“Watching Tiger win was historic,” Arner reflected.
