Tiger Woods wins 80th PGA Tour title, claims TOUR Championship by two-strokes: video
Five years and 50 days since his last win, Tiger Woods has won his 80th PGA Tour title with a two-stroke victory at the season ending TOUR Championship.
Tiger Woods has brought the sporting world back onto its feet with a stirring two-stroke victory at the PGA tour season-ending TOUR Championship at East Lake GC.
A final round 1-over par 71 saw Woods finish two-strokes ahead of fellow American Billy Horschel, with England’s Justin Rose winning the FedEx Cup Trophy and securing the bonus $10 million prize.
But Rose’s remarkable rise to FedEx Cup champion paled in comparison to the return of Woods to the winner’s circle.
Woods’ final round wasn’t perfect but like the days of old, no one else in the field could challenge his lead. McIlroy, just three behind and playing in the same group as Woods fell away with a 4-over par 39 on the front nine.
Woods’ lead was never less than two-strokes and at one stage on the back nine had the lead out to five strokes. It only got interesting when Woods bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes. Suddenly the lead was two-strokes from Billy Horschel who was already in the clubhouse.
When Woods found the greenside bunker in two at the closing par-5 18th hole at East Lake he just needed to do two things to claim a remarkable come-back victory; navigate the huge crowds running alongside him down the 18th fairway and get the ball out cleanly.
“The people who are close to me saw the struggles and what I was going through, and some of the players that I’m pretty close to, they’ve really helped throughout this process,” Woods said. “Their support and some of those things that they said coming off that last green meant a lot.”