Page 20 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 20
A20 SPORTS
Monday 24 SepteMber 2018
TIGER WOODS over the last 10 holes cost
Continued from Page 18 him the No. 1 ranking back
"I can't believe I pulled this to Dustin Johnson, who shot
off." 67 and finished third.
He paused as his voice But this wasn't about the Fe-
started to crack. dEx Cup or even the world
More roars. ranking.
Several players, from Zach This is Tiger's big day, and
Johnson to Rickie Fowler to nothing was going to
Horschel, waited to greet change it.
him. It was Johnson who Woods had never lost when
unveiled red shirts at the leading by three shots or
Ryder Cup two years ago more going into the final
in the team room that said, round. That was when he
"Make Tiger Great Again." was regularly winning mul-
"They knew what I was tiple times every season,
struggling with," Woods compiling trophies at a rate
said. "It was special to see never before seen in golf.
them." Was anything different hav-
One year ago, Woods was ing gone more than five
still waiting for his lower years without winning?
back to fuse and wasn't Rose had said it was a
sure he could ever play bit more unknown, and
again. He told stories of be- "there's a lot on it for him" as
ing unable to get off the well as everyone else.
couch to watch his kids But this was still Woods'
play soccer, much less to arena. The walk from the
chip and putt. He said after putting green snakes some
the second and third back 80 yards across the road
surgeries in the latter end and through a gallery, and
of 2015 that he already everyone could hear him
has achieved plenty in golf coming from the proces-
and anything else would sion of cheering. And within
be "gravy." the opening hour, the Tour
He was becoming a leg- Championship had that in-
end only in video highlights. evitable feeling.
Woods brought it all to life No one brings excitement
over four days at East Lake, like Woods, even when he
and the players who have Justin Rose holds the FedEx Cup and Tiger Woods holds the Calamity Jane after winning the Tour plays so good and so smart
taken turns at No. 1 during Championship golf tournament Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, in Atlanta. that he eliminates any po-
his absence caught the full Associated Press tential for drama.
The buzz was endless.
brunt of it. McIlroy faded A couple of teenagers
early. Justin Rose faded climbed into a tree to see
late. him made a 10-foot birdie
All that was left was the on the first hole. When the
42-year-old Woods in that putt dropped and cheers
Sunday red shirt blazing died, there was a wild sprint
brighter than ever and a some 200 yards up the hill
smile he couldn't shake as fans tried to get into po-
walking up to collect an- sition for the next shot. He
other trophy. tapped in for par, and an-
He finished at 11-under other stampede ensued to
269 and won $1.62 million, line the third fairway.
along with a $3 million bo- On and on it went. No one
nus for finishing second in wanted to miss a shot.
the FedEx Cup. A year ago, there was no
The only disappointment guarantee anyone would
— a minor one under the see much of Woods, much
circumstances — was real- less Woods winning.
izing as he came down the He's back again. This vic-
18th that Rose had made tory, his first since the
birdie to finish in a three- Bridgestone Invitational at
way tie for fourth, which Firestone in August 2013
gave him the FedEx Cup — 1,876 days, to be exact
and the $10 million bonus. — brought him to No. 13
Without that birdie, Woods in the world. Not bad for a
would have won his third 42-year-old with four back
FedEx Cup title after start- surgeries who returned to
ing at No. 20 going into the competition in December
Tour Championship. at No. 1,199.
"Congrats, Rosie," Woods The next stop for Woods is
told him. "World No. 1, hell to board a plane with the
of a season." rest of his U.S. teammates
Actually, former world No. for France and the Ryder
1 for Rose. His four bogeys Cup.q
