Redemption - Tiger Woods and His Fifth Green Jacket
Ten days ago, on a drizzly, grey Sunday afternoon, history was made.
2018 Masters champion, Patrick Reed, helps Tiger Woods slide on his iconic green jacket.
A perfect fit.
His fifth.
The crowd roaring louder than ever.
Viewers glued to the TV back home in disbelief.
A victorious comeback unlike anything the sports world has seen.
And it all happened in a few hours Sunday morning at the Masters in Augusta.
Flash back 10 years ago, The National Enquirer published a story claiming Tiger had extramarital affairs with a New York City nightclub manager. We all know what happened from there.
It’s no secret Tiger has made some major mistakes in his past.
I remember my freshman year in high school when the story first broke.
I couldn’t believe it.
My father being a passionate golfer always had one of three things on tv: golf, hunting, football.
I grew up watching golf with my father and knowing the legend of Tiger Woods on Sunday. The intimidation of his Nike red shirt. The talent possessed. The passion.
Nothing compared to Tiger Woods on a Sunday of a major.
He brought a new level of excitement to a golf.
He brought ratings golf had never seen before.
He brought people to a sport they may never have become a fan.
Tiger was a legend.
And no one falls harder than a legend.
“Tiger put a lot of people through hell, especially his former wife, and could have seriously harmed himself, or someone else, on the night of his DUI arrest in 2017. Woods told everyone he was done as a golfer two years ago.” Ian O’Connor in ESPN article.
Two years ago, we thought we would never see Tiger on a Sunday in a final round again.
No red Nike shirt. No impassioned fist pump in the air. No Tiger.
Riddled with injuries and personal issues we thought it was impossible. Perhaps everyone thought it was impossible.
Except one person. The person who mattered. Tiger Woods.
And we were lucky enough to witness what unwavering self-belief can accomplish.
Arguably the best basketball player ever, Michael Jordan, talked with The Athletic after Tiger’s historic win claiming it was the “greatest comeback I’ve ever seen.”
"I never thought he'd get back physically. He didn't think he'd get back physically. But he did it. No one expected him to be back the way he is now. He's probably the only person who believed he could get back. To me, that's a major accomplishment. To me, it's unbelievable. Mentally, you always think you can.” Jordan continued, “But you can't answer to what your body has to deal with. ... To me, it was the greatest comeback I've ever seen.”
We all stumble. We all make mistakes. We all fail.
Some of our failures are highlighted more than others and some failures are broadcasted for others to see.
I’ll be the first to say, when the scandal broke every piece of admiration I had developed for Tiger left. Whether validated or not, somehow I felt betrayed. It’s not my place to judge or speak about his personal life decisions.
We all make mistakes.
And honestly, at a certain level of a public figure, personal lives tend to blend and I don’t believe personal can ever be completely separate from professional at that point.
However, what Tiger did Sunday is nothing but incredible.
Here’s the thing - Sunday was more than a golf tournament. It stood for so much more.
“This was instead the time to measure Woods, the man, against his younger self.” Ian O’Connor in ESPN article about Wood’s comeback.
From 2008 to now, Tiger’s injuries list on and on: an ACL repair, stress fracture to his tibia, torn achilles tendon, neck injury, sprained MCL, strained achilles, 3 back surgeries in three years (ESPN Journey of Tiger Injuries).
Tiger slowly started his comeback with no one believing he could and silently began the road back to recovery.
From personal experience, I have had three decently invasive sports related surgeries: wrist, shoulder, ankle. For two of the three, I rehabbed perfectly and they still aren’t incredible.
Something I can’t believe he was able to do - come back to play at the highest level after all of these injuries.
Yes, he has the best doctors.
Yes, he has the best physical therapists.
Yes, he has the best of the best on his team.
But that can only take an athlete so far.
This type of comeback takes a different kind of person.
A different kind of passion.
A different kind of dedication.
A different kind if perseverance.
Almost to the point of insanity.
I’m sure there were times he had doubts.
But he persevered and did what everyone thought was impossible.
He ended a 14 year drought since his last Masters win.
Take a second and think about how long 14 years is.
He never gave up and rocked that red Nike shirt and black pants.
He’s the comeback story some of us never wanted to see but who we all needed to.
If you weren’t able to catch this last Sunday. Here is quick video of Tiger’s Sunday highlights.
Click image for Tiger Injury Timeline